I was at secondary school from 1982 onwards, the absolute biggest mistake any young lad could make that would warrant urgent attention with a good kicking and bullying, was to wear anything that remotely hinted at the seventies: semi-flares, purple jumpers and fly away collars. And there were still a good few who fell foul of this. The seventies was a period of scorn: glam rock and Marc Bolan.

Here is the Beer commercial which I spoke about on a different thread but could not find at the time. It tells me a story about  well dressed men (and women) who are all hailing from very different backgrounds but still part of the same general cultured world; perhaps a world that the viewer is not a part of but is supposed to identify as them-elite-jacket-wearing-dudes.

This is both a legacy of 60s/70s individualism and the current youngish approach to style.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo0qQOJPknk

For what it's worth, Tom Ford is obviously fascinated with the 70s too.

The '70s were the grimmest decade for me personally, being either outright unemployed or seriously underemployed for most of that period. However, to give the '70s their due, it was a period when men took clothing far more seriously than today, however risible some of their excesses were. Look at John Travolta in his white suit--now that cinematic character was someone who took his threads very seriously, even if they don't jibe with current tastes. There were a lot more opportunities for young men to practice dandification without being labelled eccentric or "weird." Even the pale green suitings shown above are to my lights preferable to the dismal uniform of T-shirts, hoodies, jeans, cargo shorts, sneakers and flip-flops ubiquitous among young men today.

Seldom mentioned in iGentland is that a lot of the stuff from the "Golden Age" of the '30s looks pretty bloody awful by today's lights.

A great pity that Cruiser doesn't frequent this forum. I am sure he could regale us with numerous photos of him sporting some of that very same J.C. Penney finery.

Last edited by formby (2012-01-17 12:28:32)