Fashion freeze. Have some things stood still?

[wildcat45]

You know when you watch an old TV show you see how fashion has changed.

Take The Sweeney - it's all kipper ties and flares. Miami Vice from a decade later is white suits and shoulder pads. Even the later editions of Minder have period fashions with Ray's blazers and Paisley ties.

Has day-to-day fashion largely remained the same in the last decade?

I ask this because lately I've been recording and watching The Bill from - guessing by the cars, 'phones and other tech - 2005.

That was some time ago. Like the time gap between The Sweeney and Miami vice, but despite this, the clothes and styles seen in The Bill are more or less what we'd wear today.. I'm not just talking formal suits, but the way other characters dress. The tie for example has been dead a long time. You don't see many in The Bill. Even the scrotes they arrest are dressed like chavs of today.

I know fashions come and go, blokes sporting beards, girls with massive handbags or whatever - but if it wasn't for the fact characters on The Bill are driving 2004 Toyotas and using pre-smart 'phones there is very little change today from the way most people dressed ten years ago.

So much has changed in the last decade. CRT screens are virtually extinct as are VCRs. Most of us have finger print recognition mobiles that do lots of things. And hi-tech in cars is far more widespread.

But that's all technology, the accessories if you like.

What we wear day-to-day has more or less stayed the same. Or so it seems.

I wonder if it is down to the global crash of 2008. Austerity meaning people - or designers - didn't want to take risks.

[227bhp]

I used to wear 'drain pipes' in the 80's, I notice many still do!

[Shakermaker]

I still have a few items of clothing that I bought 9-10 years ago that fit (just about...) and suit a purpose without being "unfashionable" in most situations.

Of course the difference between how I choose to dress as a 31 year old is very different to as a 21 year old but that aside, "jeans and a shirt" and "jeans and a t shirt" haven't really gone away

[Thankyou4calling]

This is an interesting point.

When I grew up certain things were "In fashion"

High waisted trousers, penny collar shirts, cap sleeved T Shirts, tank tops (I was born in 1966)

You either wore the fashion, were part of a group (new romantics, casuals, disco, skinhead etc) or you were out of fashion.

If you traveled even in the UK and were from London you found people from outside London were way behind in terms of what they wore (not trendsetters but your average youth) as trends rippled out from London.

Now, anything goes, people wear anything and can be in fashion. There isn't really much that you can't get away with. For example people wear ripped jeans now, they were being worn years ago.

Mens suits aren't very different to 10 years ago (2 button jacket, flat front trousers)

I know cutting edge stuff is different but I'm talking mainstream stuff.

I wear a lot of shirts that are 8 or 10 years old and I don't think I look in fashion or out of fashion, it just seems to me that there isn't a really strong theme and hasn't been for years.

[tomtom]

Tattoos, topknots and check shirts. Nowhere to be seen (outside select areas of Hackney) 5 years ago.

[EnglishTony]

Let's be fair both kipper ties and shoulder pads were both OTT and so we're the punk / scooter styles in between.

What's changed is that our fashion is no longer as extreme as it was so although there is change it's not so blatantly obvious.

Also walking around with your trousers flapping about / held together in some bandage style looks as stupid as it feels.

[Pothole]

tomtom said:

Tattoos, topknots and check shirts. Nowhere to be seen (outside select areas of Hackney) 5 years ago.

I wore checked shirts in my late teens...in the 80s

[Thankyou4calling]

Pothole said:

I wore checked shirts in my late teens...in the 80s

Check shirts have always been in fashion









With Lumberjacks :-0

[Goaty Bill 2]

Thankyou4calling said:

Check shirts have always been in fashion









With Lumberjacks :-0

errr... I feel I must say, while the checked shirt is occasionally seen, it is more often in Hollywood or television portrayals (yes even the modern 'documentaries'). Grey Stanfields have always been de rigueur.


This rather pristine little number would be embarrassing, until the sleeves and shirt tail were appropriately frayed from years of wear.
You're never out of fashion in the bush, in a well worn Stanfield shirt.

[anonymous-user]

I've been wearing the same pants for the last ten years so you may have a point.....

[Orchid1]

I reckon Mandarin Collars on suit jackets are gonna be a big thing in the next 5 years.

[Alex_225]

I guess certain fashionable items are not a stable part of what people wear.

I suspect man buns with beards will be looked back on with as much disdain as the mullet from the 80s though. What a s**t look that is! Damn hipsters.

[jw673]

If there is one item that is "of the moment", widespread, and de rigueur for PH weddings – it’s “classic”* brown/light-tan wingtip brogues! These are going to cringingly date UK wedding photos to the 2010s in exactly the same way kipper ties did for the 70s.

I await my flaming by the resident Gok Wans who eventually, once enough time has passed, will not be seen dead wearing them as the shoes will have somehow magically transformed themselves from being a “timeless”* classic. By then the square-toed black loafer (or other equally non-PH-approved shoe) will have become the new timeless classic/wardrobe staple.

*for classic, timeless, or other “Suits you, Sir” speak – read: in fashion