Comments on: A Man of Style / A Man of Fashion

By: Art

Art — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 11:00:46 +0000

Recently I have talked to a tailor, age 76 and still active. He says the gap between fashion and style only became that obvious in the sixties, when industry took over. "Suddenly it was possible to buy machine made suits", he said "that had not been an option before" Today he is one out of two tailor's left in a city with more than 1 million inhabitants. But he does not want to judge the development. "Suddenly you had a bunch of possibilities as a customer regarding clotnes, which you had not had before."
I also spoke to a cobbler, who again stated that times changed somewhere in the sixties, when the shoe industry launched a new collection almost every season. "That was the end of the handmade shoe", he said. If a collection only lasts 1, 2 seasons, then quality is not as important as it used to be."We could not follow that rhythm. Our shoes had to last for years, so they had to have kind of a conservative look." I guess a little group of consumers has become aware that this new alternative from the sixties – changeing your garderobe constantly – has become the only one. Then classic style and craftsmanship become interesting for some of us again.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:10:16 +0000

And apologies for the poor punctuation – too early here on the west coast of the US. individual's and its.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:08:25 +0000

I'll present the opinion that fashion is supposed to be new and experimental. Take new materials and shapes and create something that fits an individuals view of the current world. Some of it works, some of it does not, but it's primary purpose should be experimentation. Style is the result of fashion over time. Take an aspect of fashion that works, refine it, learn how to construct it better, and it will eventually become part of the generally accepted standard of dress. Lots of current standards were considered experimental when they were originally released: button down collars, the evolution of the reefer to the current blazer, the Goodyear welt for shoes.

Along those lines, what is considered style in the 21st century style should be different from what was considered style in the early to mid 20th century. The environment in which much clothing is worn is different due to air conditioning and the automobile. Science has created and greatly improved synthetic fibers. The men's jacket has evolved to match: shorter cut and of lighter weight fabrics. Even if the body is wool the lining will invariably be polyester. It's just the current evolution of the form.