Why haven't "everyday" fashions changed SIGNIFICANTLY in 25 years? (color, shave)

[katharsis]

I am not a "fashionista" -- far from it, in fact -- but it seems to me as though, except in high fashion magazines, there is no difference in the "everyday" fashions of today from those of 1990. It seems that men still wear polo shirts and khakis more often than not, women usually wear slacks or jeans with classic tees or shirts, and the majority of teens wear jeans and whatever shirt they happen to pull out of their closets. Even the "punks" and "goths" of today look the same as they did 25 years ago. I think the MOST change overall is in how young men wear their hair -- much more individuality today.

Do you agree or disagree? And if you agree, why do you think this is and do you think fashion will pretty much remain as it is for at least the next 5-10 years?

[kas982]

For the most part, yes, you're right. Tbh, it has been the same since the late 80s. My thoughts, I belive this is the media, where being different = bad. So much of youth culture is controlled by 50-60yo men, not only fashion.
Example, music. Can you think of one new genre to come out in 30 years? The last "movement" I can think of was the "rave" culture from the late 80s.
So that's my thoughts on why fashion will never change in a drastic way. Old men think change is bad, so they keep a lid on it, nowadays they have the tools to do so.

I think the MOST change overall is in how young men wear their hair -- much more individuality today.

Really! Not where I live, seems the same to me. If in doubt shave it off is what I see. Again been the same since the late 80s.

[JL]

I think outside of the U.S, i can see more different color combos...some minor wardrobe style changes to existing ones that make a difference, but overall, pretty much the same. Also, it seems men can wear the non traditional colors with more people accepting of it.

[MJ7]

I notice huge changes, but sometimes people will do throwback fashion that looks 80s. I'm not a fan of "dressing up", to me it looks like someone is a swindly salesmen. I say dress comfortable, don't go around with a stick up your behind, I'd rather approach or accost someone that was looking comfortable than someone that looks punctual and authoritative. I think that has been the major change recently, from hospital cold to saturated comfort.

[silibran]

This is an interesting observation. In the early '90s though women were still wearing shoulder pads, so that is one big way things have changed. But overall, I agree that fashions for most of us have not changed all that much. One reason might be that there are so many strands of fashion out there: Goth, Steampunk, Prep, Normcore, Hipster, etc., that most of what we wear looks like it could belong to some present branch of fashion.

There seems to be a gap between what high end designers are producing, and what most of us wear, though. It is possible that once hems went above the knees, and then down to the ankles, and silhouettes change from boxy to fitted back to boxy, there aren't many ways to design every day fashion that haven't been already tried.

I do think that the fitted dresses are a big departure from the silhouettes of the early aughts though. And from the shape of the 1950s, we are now treated to a rerun of the 1970s--my favorite fashion decade. But you are right; much of every day fashion doesn't change much. We could probably wear the same tee shirts and jeans as we did in 1990 and look pretty OK.

[stiffnecked]

Who cares about such shallow stuff????