What happened to classic American style depicted in TV shows and Movies?

[Nicola]

If she isn't your wife -)

 

[tombrokaw]

This would have happened without the hippies.

But yeah, **** the hippies.

 

[linkinwayne]

Lol. Hippies get credited with practically every innovation/zeitgeist shift/movement. Not bad for peeps who did nothing

 

[meister]

Comfort = sartorial slackness in the modern world.


The older generation have all the money and want to be comfortable at all costs. The hippy thing was just the start of it for them (the boomers).

 

[Bananafish]

Actually if anything the youth culture of the sixties perhaps moreso even than past generations, embraced the ideology of smart dress and redefined the suited and booted dandy philosophy of menswear. Hippie culture (as seen through revisionist modern mainstream media as depicted in photos above) was indeed the unfortunate decline at the tail end, though not nearly the scapegoat which could have brought about the close of the decade. Still, trad ivy league and mod fashion styles (amongst students, hipsters, beatniks, jazzbos, rock&roll as all embracing, and the underground art & fashion set) defined smart dress for American and British youth throughout the sixties. It was that very shift away from youth culture in the casual seventies, as defined by the turning political spectrum and turmoil of the Vietnam war, the devolution of an increasingly turgid music and drug culture, amongst other things that destoyed all of this, and ruined everything cool about the previous decades.

 

[Bananafish]

Originally Posted by Patek

The counter-culture of the 60’s made anything that “looks like something my parents would wear” un-hip and thus shunned by anyone who was anyone.
The counter culture of the sixties was not Woodstock. That was the prevailing convention not unsimilar to what you complain about in contemporary culture. The fact is, chances are that anything that "looks like something your parents would wear" was indeed un-hip then just as now and always. What was remarkably avant-garde and brilliantly inspired about arts, culture and society as reflected through the teenage embodiment of the sixties, was the melding of these very many social landscapes that in turn emboldened such creative outlets in fashion, music, film, etc. What other decade could golden age screen stars and the Hollywood jet set, mingle with the ordinary underclass, hipsters, beatniks, rock and roll icons and teenybopper culture? Look nor further than any TV show of the time where entertainers and tastemakers of your parent's generation, the likes of ol' blue eyes and Dean-o (the swingin' epitome of zero cool panache) along with black performers; r&b/blues cats (the unrequited ne'er-do-wells and pariahs of pre-war/civil rights America), teen idols like Johnny Rivers, Pat and Lolly Vegas, Tommy Kirk and Anette, etc. would be featured alongside young hip groups like Buffalo Springfield, The Chocolate Watchband, The Turtles, etc. and segmented by old vaudeville style and Marx Bros. type routines, or rubbing/frugging shoulders in a Sunset Strip nightclub. It was a time more than any other in which youth culture embraced the past, from Victorian inspired fashions to long forgotten silent screen stars, the like sof which would surely go unrecognized by your avergae college kid nowadays. Everything about it was subversive and Hip. It's surprising that anyone on a style forum would inadvertently dismiss what could unquestionably be considered the most innovative, influential and forward moving decade in 20th century style. Can there be any more idealized example of cool than conjuring images of Jack and Jackie twistin' away all night long in the oval office? THAT was the sixties that ought to be accentuated and not this media obsessed cash-in excess that was in the fairly irrelevant and inconsequential Summer of Love which the boring aging boomers would have you think defined the times. Yuck!

 

[Archivist]

Quite clearly, standards declined because of Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

Originally Posted by jrd617

Why mess up a freshly pressed dress shirt and pants sitting in a seat for hours in a warm cabin?

Leather soled shoes = not forgiving on feet

Barbarian

Originally Posted by kirbya

As a young pup "in the industry," (kianda, at least), I can report that there is momentum in the market pushing things back towards a more formal culture where guys wear jackets. More and more people I know are buying them. No critical mass, yet. But at least some undercurrent exists in the marketplace.

Fashion, noting fundamental about it. All the 20 somethings that think they want skintight Italian suits right now will be waring Slankets and Crocs in no time.

