We did too in America. Look at this first episode of the "New" Price is Right with Bob Barker in 1972:
And then look at these more recent versions. Poor Drew Cary did not do the show like Bob Barker but he has grown into the part but it isn't the same. Bob Barker was just plain funny; Drew isn't:
Even in his old age, (mid 80's here) Bob Barker knew how to tease contestants and make the show funny! This is a classic example of thousands through Barker's more than 35 years on the daily game show! He was/is an icon in America still going strong in his 90's! But continue to look at how contestants dressed in recent years compared to the first show!
Bob's successor, Drew Cary, just doesn't know how to do it! He's more cut and dry. This is when he loss weight:
6 comments:
OBVIOUSLY dropping Latin, communion in the hand, nuns not wearing Medieval habits, Priests facing the congregation instead of God, and Altar Girlz caused this demonic shift in our culture!!! Causa finita est!
Um, that's "cut and dried," not "cut and dry."
Its marketing:Retailers can sell s, m, l, xl rather than a couple dozen measured individual sizes designed for a half dozen different body types. Also there is no longer the need to keep a tailor on staff. Pants to long? The trend is to fold them up. Shirt to long, do the same. Clothes look baggy? That's the style. Clothes too tight? That's the style. A designer Tee matched with designer jeans is a lot more economical to manufacture than a designer suit, yet through advertising the merchandiser can get the same price for both. Easier inventory, and cheaper manufacturing lead to higher profits.
Consider: "There’s this fashion theorist who wrote in the 1930s about how in capitalist societies, clothing serves as this way to jump in and out of socioeconomic class. Now, he was writing at a time when people were still really trying to jump up, and could feign wealth. You could buy a nice-looking suit and make it seem like you were a lot more wealthy than you actually were then. But in the second half of the 20th century, what we've seen is people doing just the opposite."
And:
"I think we dress more casually because we can, because in American culture perennial appearance has become an expression of individuality and not social class to the degree that dressing up is dressing up the socioeconomic ladder. I think that we dress more casually because it’s a middle ground for Americans. I mean look at the presidential candidates. Donald Trump has his own, albeit mediocre quality, shirt and tie line. It’s all about standing out and yet fitting in."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/09/08/why-americans-dress-so-casually/
I admit that I have grown lazy when it comes to my way of dressing. It is easier to wear jeans and a tee shirt or a sweatshirt than to wear a nice Oxford and a pair of slacks. I don't know why that is, but that is the way it is.
Probably it has to do with the fashion industry and TV and movies. We dress the way we do because that's the current fashion. When I see those old movies from the forties and fifties it's hard to believe that a time ever existed when the majority of women wore dresses and gloves and men wore suits and hats. I saw an old Spencer Tracy movie which showed a scene at a baseball stadium. Virtually every man in that stadium was in a suit and hat. If I didn't see the film I would have thought it was make believe. It sure did look a lot better than flip flops and shorts. In truth I would probably dress better if every body else did. Sad to say but it's the truth.
I have believed for decades that, at least in the United States, men had become sloppy in regard to their clothing when they ceased to wear hats in public. For women, even though they tend to be far more fashion-conscious than men, they began to dress down when they transitioned into pants/blue jeans.
In regard to men, I had tended to believe that it was President Kennedy who was responsible for men having lost interest in wearing hats. However, the following columnist noted that President Eisenhower may have been the culprit in that regard.
http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/05/04/152011840/who-killed-mens-hats-think-of-a-three-letter-word-beginning-with-i
Regardless, check the photos that accompany the above link. The manner in which men presented themselves in public changed dramatically when they tossed aside their hats. They had thrown their hats into the ring...but never returned for them.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
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