PhD Thesis on Fashion
Roles in society keeps changing for everyone as time passes by. Sometimes the changes are drastic while others are slight, and some roles swap over while other roles develop. As we go through the early stages of the millennium we can compare and see just how the role of men has changed. This can come about from changes in public attitude, sexuality, politics, economy, arts and media, just about everything which surrounds us. Whenever there is a change, we can often see it in things which reflect it. This PhD thesis abstract aims to point out the factors regarding how men's fashion acts as a medium for showing a change in attitude of men's role in the modern world. Clothes have always served a main purpose, keeping the body warm and protecting it. It has done so since man was capable of clothing themselves. But over the course of time, specially during the 20th century men's fashion became something that changed very quickly, to a point where it changes every season.
If fashion did reflect changes, then these changes must have occurred just as much, or even more than the changes in fashion sense. When Queen Victoria died in 1901 it marked the definite decline of the British Empire and with it an end to an era of relative stability. "Technology was also rapidly developing at the time with the introduction of radio transmissions, production of automobiles, breakthrough in aviation and the birth of color photography."
The rise of mass communication meant that ideas were disseminated faster then ever before, provoking change in the way people dressed, in their attitudes and their tastes. "The attitudes were certainly changing. Without the rigidity of the Empire period people felt more liberated to change there apparel to what suited them." Up to 1901, the top hat and the frock coat were the only acceptable daywear for the upper classes. The younger generation, however, saw this mode of dress as suitable only for formal affairs, and the frock coat was soon usurped by the morning coat. But this new attitude towards the way in which men dress formed a counter reaction among the upper class gentlemen.
At the beginning of the 20th century the introduction of the "American Model" shoe with its increased comfort and a more rounded toe became so popular that it was mass produced. This was "looked down on by gentlemen who clung to the longer, pointed toe in order to differentiate themselves from the masses. Perhaps to the upper class, their status and tradition was far too important for them to consider a change in their attire. Not only the comfort aspect of clothing was responsible for the changes but also what people did in their free times. In the 1900s the chamois leather under drawers became popular.
This was due to the "cycling boom" that gripped the nation. Sports and activities were usually taken up by the middle and upper classes. The working classes spent most their time working but after their shifts many started "taking up bicycling" hence the popularity in cycling wear.
This showed how the working class were earning more than before and that they could take up sports and activities, and also started to develop their own fashion style through something that they chose to do. 2 decades later in the 1920s the face of the modern world was constantly developing and changing. This time of decadence saw people "trying to put the miseries endured in the Great War behind them with an endless stream of parties and fun." New technology were constantly being produced, the gramophone record, the loudspeaker, and the television were all products of the 1920s. Travel was being more accessible and the decade became a time when "man was looking further than his own national boundaries." 1920s men's fashion was mainly casual wear and also some clothing was influenced by other countries.
The decade wasn't a time of formality but it was a time of "instability and change." Men wanted to "dress soft" and keep things casual and "knitwear became popular for all forms of sport. "Sportswear is still popular today but it is all due to the sporting men of the 1920s. Men were starting to take up more and more sports and professional sports became bigger than ever.
Babe Ruth, a legendary baseball player, became an icon in the twenties and the world saw French tennis champion Rene Lacoste who some see as "the godfather of branded sportswear." The men of the modern world were all about sports and leisure during the twenties, it seemed like people who could afford it spent most their time engaged in activities. A time for winding down when most men had a care free attitude towards life. The television, an invention of the 1920s, became a common household appliance in the 1950s. Now more information than ever was accessible to nearly every home. Men's fashion in the fifties represented teenage rebellion. There were two styles, The Teddy Boys of London and the jeans. T shirts, and leather jackets of the States.
The Teds' style was directly taken from the Edwardian period. The name comes from Edward VII who's nickname was Ted. "The Ted's distinctive silhouette was characterized by thigh length, waisted, draped jackets with cuffed sleeves and high ticket pockets, teamed with narrow turned up trousers." Their American counter parts mostly wore blue jeans, t shirts and leather biker jackets.
