The Sloppy Rich

A Dressing for the Ages Post

The history of humanity is a short one.

Wait, let’s rephrase that; the history of modern humanity, home sapiens, Sapiens, is a short one.

Human beings, in their first editions, have been around for nearly 2 million years. The more recent editions are a million years in the making. Sapiens are about 250,000 years old.

To place this in perspective, the Earth is an aging beauty of about 4.54 billion years. In another half a billion years, she is set to die because her sweetheart, the sun, will grow cold on her. Methinks, however, we have a few years to figure out how to leave this place, and go somewhere else. Until then, let’s talk about how madness has creeped up on us, forcing some of us to wish we could stop the world, and get off now.

In the back of my head, I’ve always had this idea, that some Sapiens are from someplace else. Everyone else went extinct. And no, we Sapiens didn’t go around slaughtering all those other species. However, those pesky scientists now tell us there are more humans gone extinct than we knew about. Here’s the real kicker. Those humans have unrecognizable DNA.

That’s what I mean when I ask, who, actually, are we?

Let’s return to the idea of getting off this planet. Space research is still young. And yet, the idea of getting beyond our solar system, into another, is doable. Just not today. Physicist Michio Kaku tells us that we will figure out light speed, and how to keep a person alive long enough to make a journey to another planet that he, or she, can step onto, and live. That is key, the planet that we can breath on, and grow food on. Technically, it is referred to as “life supporting.”

That does excite me. I’ve told my kids to give my ashes to my descendants so that I can be scattered “up there.”

I find it ironic that it is two rich men who are on the forefront of this research into space travel, and beyond. Does this mean that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk also want to get off this planet? What do they know that the rest of us don’t? Whatever that may be, I find these these men have an expansive vision. I don’t know if this is just a new form of play for Bezos, however, Musk is serious.

This is a male thing. It is new tools being developed for a new purpose. Guys have always done that. Not that women don’t make and develop tools. Women figured out the needle. And then how to spin fibers into thread, and thread into clothing, rugs, blankets, you name it. This area of our lives has always been female. I also believe it was women that forced men to settle down in one place. And then the guys liked the idea of building a city, of conquering nature by figuring out the rules, and changing them. Great women scientists are the exception, not the rule. Getting out to space is a guy thing. It is really big game hunting when you search for a new planet to live on. No wooly mammoth to hunt? Let’s try space!

When it comes to the arts, in the history of our world, so far, the same rules apply. Men created.  We can discuss why that is, but what is, is. Even in the realm of clothing, men made clothing for men. Tailoring is constructing. When women’s clothing turned complex, male tailors did the calculations.

In our present world, outside of Coco Chanel, how many female designers were there? Because up to that time, it usually was, as it is today, male tailors and female everything else. Women did the spinning and weaving and sewing. But not always. In the ancient evidence, we see men tasked with those jobs as well.

The really huge question is, who designed and constructed the clothing worn by the snake priestesses on the ancient island of Crete? Who put together the straight skirted dresses worn by the Egyptian women? The Greeks and Romans were not very interesting in the clothing they wore. In fact, they were rather sloppy. The romans with their fantastic feats of engineering could not construct a garment. Which means, the rich were sloppy too.

During the Middle Ages, folks had to stand still whilst sleeves were tacked onto their garments. Tunics were woven as one piece, but no one had the long fitted sleeves we have today, that are attached to the garment’s body. It would not be until the Renaissance, that the tailor figured out how to make a tight fitting garment. However, clothing was constructed as two pieces; the bodice did not attach to the skirt once hoops came into the picture. The bodice was made to fit the corset. Is it any wonder women stood up straight for the next two hundred years? Even the men’s clothing required stiffness in the construction for those doublets to have the correct look. From this era, the stiff upper body, not just the lip, became the mark of the wealthy. Indeed, the wealthy, who would be the leaders of society, presented themselves as worthy of the roles they played in the civilizations. The people tried to emulate the wealthy.

They still do.

This is what concerns me. That the wealthy no longer understand their role. In part, this is so, because individualism has run amok, and partly because so many new fortunes have been created. Once upon a time, when the same families ruled their civilizations for generations, the middle classes looked to emulate the virtues, and dress, of the leadership class. Whatever the aristocrats were wearing, you wanted to wear it as well. They had style, and the middle and working classes wanted them to have style. Don’t kid yourselves, the working class were some of the biggest snobs around.

