Will we ever see a return to more formal clothes?

[Tiller]

Just my opinion, of course.

Couldn't agree more Jim. The harder it is to get a job, the more people are going to attempt to stand out, and be taken seriously.

 

[Tango Yankee]

The suit has survived well over a hundred years, and I don't see it disappearing anytime soon. I don't see it becoming the normal wear for the "average joe" again either, but I hardly see it being replaced completely, and especially not by a sports coat.

Around here I get the "Why are you in a suit?" question when I'm wearing a sport coat and dress trousers. If they see anything coat-and-tie-like they think its a suit even if the trousers and coat don't match. :eusa_doh:


Cheers,
Tom

 

[John in Covina]

Around here I get the "Why are you in a suit?" question when I'm wearing a sport coat and dress trousers. If they see anything coat-and-tie-like they think its a suit even if the trousers and coat don't match. :eusa_doh:
Cheers,
Tom

This points to the loss of knowledge and information. There is trend to discard so much from the past that the disconnect actually seems like I am living in some sort of Alternate Reality. :eeek:

(I blame those darn time travellers from the future, they came back and interfered with the way things are supposed to be and now we have this mess. )

 

[doctor dan]

I consider myself fortunate. I live in a area that still considers one underdressed if you wear a suit without a tie unless it's a sportcoat at the golf club. My favorite time is at the holidays where wives will try to out do each other with either designer or couture. I beleive it is the women who sets the tone for dress. My wife and I grew up and were married in the 60's. We went through the bell bottoms, buckskin jacket, beads, and face painting stage but having kids and rasing a family altered our form of attire. I should say that she in her wisdom little by little had me change. All of a sudden that shirt was missing or those pants were gone and replaced with something new, and by the way honey. You could use a new suit. She had casted, set the hook, and was reeling me in without me even knowing it. Now many years later I am truly thankful.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My ma is the same way. My pa likes that I dress nice, because he wants to but feels he has to 'go with the flow'. My ma is typically in a Wife-Beater and ripped jeans, so if I dress more formal than jeans, you can bet I hear about it.

My mum and dad are very informal people. To the point that if I wore a tie, mum would complain I'm WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY overdressing. I'm serious. I wore one for Chinese New Year and she nearly had a heart-attack.
.

Sounds like a swell time!

If I ever meet up with you Tom we'll go have a night on the town dressed to the nines. Women are drawn to men wearing a well fitted suit sense the first question on their lips is usually "Why are you in a suit?" . lol

When I go visiting with my parents and we go out somewhere, I always leave the fedora in the truck, as I know there'll be fuss about it if I bring it with me.

I would love to see a return to more dignified dressing. I don't know about FORMAL dressing, but certainly more dignified.

My dad insisted I wear a pair of jeans to my cousin's wedding last year. I nearly had a heart-attack. I immediately balanced it out with a waistcoat and double albert watch-chain. One has to retain a certain level of class in such an important event as a wedding ceremony.

 

[1961MJS]

Around here I get the "Why are you in a suit?" question when I'm wearing a sport coat and dress trousers. If they see anything coat-and-tie-like they think its a suit even if the trousers and coat don't match. :eusa_doh:


Cheers,
Tom

There's also a problem in the workplace that if you stand out (in any way), you get squished.

Ours is no suits, no Daisy Dukes, no vests, no sleeveless shirts. Wear a t-shirt or work shirt, jeans, or Khaki pants, DO NOT WEAR A TIE. They actually used to tell our management NOT TO WEAR TIES.

 

[subject101]

Why do you mean by formal clothes? Nowdays some 'formal' suits are like clown outfits in front of a magnificent double breasted suit from the golden era. Add a fedora to that double breasted suit and then you are in disguise.

I can see future youngsters dressing like 60s mods but I don't think the golden era will ever come back. It is going from 'formal' to ultra-formal.

 

[doctor dan]

Just another few words. I beleive to get ahead in this world you have to be noticed. No one will notice you if you look like and act like, that is to a certain extent, everyone else. Take Michael Jordan, a fantastic gifted basketball player but what set him above the rest was how he acted off the feild. Always well dressed and well spoken. Endorsements flew to him. Even in this day and age people tend to look up to and admire the well dressed, well mannered man or woman.

 

[Yeps]

WhyIt is going from 'formal' to ultra-formal.

The dinner jacket has already taken the place of evening kit as formal, while the dark suit counts as semi-formal (if you are lucky), and I foresee that shifting again soon, so that the tux is banished to the realm of the "ultra formal" like tails, and tails will become costume like the frock coat which came before them. It is sad, really, because I think that well fitting evening kit is the most universally flattering clothing for men, shortly followed by the tux.

 

[Tiller]

I don't see tux's becoming ultra formal. Formal yes... ultra no. Even today their are black tie parties, and the simple fact the people wear them to weddings still, and of course most proms have tux's of some kind even if they look horrible. Even in pop culture their is usually a high class action character (such as 007) who is dressed in a tux in at least one scene. Honestly I think some of you are a bit more pessimistic then even I am . I don't see the death of either the tux, or the suit anytime soon.

Also with frock coats wasn't Obama and Biden wearing bullet proof frock coats at their inauguration? I recall reading an article about it a few years back. If my memory isn't playing tricks on me anyways lol. If so that shows that even the frock coat isn't a complete costume, just incredibly rare lol.