The leather jacket still had "connotations of danger, motorcycling, youth and rebellion." The Teds style was so big that it influenced Savile Row tailors but as with the 1900s, the upper class wanted to detach themselves from the working class, specially when the Teds were associated with violence, brawls and vandalism. The two biggest style of the fifties reflected the aggression and the frustration among the young men of the time. During the seventies various different styles spawned from different sources. Whether it was film, music, or past styles, several sub cultures started to appear. The punk style is similar from the aggressive mentality of the Teddies, and it was created out of a "wholehearted rejection of 1970s fashion." It was about challenging people.
Other styles started to emerge from films and the music scene. The Blaxploitation films showed black urban streets of the US and the "pimp look achieved mass market appeal." Also the disco scene with all the celebrities going to nightclubs such as Studio 54 made all the disco wear famous. But all this fashion was about youth. Fashion became something that only young people can relate to. Also it was the men that fronted the fashion scene. Street style was still mainly fronted by men and most high profile designers were men.
This burst in fashion subcultures shows that men were behind the creativity of fashion and this proved that men were just as, or even more image conscious than women. The 80s brought on some huge changes in fashion. Styles became something of an identity, it showed everyone who you were. The yuppies wore suits with strong shoulder pads to show their power and wealth. They were mostly designer suits in dark colors, In the film American Psycho the yuppie mentality is very well represented. They compared their possessions to other people's and men were often measured by their wealth. People became very materialistic.
Also in juxtaposition to the masculinity of the greedy yuppies came about sexual ambiguity. More men started to use make up and the gay scene was getting bigger than ever. Also bands like Duran Duran always sported designer labels and make up. The use of make up, something only commonly used by women were used by more and more men and sexual boundaries started to blur in this decade. In the past decades it was traditionally believed that "men use their wives rather than themselves for the conspicuous display of their affluence." But this has dramatically changed in the eighties.
These times showed men that the boundaries of fashion was pushed back so far that you could barely tell where it is. A decade later, men's fashion has been fragmented into "wildly differing styles." Whether influenced by celebrities, wealth, music, or a reaction there are now so many styles and it does not necessarily display their identity. A man can have several different styles depending on his mood or for functionality. A person's style reflect anything from personal issues to clever marketing." The combat became the trouser of choice, sending shockwaves through the previously complacent denim industry." The influence of war has brought on military fashion specially in the late 90s. Whether a man is fashion conscious or not the nineties brought about so many options for the modern man. Also this decade was a time of health obsession, specially in the US. Men were just as image conscious not just with clothes but with their bodies too. There was a burst in men's health magazines and also in men's beauty salons. More men hit the tanning beds to keep an all year tan. Vanity has very much crept into men over the past few years.
Clothes were not enough anymore for some men who started to work out for a better look hence the more and more number of men attending gyms. Image has become a very large part of men and this perhaps shows that men has become more sophisticated regarding looks something only women worried about all those decades ago, or so it may seem on the outside. As we enter the new century fashion will always grow and more subcultures created. Sometimes street styles are seen to be so "cool" that designers are influenced by them. But as for the role of men being reflected in fashion, it's more the case of role of men in fashion.
Fashion is a very important communications tool. First impressions are very much dependent on one's appearance. Fashion dictates what people look like, as well as generating plenty of money and with it, power. Perhaps the power is the key point. Throughout history men have always strived for power through businesses, politics, war etc. This image conscious modern man is maybe men retaining power in the least obvious area, fashion.
The whole sexual ambiguity may contradict this but "the effect of the emergence of the new man has been to reinforce the existing power structure, by producing a hybrid masculinity which is better able and more suited to retain control." The role of men perhaps has always been the same. All the different fashion styles of the past were fronted by men with different attitudes of different status. But whether conscious or sub conscious it seems that men have changed in appearance and attitude to retain some kind of a power. Power in making money, power in creation, power in expression, no matter what the specific goal is or how many changes in style and attitude, men perhaps cannot change their instinct, their nature of desiring power.
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