True, the noble class wasn’t always noble in their conduct. They could be great sinners, but they sinned with style.

What happened to style? What happened to the well tailored suit of clothes? For men and women. Why is it that the nouveau riche look so, well, slovenly? We have individuals who work with trainers to have the perfect body, but they wear clothing that detracts from the body? Or, as seen lately, some women wear clothing that leaves nothing to the imagination. This goes beyond the ancient priestesses on Crete, whose ceremonial clothing bared their breasts. The rest of the dress was fashionable and rather tailored considering this was 4000 years back.

Crete’s priestesses had style. Movie stars? Eh. Why the priestess bared her breast is anyone’s guess. It must have been a draw to the guys. She also wore a stiff bodice that worked like a corset to keep her standing straight. She looked important. Anyone who can handle snakes is rather awe inspiring. She commanded respect. An actress in a mesh dress? Not so much.  As my mother would say, “What sort of attention do you want to attract?”

Actresses, before the 21st century, emulated the wealthy and noble classes. They wanted to be accepted and admired as an artist, not as a personality. However, in looking at the fashion shows, who wants to emulate, or be caught dead, in garments that are sloppy? Who wants to pay thousands for an uninteresting jacket? Chanel’s jackets have been dumbed down to look good on no one. Or everyone. Style has been diluted.

Is Chanel turning over in her grave? After all, she was the new thing in the early 20th century, the first designer to deconstruct women’s clothes. She did beachwear. Comfy clothes that needed no corset. Nonetheless, her goal was style and comfort. Her iconic jacket, which will run you 9k new, is a classic. You invest in one, you wear it forever, and then your kids sell it for 5k.

What about Dior? His new look was quite tailored, and needed a girdle to keep the waistline as designed. Today’s models, who are more than thin, don’t do the girdle, they don’t need it.  However, like Chanel, someone else now designs his clothes. Dior died in 1959. Long before he had to grapple with the changes in the 60s.

Chanel did design in the 60s. But after her death in 1971, the House of Chanel languished a bit, until Karl Lagerfeld took control.  He brought the house up to the 21st century. He made it profitable as well. His designs could be“out there” but not sloppy.  I cannot say the same for the new designer at the House of Chanel, Virginie Viard.

Ditto my old favorite, Christian Dior. His was the world of the tailor. His new look was sexy. Not so for the current designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri. As one critic put it, she makes sexless clothing.

I confess to being old fashioned. I like clothes that make one stand up straight. Not that a corset is the answer, nonetheless, when clothes simply sit on the body, with pieces of fabric that go this way and that, without rhyme or reason, it looks confused and out of balance. In short, it has no pizzazz. Like a Roman matrons outfit, it is not tailored, it is simply arranged over her body. Very little creativity is needed here.

I guess today’s designers have discovered real vintage fashion, aka, ancient drape. My beef is this non style, style, seems to have taken over the fashion industry. The Dior collection had me slack jawed. Just who are Dior’s customers?

Back in the day, there was a clear line in the sand in what was appropriate for what occasion. After all, one didn’t want to be seen in the wrong light, doing the wrong thing, at the right event. You wanted to be asked back, not become a social pariah. Dressed inappropriately was right up there with using the wrong fork. It marked you as vulgar. Watch any red carpet event, and you will see there is enough vulgarity to go around.

The irony here is that  those fashionable individuals, who visit the gym frequently, pay good money for a trainer, end up wear clothing that does absolutely nothing to complement their body.

Perhaps fashion will come around full circle, to when clothing’s statement was about setting oneself apart, and above, the common, so as to be noticed in a positive light as someone of grace, intelligence, and beauty?

Our modern world is out of kilter about many things. Is that why there is this new trend to look sloppy? Fashion is expression. But when the garment is too large, on purpose, making some look like a child wearing an adults clothing, what does that express?

I suggest our current confusion about ourselves as human beings is expressed by the designers,  in their shapeless, unbalanced garments. Nonetheless, clothing works like a mirror, reflecting back to us the thoughts many have about the human condition. Let’s leave it this: I don’t like their thoughts, nor the present day human condition. So be a revolutionary. Wear a well fitting, suit of clothes, and rise above the crowd.