“I have asked but never received an answer why sane people are paying inflated prices for ugly clothes: faded, old, patched, muddied, holey, and raged clothes. This is called the distressed look. My word would be depressed or disgusted look. Dirty jeans used to reflect toil, sweat, but now they are worn by people who are so guilt-ridden for having riches that they want to appear to live the way normal people live. Many of these people have no experience with hard work and dirty hands; however, many have massive problems with dirty minds. But then, that is a judgment call and I may be wrong in some cases. Nancy B. Diehl, director of New York University’s Costume Studies program may have the answer why sane people want to look like bums. She said, ‘It’s an “I’m going to expose my body if I want to” type of ethos. In a way, it’s a protest against propriety.’ It displays rebellion to what is proper and acceptable and often a rejection of one’s upbringing. Charlene Lau, a fashion historian who has taught at Parsons School of Design, said, ‘At the same time, distressed, tattered and dirty clothing also tends to work against middle-class norms of cleanliness and propriety. In this sense, they are symbolic of rebellion—whether real, contrived, or imagined.’ Bingo! I think they are right. This ‘distressed’ trend seems to be youth-driven and has now become acceptable even promoted by the fashion world of London, Paris, New York, and Hollywood. The world of high fashion has now embraced ‘distressed’ clothing as chic. Of course, their motive is the buck suckered from people too stupid to think for themselves. One distressed-wearing female said of trash clothes, ‘They lend an air of super casualness to your personality and make you just a bit more careless and carefree.’ That’s what people need today—more carelessness. Youth have always wanted to show their independence (while they live in Mom’s basement and live off parents and the taxpayers) but the distressed look is not an expression of individuality but of submission. By accepting what is currently fashionable they become a slave to fashion, not independent thinkers. The distressed clothing is another fad that empty, hopeless, purposeless youth pursue to show their rebellion to normalcy, modesty, propriety, and common sense. Likewise, some Evangelical preachers wear distressed clothing to make them appear stylish while they really look silly—like the youth they are trying to impress. A person’s garments have always carried a message. Today’s message from distressed clothing is one of carelessness, crassness, coarseness, and is somewhat cloddish.” “The War on Modesty Decorum, and Appropriateness!” Don Boys, cstnews.com, Jan. 30, 2019 Comments are closed.
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