I was out shopping today, something I rarely do these days, and I couldn't help but notice how people dress; especially men. I was not shopping for clothing, just in the strip mall and a big box retail store. But what struck me was how our society has evolved men into casual, almost sloppy dressers over the years. Why is that?
Growing Up Memories
I remember as a child, proletarian men always wore clothing that was protective and usually considered formal by today's standards. My dad would wear slacks and a long sleeve shirt when going to work. No blue jeans, they weren't as popular in the 50's and 60's as they are today. The upper class would seldom be dressed in anything but a suit and tie in public or on the job. Weekends, especially Sundays, my dad would wear a suit with a white shirt and tie, as many of his colleagues would. He was not unique; most men of the middle class would dress in an almost formal manner to go to church or visit family because it was the social thing to do. Sure, that was then, but why was it so important for that generation to dress up whenever they could? It's because formal dress was a sign of success whatever your level of occupation or socioeconomic status.
I attended high school in the early 60's and, here too, dressing was important. The high school I attended was the only public high school in the city, and boys were required to wear a jacket and tie during the fall and winter months. In spring and early summer we were allowed to shed the jacket, but many did not. Something about wearing nice clothing made us feel good about ourselves. Yes, we complained about it at the time, but I believe it was a self-esteem building exercise. All our male teachers were dressed in suits and ties and it was easy for the students to look to them as authority figures; they looked the part.
During my professional career in the late 60's and 70's I maintained the tradition of "dressing for success." Three piece suits made a comeback in the 70's and early 80's, it was common to spend what was then a considerable amount of money on dress suits for the office. It was the mid 80's when men began dressing down in corporate America. I believe dressing down has some correlation with the introduction of personal computers; maybe coincidental, maybe not.
Dressing down is common today
Today, dressing down is common, especially in cities south of the Mason Dixon line and west of the Mississippi. Fashions for men have become so informal that the only national men's clothing stores I can think of is Men's Warehouse and Jos. A. Banks. Very few local haberdashers still exist. Back in the 70's and 80's, I remember there being a local haberdashery on every street corner in the downtown district; not today.
Our style of dress promotes our self-image, and the old slogan "dress for success" is appropriate. In public today, I noticed 9 out of 10 men were wearing t-shirts. Have we evolved into a t-shirt culture? I am not being judgmental; it just leads me to wonder why this culture no longer promotes dressing for success?
Many technology company founders promoted the casual climate we see today. I remember when Steve Jobs started the Apple Company and was among the first CEO's to be a casual dresser. Employees at Apple emulated this behavior and it is now a common practice in almost every technology company I know. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is another example of an extreme casual dresser in the technology sector. He even wore a hoodie when he was promoting the Facebook IPO to Investment Bankers and Financial Advisers.
What is interesting to me is how everything today is about 180 degrees different then when I was growing up. Back then, proletariat men dressed in work clothes considered today to be casual because the nature of their jobs was highly physical. But they saw dressing up as a sign of success. Today, upper class and most University graduates dress down in their occupations, unlike in my father's day. The baby boomer generation is sandwiched between the silent generation and the millennial generation and promoting this transition in fashion.
I can't help but believe that technology occupations have had a hand in this transition to a more casual dress because many of our technology occupations lack social interaction. Instead, we interact socially via computers. Technology workers work directly on computers and in a virtual environment. Future work environments are likely to be in a virtual setting where fashion and social interaction is not necessary. Although this change in fashion has occurred during the Baby Boomer era, I suspect subsequent generations will carry this fashion style. The larger question is how will our social structure change when everyone interacts via computers and smart phones. I believe this fashion behavior will last for at least one more generation or until it becomes important to dress up as it was in my father's day. But, I can't honestly tell you what the catalyst will be for this change.
Political Activism and the Presidential Election With Fulbright Scholar Michael Sonnleitner Lessons Learnt The Death Penalty - Ineffective, Irrational and Fiscally Irresponsible Building Cultural Icons and Tearing Them Down - It's Wrong and Even Those Who Do, Know It
0 comments:
Post a Comment