Fashion Formality
If you have ever gazed upon photographs and films that
documented the first 60 years of the 20th century, you will notice that most
people dressed formally whenever out in public.
Men wore ties and suits
most all of the time and women would dress in identical length dresses and
skirts. Nobody wore tennis shoes unless they were playing tennis or basketball,
opting to wear leather dress shoes everywhere they would go.
Photographs
of New York City in the early 1950s show crowds of people dressing the same and
adjourning the same haircut. Aesthetic presentation of the self was considered
crucial for a successful social life. Dressing snappy and being classy was a
rule.
By the mid 1960s the Baby Boomers were becoming young adults and
were looking for self-actualization and identity. The greatest generation had
coddled and supported their baby boomer children in an era of economic wealth
and independence.
The counter-culture did not want to be a part of the
established order or its " square" parents. Young people wanted to be proud
individuals, and they wanted to express themselves and their own unique
individuality. There was more preoccupation with the self than there was with
other people.
The United States was in a state of upheaval. There was
the escalation of the war in Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, student
protests, drug use, and free love shaking the nation and the young people
questioning the system. Young people started wearing colorful flamboyant
clothing and dressed in any way they wished in order to try and express
themselves.
The 70s brought a generation of people with the new pursuit
of self-fulfillment that led culture critic Tom Wolfe to label them the " Me
Generation" . Gone were the crowds of men in suits and short haircuts and women
with tailored hair and short slim dresses.
People were not as
preoccupied with how they presented themselves to the world as much as they were
preoccupied with accepting and loving their self.
The workplace, where
everyone used to wear suits, accommodated with the times and started to allow
people to dress in a " work casual" fashion, and now,Shop for high quality wholesale jersey products online and
get worldwide delivery. only people in high sector jobs wear suits all the time.
It was becoming more acceptable to simply put on a t-shirt, some jeans,
a pair of tennis shoes and just walk out the door. Social etiquette was not
considered as important as it had been just a decade before.
The baby
boomers grew up and started having children of their own. The age of
self-fulfillment birthed the age of entitlement. The children of the boomers
took their independence for granted, and this has inflated independence into
celebrated narcissism.
Members of the age of entitlement don' t feel the
need to have accomplishments to feel good about their selves; self-esteem is
innate in them. The key to their self-esteem is to have set standards low enough
that meeting them will not require too much work.
One does not dress up
for their own comfort or satisfaction, they dress up for how they wish to be
perceived by other people. Unfortunately the aphorism, " the clothes don' t make
the man" , is not entirely true. The fashion changes of a society reflect the
type of society we are.
It is perfectly common for someone to go about
town and conduct his personal matters dressed in nothing but pajamas and
slippers. This can reflect how accepting our society is in regards to fashion
and also how lazy it has become when it comes to self presentation.
In
our current society,On a supermodel a Manolo blahnik shoe completes the
perfect ensemble. one which is a mediated society preoccupied with fame,
glamour, and irrelevance, many young people today are using their clothing to
advertise their own uniqueness to the world. A trend that has been taking hold
for the last 25 years is the amount of branded logos and imagery on shirts.
In the past clothing was decorated with patterns and colors, now
however, there is various images that people adjourn on their clothing for some
sort of desired statement. Independence is now something that is bought from
corporate clothing companies.
A t-shirt with a corporate logo symbolizes
a nation that pays to advertise a certain lifestyle with the decoration of
cloth. People buy these shirts for a declaration of individualism that they
believe a mass produced object will attain. It is a perfect allusion to how
America is proud of its selfish consumer culture.
There is so many
social identities that can be bought with a variety of chain stores catering to
a very certain and specific clique. The irony is that the people are struggling
for self expression through clothing when they are buying manufactured clothing,
in turn, buying manufactured rebellion and individualism.
I do not
expect society to return to one where everyone dresses formally out in
public,Where can i find an cheap
edhardy shirt thats real but not real expensive. however, I can see a
society where more members dress in more flamboyant fashions to gain a larger
sense of distinction in this populated earth that is drowned in trivial
information and concepts.These comfortable coach shoes inject that same elegant style
into your casual look.
Fashion will change along and reflect the type of
society that we are and what we are preoccupied with.There are just so many
styles of real and fake dsquared
shoes out there that it is near impossible to cover all of them.