I think the AAAC 'trad' style is very costumey....with the bowties, cords with crabs on them, etc.  The way many of those fellas wear it, it is as costumey to me as guys wearing zoot suits and all that goes with that look.

Theyve moved, the crabs are now on the jacket.

Style (at least for clothing items) begins to become costume when ordinary people feel they can make fun of you for wearing it.

Style becomes costume when the set of people who would ordinarily appreciate the item make fun of you for wearing it.

TL - jeans were invented in America. That's all you really need to know.

H

Wait a min. -

I read that the Huge notes invented them.

You wouldn't be pulling my leg would you?

t.

Perhaps once, a person talks about their style, too much.

I was thinking of costume as something archaic or stuck in time (though white tie for instance might fit this bill as would roots of modern manly fashion, they're still in use so I'd rule them out).  So Terry, something like the uniform of a city gent -- a bowler hat and brolly and pinstripe DB all together --  would be costume.  As would a bowler hat by itself.  But the DB and brolly themselves or together wouldn't be.

I haven't paid as much attention as I like to the AAAC trad threads, so I don't know about them being costumey.  But maybe a few are. 

I also think that some of the lads on Fedora Lounge are total costume.  Others can pull a look together that is more timeless.  Note FNB's article on Tree of Style where the fogey meets the old boy.  The old boy doesn't wear a costume, though he incorporates elements of the fogey, who does wear "costume".  At leas that's my take on it.

Hmmmm...
Let's save our energy for something else, eh?

I've not observed a Casual for years. If I could get in touch with Brother V. I'd ask him when he last saw one. He's more alert than me.

When you're an American and try a bit too hard to dress to appear like you're British or Italian.