Which decade is the worst in terms of style?

[Hemingway Jones]

It may be totally anecdotal, but it has been my experience.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"As Hats have gone "Mainstream fashion" I now have to push the envelope with my "Solar Tope" although I have seen two other Chaps around town wearing em, quite extraordinary really!"

 

[Miss 1929]

Perfect for your midsummer weather, Binkie!

I have to nominate the 1980s as my most-hated decade.

Big shoulders + dropped-waist dresses that made every woman look like a box...

Teased, sprayed, matted, spiked BIG hair...

Yuk.

The early 60s are right behind it for me, the dresses are supremely unflattering and the hair and makeup atrocious!

 

[tuppence]

I'm going against the grain. I love early 70's fashion. It's the sort of it's so ugly it's cute. I don't agree with blue eyeshadow though.
I hate the 80's people look like a mess and agree with Paislys view on muffin tops. I don't know if it is in common language, but I know a lot of people in Melbourne were calling the back view of low cut jeans as your 'money box'.
I also don't like this modern thing of ' bed hair' and the young men who style their fringe to stand straight up.

 

[Mickey D]

I have to agree that this past decade '00 was one of the worst. Everyone has become too casual and show no respect for themselves in the way the look. I know most of this forum following take pride in their appearance, as do most of your peers.

But here's an example of what Americana has become this past decade...

People of WalMart
http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/abbreviated_keyboard.html

 

[Widebrim]

The one thing that I've notice in the 2000s, is that people seem to be less judgmental, at least here in the big eastern cities. It seems that fedoras and suits and everything else garners less quizzical looks than it used to. Hats are also much more common here in Boston than they were even five years ago, everything from hipsters wearing stingy brims and bowlers to big outback fedoras. I get far more "Nice hat" comments than Indiana Jones references now. I think the 2000s have opened people's minds a bit.

Regarding hats, I believe that the same could be said for Los Angeles, especially among the "Emo" crowd.

 

[Maguire]

While i'd obviously say the 2000s, i'd say the 60s were worse simply because they had precedent- for us today it takes a conscious effort to find a hat, get a proper suit, and wear it. In the 1960s it was only the other day that it was de rigeur. They had the chance to really maintain the status quo but chose to tear it down. One can't blame the people in the 1980s or 90s or 00s for dressing like this, because its something they were born into and used to.

 

[Widebrim]

Not quite, unfortunately. At my community college, in California, I often see (mostly African-American) people wearing baggy jeans... I guess it's still popular here around L.A.

I think that you are correct; here in L.A. the baggy jeans look is still hanging in. What is worse is the proliferation of ankle-length shorts, everywhere in L.A.

 

[Widebrim]

While i'd obviously say the 2000s, i'd say the 60s were worse simply because they had precedent- for us today it takes a conscious effort to find a hat, get a proper suit, and wear it. In the 1960s it was only the other day that it was de rigeur. They had the chance to really maintain the status quo but chose to tear it down. One can't blame the people in the 1980s or 90s or 00s for dressing like this, because its something they were born into and used to.

?De que' hablas, Maguire, the early or late 1960s?

 

[Marcus]

My vote.... 70's= FAIL. The 80's was the last decade to have it's own identity IMO. After that...there really isn't anything to speak of. Basically a free for all nowadays.

 

[Maguire]

?De que' hablas, Maguire, the early or late 1960s?

Early- i'd say the time when the transition occurred. The Late 60s couldn't exist without the early 60s. The 70s couldn't have happened as they did without the 60s. In a way you can even blame the late 50s ( i don't believe the world suddenly went to hell as soon as the 60s came about. Everything that burst out into the open in the 60s was simmering beneath the gilded surface of the 50s).

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

What's really painful to watch are clips of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson from the '70s and seeing Johnny, Ed, Doc and their guests fully decked out in those awful '70s suits. You haven't lived until you've seen Frank Sinatra in a leisure suit!

 

[avedwards]

While i'd obviously say the 2000s, i'd say the 60s were worse simply because they had precedent- for us today it takes a conscious effort to find a hat, get a proper suit, and wear it. In the 1960s it was only the other day that it was de rigeur. They had the chance to really maintain the status quo but chose to tear it down. One can't blame the people in the 1980s or 90s or 00s for dressing like this, because its something they were born into and used to.

