The Tamesis
The music and musicians of the time played an important role in capturing the dreams and desires of a generation, and they also captured new ways of dressing. The Rolling Stones rocked up in printed shirts and tight leggings both in concert and on their album covers. The Beatles and their Maharishi blazed the trail of meditation and robes in Eastern culture. Today, gender-neutral dressing is called androgyny, and it still stems from the ongoing breakdown of barriers and the status quo. Once again, it’s one of the most striking, even shocking, in the world of music. Jennifer Beals tank tops and baggy sweatshirts in movies and music videos, and “Dance” Flashdance Interchangeable with Kevin Bacon’s work free. Culture Club’s boy George, with his flowing hair and heavy make-up, embraces a post-peasant form of national dress—that of a Hasidic Jew or a geisha (the latter, so convincingly, was refused entry by French customs when officials couldn’t believe he was a man). Everyone wore slit, rolled, cropped T-shirts and black leather. Even the Batterberrys’ “plaid suit,” one of the band’s list of unisex ’60s outfits, appeared on Eurythmics frontman Annie Lennox’s latest U.S. tour, in a bold black-and-white glory. Japanese-inspired designers, whose oversized silhouettes are sometimes favored by Duran Duran (a band many predicted would be the next Beatles), took drag even further with makeup that was quite defined yet very attractive.
On the streets, from New York’s East Village to London’s Kensington High Street, boys and girls, men and women sift through the same clothing racks in the city’s hottest boutiques. They were most likely all wearing tweed single-breasted coats, black berets, Ray-Ban sunglasses, neon anklets, and huge fringed scarves in the Middle Eastern style (black and white for the PLO; red and white for the Bedouins).
On a more classic note, more and more women are looking for their own Shetland sweaters and polo shirts in the menswear department, or opting for an oversupply of similar products designed specifically for women. The result, again, is androgynous, a quintessentially American, cultured quality. In fact, the classic appeal of men’s clothing lies in the real difference in quality.
Men’s clothing is widely praised for its expert tailoring, attention to detail, and durability in design and manufacture, often at a lower cost. Part of the reason it lasts so long is that few men want to change their wardrobe every season. In the 1970s, many men’s clothing manufacturers (Stanley Blacker, Arthur Richards) began producing women’s clothing lines, providing women with, as one explained, “well-tailored clothes” and “better quality fabrics.” Since then, as more and more women are demanding more from fashion, more men’s clothing manufacturers and designers have begun launching women’s clothing lines. This need gave rise to what used to be called “investment dressing” and remains relevant as women trust clothing that will stand up to time and trends.
Concerns about money are another reason for the popularity of men’s clothing these days. Throughout history, during hard economic times—which we are in now, although indicators are improving—clothing has become more sombre, grayer, and subdued, much like menswear has traditionally been. During the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s, a soft, minimalist gray suit with simple lines became popular for both men and women, and the suit reappeared in the recessionary 1980s.