 

[CYstyle]

Recently, in the last decade+ some, tech companies have had their share of contributing to the down fall tailored clothing.

 

[HarleyBob]

First problem, flying into VEGAS, the fun capital of the world you are not going to see the best dressed part of society.

Second problem, as a liberal don't you think the gubernment should be supplying all of our clothes? Or is it just health care, retirement, mandatory paid maternity/paternity leave, public transportation, public television, and on and on and on, oh yeah, take away everyone's guns too. It seems that the current liberal gubernment is failing us.

I get so confused I don't know what the gubernment is supposed to be doing and what I am supposed to be doing. I just know that I don't want to work anymore and I want someone to take care of me in the manner to which I have become accustomed.

 

[Patek]

Well, having not lived through the sixties and seventies, the majority of my perception comes from media.

That being said, old black and white movies are the epitome of cool to me. Both the men and the women appear in every scene dressed to the T. Although old Hollywood usually depicts upper class people, to me they are standards to attain to.

I'm sure the 60's were great and music from that era is is what all true artist strive to attain to. However, I would like to see a Renaissance of the American style that Americans used to be famous for.

 

[Patek]

Originally Posted by HarleyBob

First problem, flying into VEGAS, the fun capital of the world you are not going to see the best dressed part of society.

Second problem, as a liberal don't you think the gubernment should be supplying all of our clothes? Or is it just health care, retirement, mandatory paid maternity/paternity leave, public transportation, public television, and on and on and on, oh yeah, take away everyone's guns too. It seems that the current liberal gubernment is failing us.

I get so confused I don't know what the gubernment is supposed to be doing and what I am supposed to be doing. I just know that I don't want to work anymore and I want someone to take care of me in the manner to which I have become accustomed.

Damn liberals! I fly to Vegas a lot as some of the windfarms that I am responsible for are being built around here and I have to check on things (gasp, not green energy).

I am a liberal and not a socialist . Actually, my thesis in my MBA was all about how the Unions Specifically the UAW) has destroyed Detroit and the American manufacturing industry. I guess not all liberals fit in your narrowly defined box just like all Republicans are not crazy racist teaparty activist.

 

[tombrokaw]

At least you gave me an opportunity to tell strangers how much I hate hippies, without it being a non sequitur and without me looking like a psycho.

That's very important to me.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by gladhands

This is not a uniquely American phenomenom. We have this idealized vision of Europeans...they're the cosmopolitan figures we see in movies ang magazines. The reality of the mater, is that most men worldwide don't care about their appearance. The typical Brit or Italian is more likely to be a soccer hooligan than he is to show up in Recent Non-Sartorialist looks.

Soccer hooligans have good style with their CP company coats. Most suit wearers do not, the problem is most badly dressed mindless marsupials posting on this site have basically non-existent aesthetic sense so they equal the level of formality with being well-dressed because it is easier to spot than having to make a real, informed judgment about style.

Sure you have relaxed people planes but the stylistic diversity of today's world is truly impressive and much better than 60s uniform.

 

[jrd617]

Originally Posted by Patek

How are they not forgiving on feet? I wear leather soled shoes every day.
Leather shoes don't provide the same arch support that sneakers do. Also, a lot more hard impact with the ground, especially on pavement, tile, etc. The thick leather heel in particular is very hard on the feet. I walk very fast and have high arches. Leather shoes would be painful trekking around a terminal or across a city.

Originally Posted by Matt S

You must be wearing the wrong leather-soled shoes. Mine are just as comfortable as anything else. I enjoy long walks in my leather soles. I often wear leather-soled slip-ons to the airport, and I carry a plastic shoe horn in my pocket.
See above comment. Having a properly fitted leather shoe doesn't mean a reduction in impact. Rubber is much better for your feet if you're walking long distances. Doesn't matter if you have AEs, Aldens, C&Js, John Lobb's, or EGs.

Barbarian

Slow walker? Do you ride the disabled-person's golf cart around airports?

 

[jrd617]

Come to think of it, I think a shoe like this crepe soled Alden would be the best for business travel:

http://www.leathersoulhawaii.com/200...le-grant-last/