Athleisure Wear Going Out Of Style?

[The_Shooter]

My understanding is Obama also had many of the same suits made each day as a sort of uniform. So you can still have a uniform but determine whether it's going to be athleisure or classic.
I do think Steve Jobs was very intentional in the brand of turtleneck he wore in addition to the shoes but I think objectively he looked sloppy and not very well put together. You can also see Jack Dorsey originally tried to dress sharply with blazers/oxfords and high-end belts like the well-known Hermes 'H' belt buckle. You can see him transition to Rick Owens as well as streetwear. I would imagine as money is accumulated wearing what would be otherwise considered cheap clothing is a way to show your high status. Look at photos of Sergey Brin at fundraisers wearing ugly looking crocs among attendees in suits. I think what we're mixing up here is the clothes themselves and the powerful people in the culture and their choice of clothing. With the rise of tech and an ability to accumulate resources without the traditional pathway which involved wearing a power suit and looking the part, society through its new power brokers have okayed wearing hoodies as the leader of an organization rather than a bespoke suit. I still think if you're running a multibillion dollar company wearing a cashmere hoody, you are still objectively dressed poorly but the vast majority of people in society will just blindly follow and idolize that poorly dressed individual.

good post

looking bad looks bad, doesn’t matter how much the outfit cost.
Steve Jobs looked bad. I don’t care if he had the turtle necks made by the same person who made the Sony uniform.

and along that line, with say “the midtown uniform”
All those finance bros did was trade one uniform, the suit, for another uniform, the pants and button down and vest.
it’s still a uniform, except one looked good and the other looks weak.
And I don’t buy the “comfort” argument. Dress pants and a button down shirt are involved in both uniforms. One has a buttoned top button on the shirt, but if the shirt fits that not a problem. Heck, just drop the tie and it’s the same thing except the suit jacket looks good and the Patagonia vest looks bad.

 

[The_Shooter]

Depends. I am not a gigantic fan of the whole "let's wear middle school girl sneakers" look that some people around here likes. I think the all white, 500 dollar sneakers is the kind of thing you used to get picked on for wearing. Then you have people who think 1990s New Balances are amazingly stylish and I am flabbergasted.

I am not saying you can't pull off a sneaker-with-jacket look, but I'd much rather see someone in some sort of proper shoe or boot.

hey, I’m with you. The sneakers with a suit is actually somewhat bad, and sneakers with a sports coat is not for me.

But the key is the jacket in my eyes. That’s where the big difference is made.

 

[acconrad]

but I do believe there is a portion of Gen z who see millennials sitting around looking bad and not leaving the house and think “looking bad and staying home all day is not a good way to go through life”?

When I was in college I wasn’t worried about what GenX was thinking. I don’t really think any generation cares much about the next one, but more so the skip level generation (their parents).

In other words, gen Z cares nothing about Millennials and more that they don’t look like their Gen X parents do today (while also borrowing the styles of their youth Since fashion operates on 20-30 yr cycles)

 

[acconrad]

low-level trash shoes like contemporary Cole Haans and Florsheims.

hey now, cordovan Florsheim imperials are nice. The vintage models fetch for a pretty penny and are some nice value wingtips

 

[JFWR]

hey now, cordovan Florsheim imperials are nice. The vintage models fetch for a pretty penny and are some nice value wingtips

I meant contemporary only. Both brands were once amazingly nice shoes, especially Florsheims.

 

[acconrad]

I meant contemporary only. Both brands were once amazingly nice shoes, especially Florsheims.

Cole Haan had its day??

 

[JFWR]

hey, I’m with you. The sneakers with a suit is actually somewhat bad, and sneakers with a sports coat is not for me.

But the key is the jacket in my eyes. That’s where the big difference is made.

Agreed. The jacket makes or breaks it.

 

[JFWR]

Cole Haan had its day??

When they were made in the USA (Chicago), yes.

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Example.

 

[The_Shooter]

But even a “bad” pair of cole hanns, at least that shows effort.
And really, it’s not so much the look of the cole Hanns that make them bad, but rather the construction. They aren’t built to last. But out of the box they generally can pass as acceptable.

and as somebody moved on to wanting items they can pay slightly (or much) more for but will last longer and patina and age with quality over time, then they can move into better brands.

but that’s sort of off topic. What’s important is that, at least where I am, athleisure wear is becoming sort of a punchline as opposed to something that people strive for.

 

[JFWR]

But even a “bad” pair of cole hanns, at least that shows effort.
And really, it’s not so much the look of the cole Hanns that make them bad, but rather the construction. They aren’t built to last. But out of the box they generally can pass as acceptable.

and as somebody moved on to wanting items they can pay slightly (or much) more for but will last longer and patina and age with quality over time, then they can move into better brands.

but that’s sort of off topic. What’s important is that, at least where I am, athleisure wear is becoming sort of a punchline as opposed to something that people strive for.

A lot of the Cole Haans are friggin' awful look wise now, too, but yes, I agree they look better than say some generic loafers you can get from Payless.

I hope athleisure is on the way out, but I am not seeing it here. Then again, I think the majority of people in any time frame are not really that good at dressing as it is not their priority.

 

[aj805]

When "athleisure" goes away, it can only be replaced by something worse. By worse, I mean somehow cheaper clothes, which also means they will be uglier and less desirable, but people will buy it because "it's new" and because that's what will be promoted because it costs nothing to manufacture. That is how this works.

That's how we got to people happily buying and walking around in tissue-paper-thin plastic garments that don't breathe or insulate, and plastic shoes that will be replaced within the year.

It would be impossible for fashion or clothing styles to move in any other direction because that would require inverting consumer/marketplace views on quality and real value, and that is not going to happen because it is at odds with the goals of manufacturers.

 

[The_Shooter]

When "athleisure" goes away, it can only be replaced by something worse. By worse, I mean somehow cheaper clothes, which also means they will be uglier and less desirable, but people will buy it because "it's new" and because that's what will be promoted because it costs nothing to manufacture. That is how this works.

That's how we got to people happily buying and walking around in tissue-paper-thin plastic garments that don't breathe or insulate, and plastic shoes that will be replaced within the year.

It would be impossible for fashion or clothing styles to move in any other direction because that would require inverting consumer/marketplace views on quality and real value, and that is not going to happen because it is at odds with the goals of manufacturers.

this is true
unfortunately

maybe it will be more like:
Dressing well again becomes popular in more circles, and athleisure wear is not quite as frequent as it is now.

 

[JFWR]

this is true
unfortunately

maybe it will be more like:
Dressing well again becomes popular in more circles, and athleisure wear is not quite as frequent as it is now.

I think the best thing we can do to address these worrying trends is to lead by example. Dress at least decently well and that can lead to widening the interest.

But are we going to see some widespread, cultural revolution of dressing decently? Probably not anytime soon.

 

[The_Shooter]

I think we will see people dressing well again.

things got bad in the 1990’s with grunge. Then some people cleaned up.

office dress was pretty bad 20 years ago, but then they had an uptick a decade ago. It’s real bad now, but I think that as more people get back to work and realize how bad they look there will be another uptick.

 

[The_Shooter]

And when did wearing hats in restaurants become acceptable?

some guy in a t-shirt and Buffalo bills hat at the table next to me tonight.

restaurants need to get back to dress codes again.