Working Class?

[RenzaJones]

I have a question and admitadly it might belong on the GB but I really do find it hard to converse with people in a circle where intellect might as well be a money saving long distance plan. In anycase I'm dressing one of the character's in my story and as a Narcissitic fashion monger she's wearing the newest breed of high heeled hiking boots.

My question is this when did the working class become such a gas? it's all hiking boots carpenter jeans and novelty resturant t-shirts all conviently priced from 150$ to the thousands. GOD
that said feel free hijack this thread for literary purposes and if you're up to it maybe a little wanton debauchry or hilarity.

 

[Guest]

Unzipped

Renza, the fashion industry has been ripping off the working class and ethnic populations forever. In the doc. film on Isaac Mizrahi (NY designer), "Unzipped", IM freaks out when he learns that a Paris designer (Lacroix or Gaultier, doesn't matter) has ripped off the Eskimos before him.

In the 60s/70s the haute couture crowd purposely made "hippie" fashion statements but charging exorbitant amounts for things like tie-dye and embroidered cuffs. Look at what happened to jeans. When I was young they were for working laborers (in factories, etc.), and my brothers only wore them for outside play; no one would ever have worn 'dungarees' or 'jeans' out in public. Now one can pay a week's wages for such.

Going through Vogue magazine over any decade should not surprise anyone as to the attitudes, not so much of the designers, but of their clientele who created such markets for 'lesbian chic', 'heroin chic', etc.

 

[destinie21]

Leave to you to make a commentary on the inappropriate direction that the fashion industry is headed in. I agree that the look at me I'm so poor yet chic look is a bit much. If I see one more pair of stratigically ripped and faded jeans on sale for 700 bucks I'm going to scream and maybe have a good old fashioned no holds barred kicking screaming tantrum. In the privacy of our home of course. Remember what side our bread is buttred on babe. I do have to say I'll design what people will buy and you know good and well if a celeb wears it or if it's punk rock 80's al la the ramones the people will buy it and love it. just look at l'enfante terible and tell me different.

PS: at least we still have vintage chanel and y'eves st Laurent to fall back on when D&G lead us to mismatched disarray


edited to add

I see perdita has beaten me to the first post
the above is for the LOML

Dita' dungarees? I love it.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

RenzaJones

My question is this when did the working class become such a gas?

The answer is: the mid-to-late '60's. As Tom Wolfe observed, that's when you started seeing Harvard students in bib overalls.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[gauchecritic]

My question is this when did the working class become such a gas? it's all hiking boots carpenter jeans and novelty resturant t-shirts all conviently priced from 150$ to the thousands. GOD
that said feel free hijack this thread for literary purposes and if you're up to it maybe a little wanton debauchry or hilarity.

Taking advantage of Renza (and who wouldn't) and derailing the topic slightly, in my book if you work for money you're working class. Maybe you mean 'manual class'.

Back on topic: The fashion industry has to rip off anything it can lay its hands on for the simple reason that there are people out there who, with no connections at all, simply 'know' what style is about.

Just look at all the 'gay identifiers' which have been ripped off as chic. Male earings (piercings), suede shoes, knitted ties, key chains, shaved heads etc.

The fact is, you can't buy 'looking good'.

Gauche

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Just look at all the 'gay identifiers' which have been ripped off as chic. Male earings (piercings), suede shoes, knitted ties, key chains, shaved heads etc.

SUEDE SHOES? Oh, my goodness. Oh, my gracious. Have my old Hush Puppie shoes finally come into style? (You'll notice I refrained from using "back" since many argue Hush Puppies couldn't come back into something they were never a part of in the first place, namely style.)

Rumple Foreskin

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Working Class?

... in my book if you work for money you're working class. Maybe you mean 'manual class'.

I don't think this is a case of semantics or any special quibbling. I know what "working class" meant only a few decades ago. Yes, I work for money but there is a great difference between my 'status' and that of my relations who still work picking fruit for a living across this country. There is also a difference between my comfortable enough wages and those who work hard for 'filthy lucre'.

Just saying, Purr

 

[oggbashan]

Denim

Outside the USA, jeans and denim became fashionable in the 1950s, and in many parts of the world they are still a status symbol.

In the UK, "working class" fashion tried to start with the "Teddy Boys" of the 1950s but remained "working class".

In the 1960s, Carnaby Street, and icons such as Mary Quant made fashion respectable for the "working class". Until the late 1950s teenagers (which is such a dated word nowadays) wore what their parents wore. I remember dating a daughter who would borrow her mother's twinset of sweater and cardigan (and fake pearls). At age 18 I would be wearing a grey pin-stripe two piece suit with old school tie. I only wore a bowler when going to work because I had to have a hat to take off to salute the quarterdeck when visiting one of Her Majesty's Ships.

My defining moment was in the mid-1960s. I was escorting a Lady Phys Ed Teacher along Kings Road in Chelsea. I had come from work so I was wearing another grey pin-stripe suit, wearing my bowler and carrying my black briefcase with the gold EIIR crest on it. The Lady was wearing a short mini-kilt in Royal Stewart tartan with a 2 inch wide white leather belt below a skin-tight white sweater. Her interminable legs (She was six feet two inches in her bare feet) were sheathed in Mary Quant stockings. I don't remember her shoes except that they had two inch heels.

What was memorable was the American TV crew walking backwards filming us presumably as "Swinging London". We had difficulty keeping our faces straight because there were about 20 of them trying to keep the pavement clear behind the camera dolly. All we were doing was going to Safeway to buy ingredients for a snack meal. But we were wearing our "working clothes". I wish I'd had a Phys Ed teacher like the Lady I was escorting.

Og

PS. I envied my father his black briefcase. Mine was shiny and new. His was still shiny but battered with the crest GVR. He kept it as a souvenir of working for their Majesties through four reigns but it was lost in one of his moves.

 

[gauchecritic]

Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

Yes, I work for money but there is a great difference between my 'status' and that of my relations who still work picking fruit for a living across this country.

Just saying, Purr

I was attempting facetious with politics. Social structures are obviously not determined by the job that you do, or not. Education, location and aspiration are closely linked with any pigeon-holing of who you are (according to social anthropologists or whoever it is that do these things).

I merely meant that working people have no basis for distinction amongst themselves and that the 'upper classes' should all be shot and their estates given over to the masses. (or does that make me French? In which case forget it.)

Gauche (whose tongue cannot be seen because it is firmly ensconced in his cheek)

 

[MathGirl]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

I was attempting facetious with politics.

Dear Gauchie,
I miss the part about the running dogs. That's always my favorite part of your political statements.
MG
Ps. I think of them as beagles. I hope that okay politically.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

Dear Gauchie,
I miss the part about the running dogs. That's always my favorite part of your political statements.
MG
Ps. I think of them as beagles. I hope that okay politically.

Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. But is it okay with beagles? Remember, not every beagle is as "special" as Walter.

RF

 

[Vincent E]

All this talk about fashion is going way over my head. All I can tell you is Canyon River Blues at Sears for $24.99 beat out a pair of over priced Levis any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

I was attempting facetious ...

You're making me open my mouth to laugh again, Gauche. Do free your tongue occasionally (that's just a selfish concern for your health. )

I am learning your gaucheness has layers, but I'd say the only thing Frenchy about you is your nom de plume.

Purr

p.s. to Maths: I don't think Beagles qualify as running dogs in Gauche's pinko metaphor. Think 'Snoopy' not Walter.

p.p.s. to Vincenzo: I like your style more and more.

 

[MathGirl]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

Originally posted by perdita p.s. to Maths: I don't think Beagles qualify as running dogs in Gauche's pinko metaphor. Think 'Snoopy' not Walter.

Dear Perdita,
Let's not forget that Snoopy was a beagle.
Tricolourly,
MG

 

[Jenny _S]

Of course, the fashion industry rips off the working class. But is the fashion industry really intended for the working class? I don't think so. The working class does benifit from the fashion industry in the long term. It may be two years from the fashion run way to J.C. Penny's, but they do make it there.

Maybe a better question is: Does the working class appreciate the product of the fashion industry? To this I answer yes. If you recall your history, during the great depression he film industry produced movies about the rich and famous, not the poor and down trodden masses. Movies were a nickle and that was one of the few industries that thrived during those times.

