What is with styles?

[Monkeyleg]

I've commented before on the ridiculous knit hats with ear flaps and string ties. When I was in my teens and twenties, the only people who wore those--male or female--were quintuple-super-nerds. Even the regular nerds wouldn't have been seen in them.

Now I see them everywhere. I saw a kid the other day driving a convertible wearing one. In Alabama. In August. In 90+ degree heat.

I don't get it.



Bad enough to wear some stupid hat, but to cover yourself in tattoos that will remain long after the fad dies. Worse to do it so it can't be covered except with a hazmat suit.



But the guy who did this should be strung up by his wedding tackle.

[Tallpine]

A guy walks down the street in a hat like that - you know he's not afraid of anything. 

[charby]

and people born the 1920's questioned your style when you were in your teen and 20's.

[Boomhauer]

It's the style of being a *expletive deleted*tard.

People are idiots and wear idiotic things, do idiotic things to their body, and of course do idiotic things to their cars.

[freakazoid]

I really doubt that tattoos are just some fad.

[Tallpine]

I wear just about the same sort of clothes that I did back in 1880 

[æg151337]

A guy walks down the street in a hat like that - you know he's not afraid of anything. 

damn straight.

[freakazoid]

Jayne Cobb, trend setter.
Gather around and listen to a tale,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh1RkW1of6E

[Jamisjockey]

I have 0 ink and no dog in this fight, other than being irritated with people who think tattoos are new.

[æg151337]

I have 0 ink and no dog in this fight, other than being irritated with people who think tattoos are new.

That looks like it could be his own face over his heart area.

[Perd Hapley]

I've commented before on the ridiculous knit hats with ear flaps and string ties. When I was in my teens and twenties, the only people who wore those--male or female--were quintuple-super-nerds. Even the regular nerds wouldn't have been seen in them.

That's the point. I think it's one part "I'm so awesome, I make this look cool," one part needing attention, and another part, "I reject society's fashion, man."

[BlueStarLizzard]

It's all to make old farts like you cranky.

[charby]

High fashion 1974

[T.O.M.]

I tried to explain it to my son like this...
Fashions and styles change.  When I was in high school, Levi 501 shrink to fit jeans, the mullet (especially with the front spiked,), and cheesy little moustaches were popular for guys.  You wouldn't want to be seen with any of that now.  Tats are in fashion now in a big way.  But tats are a lifetime commitment often made for a fashion decision.  Want some ink, get it done right by someone who knows what he is doing, put it somewhere that doesn't show 24/7 (like your face), and choose something that will be as meaningful in 20 years as it is now.

[Hawkmoon]

It's all to make old farts like you cranky.

It works ...

[AJ Dual]

That's the point. I think it's one part "I'm so awesome, I make this look cool," one part needing attention, and another part, "I reject society's fashion, man."

Nailed it. It's that in a nutshell.

High fashion 1974

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2560/4156122441_34a23cf0f4_z.jpg

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2579/4156884012_83456b246a_z.jpg

In the 1970's we weren't completely blind to that stuff. Even then, it was being done with an undercurrent of "We're so ironic and this stuff is so awful it's cool..." or the contrast of the garish plaids on a suit coat etc. Of course, when it's in the Sears or JCP catalog, it's so mainstream, people have to do something else to set themselves apart, and it starts over again.

Although I do think there's a new proliferation of more diverse and perhaps more persistent fashions/subcultures, due to the Internet and modern communication. It kind of short circuited the whole, "What the cool kids in the big cities are doing, and it trickles out into the countryside over X-years.." system.

[Perd Hapley]

I tried to explain it to my son like this...
Fashions and styles change.  When I was in high school, Levi 501 shrink to fit jeans, the mullet (especially with the front spiked,), and cheesy little moustaches were popular for guys.  You wouldn't want to be seen with any of that now. 

Unless you're a hipster. Then you would like it very much. See my earlier comment.

[Monkeyleg]

How many people my age (~60) do you see walking around with shag haircuts? Platform shoes?

What will young people in 30-40 years say about the 60-something's with tattoos covering arms, legs, chests, backs, hips, butts, hands, faces and God only knows where else? Does anyone think that tattoos will be fashionable in the year 2050?

[BlueStarLizzard]

How many people my age (~60) do you see walking around with shag haircuts? Platform shoes?

What will young people in 30-40 years say about the 60-something's with tattoos covering arms, legs, chests, backs, hips, butts, hands, faces and God only knows where else? Does anyone think that tattoos will be fashionable in the year 2050?

Dick, I hate to burst your little bubble, but the folks who get tattoos all over like that generally arn't concerned with fasion or will care too much if it looks like crap in 2050.

That's not the majority of "younger folks".

I think I've snapped at you before for this, but good grief, stop being such an old fart. Just because you are that old, doesn't mean you have to act it. And the whole "kids these days" thing is annoying and just shows how unable you are to move forward and accept the times.

[Perd Hapley]

I think I've snapped at you before for this, but good grief, stop being such an old fart. Just because you are that old, doesn't mean you have to act it. And the whole "kids these days" thing is annoying and just shows how unable you are to move forward and accept the times.

He thinks like an old dude, and you think like a young whippersnapper. That doesn't make you right, or him wrong. Besides, there's no law that says he must "move forward and accept the times." That's groupthink.

[brimic]

That's the point. I think it's one part "I'm so awesome, I make this look cool," one part needing attention, and another part, "I reject society's fashion, man."

Lolz. Those that reject 'society's fashion' all dress, pierce, and tat the same.

[RevDisk]

Does anyone think that tattoos will be fashionable in the year 2050?

Considering people have been wearing fashionable tattoos for the last four thousand years, I would be willing to bet "Yes".

[makattak]

Dick, I hate to burst your little bubble, but the folks who get tattoos all over like that generally arn't concerned with fasion or will care too much if it looks like crap in 2050.

First of all, the people who get tattoos like that generally are VERY concerned with fashion. The may follow a different fashion trend, but they got the tattoos for the message they send.

Secondly, condemning your future self to a permanent fashion choice is your right, but I find it quite foolish. (Shoes, hair, clothes, etc.. can all be changed VERY easily. With only photographic evidence of your youthful foolishness.)

And, I'm sure they don't care it will look like crap (because it will) in 2050. Most of them have no concept of maturing, nor even of growing older (they are clearly two different things.)

Incidentally, it's not just "old pharts" who are disappointed by the shortsightedness of today's youth- some of use younger ones have the ability to look more than 5 years down the road.

(And don't get me started on the "disking" or any other like stupidity. I hope many of these people's future selves discover time travel and come back to kick their own youthful butts.) 

[fifth_column]

Lolz. Those that reject 'society's fashion' all dress, pierce, and tat the same.

I've been laughing at the "I want to be a non-conformist too" attitude since the '80s.   

[Monkeyleg]

BSL, I don't give a rat's behind what any of these individuals do, although I find what they do amazing.

Fashions in the past weren't permanent. You could cut your hair differently, stop wearing this or that makeup, get rid of the spats, or stop wearing powdered wigs (before my time, believe it or not). I just think it's bizarre to do something as a fashion or a statement that's permanently marked on one's body.

It's not that I'm an "old fart". It's just that I've had many more years than most here to observe what people do, and to observe fashion trends. There's all sorts of factors that drive fashion, and some of those are manipulative factors driven by manufacturers (I've told the story already about the tie-dyed fad). I've had to laugh every time I saw a new outrageous fashion, as the motivation for embracing it is always the same. It's why my older brothers were greasers, it's why I had long hair, and it's why some of my nephews had the punk rock look. Some things never change, they just look different.