I still think 60s style isn't that bad. As I said before on this thread, narrow-lapelled suits and stingy brim hats is a good look and may suit some people better than wider brimmed hats with 30s or 40s suits. Plus the decline of hats began long before the 60s, it just became noticable then. Plus I base my look on Sean Connery's Bond quite a bit so I'm naturally defensive of this decade.

 

[Maguire]

I still think 60s style isn't that bad. As I said before on this thread, narrow-lapelled suits and stingy brim hats is a good look and may suit some people better than wider brimmed hats with 30s or 40s suits. Plus the decline of hats began long before the 60s, it just became noticable then. Plus I base my look on Sean Connery's Bond quite a bit so I'm naturally defensive of this decade.

Oh i'm not talking about the suits. Stingy brims aren't so bad, i don't like them as much as the older styles but thats not what i'm talking about when i talk about style. If we are just talking about suits than its a different story altogether, i'm talking about in general. Thats why i mentioned the late 50s, not for the suits but for the gradual casual/hatless look that became more common and accepted.

 

[draws]

The 70s were the worst. I particularly remember the long sideburns and hair look (the Ubangi Bush-Boogie Look). ARGH!!!!!!

 

[Lear]

A television programme aired in the UK last year. Each hour long episode looked in detail at a particular decade, from the 1930's up to the 1990's (think I've got that right). In the last programme, the panel of experts had to vote for their best/worst decade. Very well made, with plenty of intelligent discussion.

Now, if only I could remember what it was called...

Lear

 

[Edward]

The one thing that I've notice in the 2000s, is that people seem to be less judgmental, at least here in the big eastern cities. It seems that fedoras and suits and everything else garners less quizzical looks than it used to. Hats are also much more common here in Boston than they were even five years ago, everything from hipsters wearing stingy brims and bowlers to big outback fedoras. I get far more "Nice hat" comments than Indiana Jones references now. I think the 2000s have opened people's minds a bit.

Interesting.... I've found the same thing over here.... and also in, of all palces, Belfast. Over there at Christmas, nobody remarked at all on my B3 or the B2 cap with it; when I've worn a fedora over there in the last couple of years noone has batted an eyelid either. Fifteen years ago, when I wore a corduroy yachtsman's style cap, I was regularly subject to people shouting things at me in the street - everything from "Captain Scarlet" to "you look like a gay Spanish traindriver", via "what the f**k is that on your head?" Pleasant change.

My vote.... 70's= FAIL. The 80's was the last decade to have it's own identity IMO. After that...there really isn't anything to speak of. Basically a free for all nowadays.

Which is the beauty of it. Much more room for interesting styles to develop when there are fewer people chasing a homogenous, mainstream fashion. FWIW, almost without exception the compliments I get on the street are from the hip hop kids who we all tend to look down on here, but who, unlike many others, really understand and appreciate what it takes to put a look together, focussing on details etc. Looking at it this was has actually given me an increased appreciation of what they are trying to do, even if I don't particularly care for the hip hop look myself.

 

[HadleyH]

Leave the 70s alone.




The teens and those hideous hobble skirts women wore. To say nothing about the monstrousness of the hats. Dreadful, ghastly things, that's all there is to it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

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Yes, and the mens' suit styles from 1909 to 1912 were awful: boxy, stiff jackets with hugely wide sleeves, cardboard-like lapels, and trouser legs that ballooned at the thigh and tapered to skinny pegs at the (often too short, too rolled up) ankle. Frankly, they were a cross between "Teddy Boy" outfits and zoot suits. Not a good mix, as it turns out.


Below is a less egregious example. At least the trouser legs are okay here:

.

 

[HadleyH]

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Yes, and the mens' suit styles from 1909 to 1912 were awful: boxy, stiff jackets with hugely wide sleeves, cardboard-like lapels, and trouser legs that ballooned at the thigh and tapered to skinny pegs at the (too short) ankle. Frankly, they were a cross between "Teddy Boy" outfits and zoot suits. Not a good mix, as it turns out.


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Exactly Marc!:eusa_clap~~~~ :cheers1: