Chapter 16 Section 2 Why men's clothing is suppressed

We know that men are diverse, how should men's clothing be summarized?Do diverse men correspond to diverse men's clothing?Let's take a look at what men's clothing was like in modern history. Figure 4-2 is a photo of men waiting to receive relief funds in the United States in the 1930s.Everyone pay attention to their clothes, which are extremely uniform: top hats, trench coats, and leather shoes.Without exception.You might argue that in the Great Depression of the 1930s, people didn't have the energy or money to care about their clothes. We can observe from the pictures that even though they are of different ages, tall, short, fat and thin, the clothes worn by these people are amazingly uniform.With the same style of top hat, windbreaker and leather shoes, it is almost difficult to distinguish one's acquaintances without being close to him. (Source: Love History, Old Photo Stories)

Figure 4-3 is a photo taken on the street in the late 1940s. The Ford cars parked on the roadside and the continuous flow of pedestrians indicate that the era of the Great Depression has passed.In fact, at that time, the United States was already a major economic power in the world, its industrial products accounted for half of the world, and its unemployment rate was close to zero.Without the threat of war, people's lives improved.Looking at their clothing, it has not changed substantially from the 1930s.Same top hat, windbreaker. Figure 4-3 shows pedestrians on the streets of New York in the 1940s, wearing a three-piece suit with a top hat.Men's dress is the same as the man's car, the Ford car, which is the same and lackluster in this era. (Source: Love History, Old Photo Stories)

What is it that causes menswear to be as monotonous and extremely uniform as military uniforms.We seek answers from the historical events of the 20th century. Speaking of the 20th century, the two world wars have to be mentioned.While World War I was largely concentrated in Europe, World War II artillery fire was spread all over the world.Due to the envelopment of war, men at that time were forced to take on the important task of defending their homes and the country, and their strength and bravery became the yardstick for society to measure men.You may not imagine that this has a very direct relationship with the changes in men's clothing.Needless to say, the unification of military uniforms, the clothing of ordinary people has also been greatly affected.

In life, due to the lack of wartime materials, the whole society pursues a simple and efficient style.On the whole, the clothing style is fixed, the simple-to-use functions are retained, and other redundant fancy decorations are all removed.In England, civilian clothing had to be made according to government-mandated patterns, minimizing trimmings, pockets and folds, ensuring no waste of fabric, and being supplied by ticket.Germany and France also have similar policies to ensure that social resources are given priority to the battlefield.The situation in the former Soviet Union was even more serious. The production of civilian clothing had ceased. Except for military uniforms, almost no new clothes, shoes and socks were added to the population.The policy of the United States is a bit generous. The government promulgated standards for men’s clothing, such as trousers should not have cuffs, jackets should not have extra pockets, and suits must have two rows of four buttons. At the same time, vests are discouraged to save fabric.Since supplies are not yet in short supply like in Europe, the United States does not explicitly limit the number of clothing per person.

After the war, men's clothing was retained with a strong brand of the times.This is also understandable. After the war is over, people will not quickly make a few fancy clothes to wear, but still wear clothes according to the original style.Moreover, the original style of clothes is more in line with the collective personality of these people who came out of the war-simple and practical.So we see still wartime clothing styles, extreme uniformity, on Main Street America in the late 1940s.