 

[John in Covina]

There is a sense of tradition and there are regional traditions that are continued but those that hold onto the traditions are for now a shrinking number. Also as the number of people that have an investment with upholding traditions shrinks the knowledge base shrinks and so over time the concepts get lost, revised and sometime bastardized. After a time things may become unrecognizeable because to the changes.

 

[rue]

The dinner jacket has already taken the place of evening kit as formal, while the dark suit counts as semi-formal (if you are lucky), and I foresee that shifting again soon, so that the tux is banished to the realm of the "ultra formal" like tails, and tails will become costume like the frock coat which came before them. It is sad, really, because I think that well fitting evening kit is the most universally flattering clothing for men, shortly followed by the tux.

Evening kit? What's that?

 

[Tomasso]

 

[rue]

Ohhh... it's a tux with tails. Right?

 

[MisterGrey]

Not quite. White tie's altogether a different creature-- mandatory white vest vs. black/white vest or cummerbund, white tie, the jacket doesn't close, the front of the jacket is cut differently... I think there are a few more subtleties but they don't come to mind now. It's considered super-ultra-formal, which is why it really isn't seen much anymore.

 

[rue]

Not quite. White tie's altogether a different creature-- mandatory white vest vs. black/white vest or cummerbund, white tie, the jacket doesn't close, the front of the jacket is cut differently... I think there are a few more subtleties but they don't come to mind now. It's considered super-ultra-formal, which is why it really isn't seen much anymore.

Thank you for explaining that. It makes sense why I've only seen it in the movies.

 

[Pompidou]

I don't see tux's becoming ultra formal. Formal yes... ultra no. Even today their are black tie parties, and the simple fact the people wear them to weddings still, and of course most proms have tux's of some kind even if they look horrible. Even in pop culture their is usually a high class action character (such as 007) who is dressed in a tux in at least one scene. Honestly I think some of you are a bit more pessimistic then even I am . I don't see the death of either the tux, or the suit anytime soon.

Also with frock coats wasn't Obama and Biden wearing bullet proof frock coats at their inauguration? I recall reading an article about it a few years back. If my memory isn't playing tricks on me anyways lol. If so that shows that even the frock coat isn't a complete costume, just incredibly rare lol.

I don't see the death of the suit any time soon, but considering the evolution of the suit through its four centuries of history, my argument isn't that the suit will vanish, but, will be largely unrecognizable by the end of the century. Consider the origin of the suit - the gentleman of the 1600s. Now contrast that with what we all think when the word suit is spoken. That's what I think will happen. There will be suits, but the outfit we call a suit today will be as anachronistic as the pomp and frills, knee high stockings and knicker pants of 400 years ago. That idea of a suit survived over 200 years. Our current vision of a suit is going strong at over 200 years. What's next? My guess is that the sense of cohesiveness that has been the definition of a suit will erode first, and the jacket and unpaired slacks will dominate. In what sort of appearance? I don't know. We were supposed to be wearing glowing metallic neon and riding flying cars by the year 2,000, but that didn't pan out. What a shame. The future is anyone's guess.

 

[Tiller]

I don't see the death of the suit any time soon, but considering the evolution of the suit through its four centuries of history, my argument isn't that the suit will vanish, but, will be largely unrecognizable by the end of the century. Consider the origin of the suit - the gentleman of the 1600s. Now contrast that with what we all think when the word suit is spoken. That's what I think will happen. There will be suits, but the outfit we call a suit today will be as anachronistic as the pomp and frills, knee high stockings and knicker pants of 400 years ago. That idea of a suit survived over 200 years. Our current vision of a suit is going strong at over 200 years. What's next? My guess is that the sense of cohesiveness that has been the definition of a suit will erode first, and the jacket and unpaired slacks will dominate. In what sort of appearance? I don't know. We were supposed to be wearing glowing metallic neon and riding flying cars by the year 2,000, but that didn't pan out. What a shame. The future is anyone's guess.

I just don't see the suit that we know changing anytime in our life time, or our children's lifetime. The materials being used to make them? Sure. What lapel is favored at what times? Sure. But the overall look of what a suit is? No I don't see that changing anytime soon, or even into the next century. Maybe I'm wrong but it has relatively been the same since the late Victorian era, and the exact style we have is from the 20's, and I simply don't see it going anywhere anytime soon. What a suit looks like still exist in the culture at large, the word identifies a certain style anything to far removed from that image won't be known as a suit. For such a huge change to happen to the suit, for it to be almost unrecognizable to use, I simply don't see happening.

Maybe you'll live long enough to see which one of us is right since you are interested in living forever. As for me, just put some flowers on my grave from time to time an I'll be happy lol.

 

[Yeps]

I don't see tux's becoming ultra formal. Formal yes... ultra no. Even today their are black tie parties...

They are already considered formal, whereas a hundred years ago or so, when they were invented, they were considered semi-formal, a slot which is now held by suits. With the preponderance of black-tie-optional events, where a dark suit is acceptable, even though a tux is preferred, I think it is only a matter of time before that dark suit takes the lead and becomes the go to clothing for formal outings.

 

[John in Covina]

There is a ranking of formality and a guide that is tied to when and where you wear this type of tux versus that type of tux. The Formal primal stickie may have that scoped out.

One of the things i had learned back in the 80's was that a tuxedo represented a step up in formality and that a "proper" tux back in that time would have peak lapels, The open notch lapel was derived from the lounge suit and considered less formal even then.