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I have been catching up on Mad Men Season 4, and for some reason when watching that show I 've always noticed that whenever they show a dinner scene on that show, all the men wear suits and ties out on the town at night (it's set in the early 1960's, for the uninitiated).
Now, granted, its a fictional TV show, and some of the men might have been coming straight from work.
But, from what I can gather, there was actually a time when men would wear a suit and tie to dinner in Manhattan, not because they were coming straight from work, and not because it was a super special occassion at a super fancy restaurant, but because that is just what people did.
Am I correct in that it was that way, and when did it stop, or does it still happen? (I'm not from NY, have visted about 10 times, and usually eat cheap, so I wouldn't know the current practice)
when they finally realized that suits are uncomfortable and not necessary to be worn all the time.
It really doenst take rocket science to realize that jeans and a shirt are much more comfortable than a suit.
I wonder why "man" always chose to be so uncomfortable way back when, they made the stupidist rules back in the olden days, and we are still surrering for them today.
the late 60's and early 70's was a time of great change along with men and women fashion ..i love the way the women dress in the show because it a great time when you and your wife went out and you both dressed up
There are still a few gentlemen out there that would choose to inconvenience themselves for one night to simply dress up and take their girlfriend/fiancee/wife out to dinner...
to answer your question... I don't know when chivalry became out of style but it seemed to die out in the 80s... Before that it was common practice for the man to open the door for a girl, stand on the side of the road just in case a car brushes by on a rainy day and water splashes, to dress up for a date, to court the woman properly, to pay for her meal, car ride, or whatever... It was just a more unselfish and chivalrous time back then...
To be honest... I know people will criticize and probably disagree with me but I think that facebook and twitter really had something to do with selfishness and egos of men growing to the point where they care more about their own concerns and feelings over anyone else... Sites like these only encourage self-gratification because all we do is give people the time of day to just vent or discuss their lives in public and we choose to like these comments and respond to their egotistical posts...
my young son was looking at on old sports movie bio once -- cant remember which one-- and asked me a similar question: "how come everybody at the baseball game has on a suit? and how come they wear those hats (fedoras) instead of baseball caps"
i suspect people stopped dressing for ball games the same time they stopped dressing for dinner -- sometime in the mid 60s to mid 70s when all the old rules about clothes went by the wayside. now a guy in a suit at a yankee or met game stands out and looks like a prig or a wannabee or just plain clueless, instead of a class act. before a night game guys will even change into something very casual betwen the office and the ballpark, like they dont want anyone to know they actually have a job! (and it aint always a matter of just wearing something cooler. they do make lightweight summer suits after all.)
but dressing for dinner or a good night out (suit or jacket and tie, pants not jeans, and shoes not sneakers) stiill works in my book. and for single guys girls actually appreciate it.
Very true about the baseball games, I have noticed that in the photos too. I actually do change when I go from work to a baseball game. On the times that I have not, do get kinda stared at in a funny way.
I remember my Mom saying that when she would go into San Francisco to shop with her Mom in the 1950's, she and her sisters would get all dressed up in their Sundays Best, just to walk around and window shop. My, how times have changed...
I stopped wearing a suit everyday sometime in the late 1990s. I'd say that the majority of professional men switched a few years earlier (I was working in the financial sector, and we were one of the last to change -- some finance people still do wear suits everyday btw), so the majority change was possibly the early 1990s or late 1980s.
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