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Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

nytimes.com

291–300 of 369 posts

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#291
post #5

The collapse of the fashion industry does not mean the clothing industry will collapse. People still need clothing obviously (cheap and of good quality preferably). Also, what do we consider the fashion industry exactly? Most long term clothing trends seem to be dictated by a couple of factors. Consisting of: - practicality. Jeans are good example of this. It's cheap and practical clothing that lasts a long time. - c…

That's very dismissive of the art and self-expression that goes into this. It's a strange, but pervasive human behavior, to make things not only practical, but beautiful. To put in different ideas into easthetics of things, to express yourself through them.

Of course, may be most shoppers simply go after current trends, but that's just true for any art form, from music to movies to books; almost all of these things are just as impractical. Investing your resources into something just because it looks nice is a very human thing to do.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#292
post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Reasonable limits on rights has always been constitutional. Citation needed. I don't know how more unambiguous the framers could get than "shall not be infringed". Setting aside my personal feelings on the matter, this just seems to be a bad argument which is not in evidence. I've read the Constitution thoroughly on more than one occasion, I don't see anything within that makes it seems as if the framers thought ig…

It always strikes me as odd that so many Americans look at the constitution as if it was a holy text from the founding fathers that must be followed and left unchanged, even though they are usually discussing amendments...

Based on the kinds of things I see people posting on social media, I think the attitude regarding amendment #2 stems from fear. Guns make them feel safe. Including feeling safe from the government who they fear will come to try to do things like silence them and destroy their ways of thinking or even cause physical harm. So it causes real conflict for them when the government wants to put limits on guns.

On top of that, the 2nd amendment itself is about defending against the government. It says that armed citizens are necessary to be able to form a well-regulated militia. The founding fathers had just broken free of an oppressive government, so they wanted to be sure it was possible for states to break free again if necessary.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#293

So, in the 80s, there was this anti-cassete copying campaign, and they were stickers etc, "Record copying is killing the music industry". And Jello Biafra (iirc), said: "Record copying is killing the music industry - and it's about time!". I'd say the same for the fashion industry - selling crap, made in sweatshops, marked up 10x to 100x, for mindless, environmentally unfriendly consumption based on BS advice of comp…

One cassette version of the Dead Kennedys e.p. In God We Trust Inc. had a blank side, printed with the message "Home taping is killing record industry profits! We left this side blank so you can help."

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are 5 genres of men’s clothes - business (pressed shirts, suits), casual, workout, skater, and comfort (hoodie). There’s quite a bit of variation within those. Where I live, “casual” these days is usually something like Columbia PFG - the epitome of “dad clothes”, as my wife tells me. I tend to wear that pretty much exclusively. I substitute jeans for the shorts in winter and buy a new leather jacket about ev…

Here are some examples of women’s clothing where I cannot think of the equivalent thing in a men’s clothing department: https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1AawYy29TBuNjy0Fcq6zeiFXaW/Off... https://patternshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Tube-top-... http://images.asos-media.com/products/asos-cut-out-sleeve-on... https://cdn.tobi.com/product_images/lg/1/teal-kayla-ombre-ma... (That last one is a bit of a cheat because m…

Really? It's not clear if you mean equivalent in the sense of showing as much skin or for wearing in similar circumstances.

But here are some things I think are equivalentish..

https://www.asos.com/au/asos-design/asos-design-regular-fit-...

https://www.asos.com/au/one-above-another/one-above-another-...

https://www.asos.com/au/asos-design/asos-design-t-shirt-in-b...

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#295
post #261
post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I resisted the trend because it looks effeminate To be honest, it seems that in the most of US, merely being stylish is perceived as "effeminate" (for a man).

Not only in the US, that is pretty typical for the whole American continent, even worse in Latin America as it's seen as a "gay" trait to be into fashion. As a straight man who is into fashion for quite a few years now and who moved out of Brazil to Sweden: that culture is pretty stupid, I feel so much better and more myself when I'm able to express my personality with my clothes without the fear of being judged by s…

Is it very different in Sweden than the Americas?

I'm a Norwegian guy, and I love how tolerant we turned weirdly quickly. Even the anti-abortion Christian™ Party walks in the Pride parade now.

Frankly I think most people here would still think of the random guy in a dress as non-straight, but since "nobody" cares about that here anymore, nobody cares about clothing in a negative way either.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#297

I read the article, then was surprised to see that the comments here are focused to much on the clothing part of the story, rather than the investment and financing parts of the story. They way VC is described in the story seems familiar to me from time spent working for Bay-area startups, and I think the critiques in the story apply in tech as well.

Well DTC is moving through a lot of non perishable industries as many do understand how much power retailers have over the manufacturer of products they sell. Just as the article mention RTVs and discounting forced upon the manufacturer grocery has been doing this for ages, even down to the point of forcing sales on a schedule, charging for end cap space or specific aisles. One issue the fashion industry also faced i…

> With so many in the music industry called out in #METOO; excepting one glaring genre

It’s interesting to watch people get their little digs in on here, I’ll say that.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#298
The "fast" fashion industry maybe, which has been an over-inflated, Brave New World-like market for decades. When it comes down to it, people don't need more than a few items of clothes. And right now we're in a situation where it comes down to it. Comfort and practicality are important now, not whether your outfit is fresh or fashionable.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#299
post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Reasonable limits on rights has always been constitutional. Citation needed. I don't know how more unambiguous the framers could get than "shall not be infringed". Setting aside my personal feelings on the matter, this just seems to be a bad argument which is not in evidence. I've read the Constitution thoroughly on more than one occasion, I don't see anything within that makes it seems as if the framers thought ig…

It always strikes me as odd that so many Americans look at the constitution as if it was a holy text from the founding fathers that must be followed and left unchanged, even though they are usually discussing amendments...

The Bill of Rights is meant to be a declaration of immutable rights of human beings. It always strikes me as odd that people view these as permissions given from some higher authority that can be changed. The reason they are so viciously argued for is because it is the only thing we can point to that enshrines the idea that we have individual rights that cannot be legislated away.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#300
post #18
post #5

The collapse of the fashion industry does not mean the clothing industry will collapse. People still need clothing obviously (cheap and of good quality preferably). Also, what do we consider the fashion industry exactly? Most long term clothing trends seem to be dictated by a couple of factors. Consisting of: - practicality. Jeans are good example of this. It's cheap and practical clothing that lasts a long time. - c…

(All comments on culture US centric) - This thinking is why the men’s section is 1/4 as large as the women’s in most stores. Culturally for men clothing is supposed to be above all practical. There are 5 genres of men’s clothes - business (pressed shirts, suits), casual, workout, skater, and comfort (hoodie). Contrast this with the women’s section. Women have an expectation to express themselves and their personality…

> People were trending less formal almost everywhere in the workplace, except NYC, SF and LA (or in high touch industries like real estate or law).

Sorry if this comes across as nitpicking but I'm curious what makes you think SF remains formal outside of high touch industries? AFAIK tech is the biggest industry in SF and formal clothes are far from expected there, you would not look out of place in a hoodie and shorts in an SF tech office (or even in some reasonably nice restaurants). In most tech offices you'd look like a bit of a weirdo dressed any more formal than business casual.

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