The fickle world of fashion

[hutch--]

I think there is some virtue in the notions of fashion being this "mix" and "match" approach that the kids wear these days, it tends to break the constraints of political correctness that the fashion industry would like to impose for commercial reasons. Where the general society is willing to recognize people who are not simply conforming to a current fashion, it allows for a far wider range of garments to be economically viable.

Something that stuck in my mind was a dress a lady friend of mine showed me, a Japanese design based on circles that she paid some outrageous amount for and when I had a look at it, it looked like it had been cut out with a knife and fork, unsecured edges and poor quality stitching. This is typical of at least some designer labels, you pay for the label and the so called design and try not to notice how poorly they are made because you are expected to buy next year's season.

Particularly for the ladies, you still see fashion parades with size 6 scarecrows wearing things that most would not wear to their own funeral where the vast majority of women are in the size 12 to 14 range yet are not always well catered for and big girls have terrible problems trying to get decent clothing. The girlfriend of one of my old friends years ago was a classic example of a person who just could not buy cloths that fitted from normal sources. Back then the fashion was "Twiggy" style clothing for girls and this particular lady was a curvy, busty tall girl of about size 14. Her approach was to continually raid the second hand clothing markets to get what is now called "retro" clothing and she always looked elegant and well dressed.

Diversity is a winner for both wearers and clever manufacturers in that it breaks the grip of a corporate level clothing manufacturing industry. While large manufacturers have all the advantages of economy of scale, cheap labour, distribution networks and an industrial supply chain, they cannot compete with the flexibility of a smaller custom manufacturer that can make different garments on a daily basis.

[Henry Hall]

I agree and there has definitely been a full-on resurgence of second-hand clothing in the last decade. The fashion industry is savvy though, they are aware of what trends are afoot. Sure enough, when the trend for 'retro' waistcoats (worn horribly btw) took off and the young men had had almost every last waistcoat from the 2nd hand and charity shops, the fashion chains started producing replacements that basically look the same, even if they are not the same quality. All of them tight-fitting and most of those old waistcoats now ruined by being badly altered to fit in the same way. Which is the state they are usually in when they end up back in the charity shops.

Once that happens those people who have an eye on clothes outside of high-street fashion turn their attentions somewhere else and the cycle begins again. It's most exasperating.

[hutch--]

I have done OK in thois area myself, bought a very good condition Burberry trench coat about a year ago from a friend, spent another $50.00 getting it dry cleaned by a pro and it looks like a new one and it has to be at least 40 years old. Also got a very light summer one as well again made in the UK and they are classic wear. Something that has been good value lately is men's hats, years ago I used to wear baseball caps in the winter to keep my head warm but in the last year I bought a couple of nice Fedora hats that are again classic designs. I can't do Al Capone with a Fedora as I have the wrong features but I can do Elliot Ness OK. 

[Henry Hall]

Yes the increase in hats is getting to be the case in a lot of places. In several cities around Europe you now see a lot more hats in the vintage and 2nd-hand clothing shops. It's like someone discovered a giant cache of old-new stock and they flooded the 2nd-hand market.

[Greger]

Fedora hats I never liked. They seem to be a cross between this and that and something else and maybe a couple of others. I guess why they were popular is neither to big nor to small, so practical, handy. A derby is a classic, which is so much better than the jaunty fedora. Practically all the men wore the fedora when I was a boy. Then men stopped wearing hats with suits. Young mens hair got long, and hats messed that up. Then baseball caps became somewhat popular with street clothes. The cheap golf hat is nicer looking than the baseball cap. The golf hat has a brim all around, that also protects the back of the neck from getting sunburned. What was nice about the old old baseball caps was there long bill, which worked great for low sun. There are a few classics among the fedora, but the rest are all yuk. Somebody needs to invent a new hat style, so a new generation can call it there own.

[spookietoo]

Gregor - I have yet to place a fedora on my head that didn't look wonderful on me. A derby? No, not with my facial shape and features - I'm certain there are men with the same issues.

From a female standpoint - a good looking man in a good looking fedora -yummy! A derby? Not so much.  Johnny Depp in a derby? Oh yeah. But Johnny Depp is an "oh yeah" in pretty much anything - or nothing. 

Perspective has much to do with the success of a hat.

[theresa in tucson]

And a handsome man in a well styled Stetson hat, oh my, but I'm a southwestern gal and partial to cowboys.

[Greger]

Yes! I like cowboy hats too. Western wear is an art.

[hutch--]

We have a hat type in OZ that you won't see in other places, its a country Akubra and its about the size of a Stetson but a different shape. They were basically designed for stockmen (something like cowboys) to protect their heads from extreme heat. I bought one in the country about 20 years ago and while its getting a bit scruffy, its still going strong and its what I wear in the summer if I am outside in the sun. I owned a Stetson once long ago but I tend to look like an old Hollywood gunslinger so I gave up on it.

There is a trick with a good quality Fedora style hat, turn the front brim down and increase the pinch at the front and they look OK. I own a couple that I wear in the winter to keep my head warm that more or less match respectable clothing. The win with the good quality ones is they last a very long time if you look after them. A $10.00 Fedora is a one season fashion statement, a $200.00 hat is something you own for 50 years.

[Henry Hall]

Western hats are okay in themselves, but wearing one with a suit makes a man look like a complete jackass. For a long time I didn't much like fedoras either, preferring the rear of the brim to be upturned as on a trilby. Now I quite like fedoras and they come in many subtle shapes as you can see here at Fedora Lounge.

I do have a bowler/coke, made by Christie's, but the opportunities for wearing it are slim. It's a pity because they are great hats.

My favourite hat is the homburg, even though it has been tainted as a 'pimp hat' by being adopted by many a rapper from the late 1990s (usually in white or silver).

[Greger]

No doubt where you live Henry you would look like a complete jackass wearing anything cowboy. Of course, if you lived in a number of Americas West wearing European clothes you would look like a European jackass. Clothes of one location don't make those clothes correct for another location.

[spookietoo]

And then there are men that should never take their hats off....

Tim McGraw in a cowboy hat....oh yeah. And he can work a pair of jeans. I had watched more than half of the movie he made with Sandra Bullock, anxiously awaiting his arrival on screen, when I suddenly realized he was the almost bald guy playing her husband!

And Henry I agree:  suit + cowboy hat = jackass

The fact is, no matter the style of hat, there is someone somewhere that can rock every one of them.

[hutch--]

Funny, I have been watching a series called Blacklist with James Spader who does not have much hair left but I also watched an old Stargate movie done 20 or so years ago and I thought, I know that face and it eventually dawned that it was James Spader with hair looking a bit hippyish. Now interestingly enough James Spader wears Fedora hats well in the Blacklist series.