So write your story and don't worry about the working class.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

Dear Perdita, Let's not forget that Snoopy was a beagle.
Tricolourly, MG

Maths, I was too vague (vs. vogue; ah, the French invasion continues). I meant that Snoopy as a rep. of his beagleness would prove how unfit that class is for running dog status.

Tricolourly too but make it red, white and green,

Perdita

 

[MathGirl]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

Originally posted by perdita beagleness would prove how unfit that class is for running dog status.

Dear Perdita,
I, too, misunderstood. It is my feeling that a "running dog of the capitalist oppressors" should be a pedigreed hound of some sort. This as opposed to the egalitatian crossbreeds favored by the oppressed working class.
MG
Ps. I think black, white, and tan would make quite a handsome flag.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

Dear Perdita, I, too, misunderstood. It is my feeling that a "running dog of the capitalist oppressors" should be a pedigreed hound of some sort. This as opposed to the egalitatian crossbreeds favored by the oppressed working class.

Gosh, Maths,

Now I am overwhelmed by metaphor. I see your point, but find it paradoxical in the context of what I presume Gauche and others of his ilk mean by "running dog". I will leave the breed of such to him and/or canine devotees to choose.

Exhausted by all political artistry and cunning,

Perdita

 

[Quiet_Cool]

I have a question and admitadly it might belong on the GB but I really do find it hard to converse with people in a circle where intellect might as well be a money saving long distance plan. In anycase I'm dressing one of the character's in my story and as a Narcissitic fashion monger she's wearing the newest breed of high heeled hiking boots.

My question is this when did the working class become such a gas? it's all hiking boots carpenter jeans and novelty resturant t-shirts all conviently priced from 150$ to the thousands. GOD
that said feel free hijack this thread for literary purposes and if you're up to it maybe a little wanton debauchry or hilarity.

Because popular culture tells us we're supposed to be what we see on television and on billboards and in music videos. We dress how the stars dress, and for the last ten to fifteen years (or more) being famous has had something to do with trying to look like they feel we look. We wear jeans, they do too. But they were special J-Lo jeans, that we now have to wear, because we're supposed to be like them. The fashion industry just realized we were dumb enough to buy jeans for thirty dollars more if they have a Hilfiger label on them.
Any more, we're selling as much of a persona as they do, and we're doing it without publicists, which is sad. How do professional actors need help lieing and we're pulling it off on our own?

 

[destinie21]

people will pay for an image all people myself included. The trick is to project that what you have to offer is cool for one reason or another and the masses already wet with sweat from credit card debt will be in line to buy whatever you have to sell. Think of hilfiger as the emperor's new clothes generation x style

 

[MathGirl]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Working Class?

Originally posted by perdita I will leave the breed of such to him and/or canine devotees to choose. Exhausted by all political artistry and cunning,

Dear Perdita,
Me, too. Now we've entered into the field of veterinary politics.
MG

 

[gauchecritic]

There are only 2 items of clothing I've ever bought because of the label. One is Wrangler shirts because they last me for years and the other is Leeds United shirts because they last for a season. (I can buy 3 Wrangler shirts for the price of a Leeds shirt)

But then again I'm a scruffy twat.

Gauche

Edited to add: Except for my hat.

 

[Dirty Slut]

The real truth behind what we buy...

My question is this when did the working class become such a gas? it's all hiking boots carpenter jeans and novelty resturant t-shirts all conviently priced from 150$ to the thousands. GOD

Because when we go to the store to shop that's all that they are selling. LOLOL

DS

 

[jon.hayworth]

As I read it the question is when did the "Working Class" in the UK become so trendy that the UpperClasses started to Ape them.

The answer falls into 2 distinct phases.

Late 1960s and early '70s - Student radicals - and Feminists start to dress in Jeans then dungarees.

After getting the shit kicked out of them by the police and fascist Skinheads many people started to wear Doctor Martin's steel toe capped boots in preference to hippy sandals.

By the mid 80s the government was braying that we are all middle class - in fact millions were in no economic class due to unemployment. Suddenly it became cool to dress as if you had walked off a very clean construction site.

jon