Absolutely fascinating. The cultural shift of male clothing from peacock to demure penguin is just astonishing when you think for how long military uniform was designed to denote, and identify and not hide. right up into the modern era.
Nowadays, almost universally we decry male dress as "flashy" or "bogan" or "new money" because of the ostentation. Such a reversal. The signal now is much more subtle. Clearly hand cut seams. Fit. Denial of modern trend. Royalty has shifted the burden to the female line, and can swing industry behind their choices. High street fashion on a royal! she wore the same dress twice! Such signals.
I would love to be wearing cloth of gold. Brocade. Well, maybe not in Queensland.
I recommend "It's a Small, Medium and Outsize World" by John Taylor from 1966. It's a little hard to find, but well worth reading. Highly sarcastic/ironic images throughout. The one for "chain store fashion" is a fakir wrapped in .. chains.
Nowadays, almost universally we decry male dress as "flashy" or "bogan" or "new money" because of the ostentation. Such a reversal. The signal now is much more subtle. Clearly hand cut seams. Fit. Denial of modern trend. Royalty has shifted the burden to the female line, and can swing industry behind their choices. High street fashion on a royal! she wore the same dress twice! Such signals.
I would love to be wearing cloth of gold. Brocade. Well, maybe not in Queensland.
I recommend "It's a Small, Medium and Outsize World" by John Taylor from 1966. It's a little hard to find, but well worth reading. Highly sarcastic/ironic images throughout. The one for "chain store fashion" is a fakir wrapped in .. chains.