Anachronism Check

Which are hopelessly dated? Check all that apply.

  • Total voters
    21
Russell Street

Russell Street

King Of The Trolls
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Igents are known to wear some "classic" items that the rest of the world has moved away from. Sometimes they are keeping the faith in practical items alive, and sometimes they are being insufferable cosplay fools.
Which items are beyond redemption in the modern day?

Damn, forgot about sock and arm garters! Please mention those if so inclined.
 
I voted for detachable collars, amongst other things, but it's worth remembering that detachable collars are actually part of "bar dress" (ie the outfit worn by barristers) when appearing in certain courts. Places like New & Lingwood and Ede & Ravenscroft (and no doubt other British firms) still make shirts with collar bands and detachable collars for barristers and judges:

https://legal.edeandravenscroft.co.uk/BuyItemAccessories.aspx

http://www.newandlingwood.com/gb/shop/shirts/neckband-shirts

However, I'd certainly agree that if you're not a barrister, then there's absolutely no reason for you to be wearing detachable collar shirts unless you're deliberately trying to dress up in an anachronistic manner.
 
Much fuel for discussion here. I am rather surprised the fez was included. The only people I am aware of who wear the fez in our culture are the Nobles of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine ("Shriners," for short), and they only do it in a spirit of playful costuming.

Or do you include the classic smoking cap in this category? Properly, this is not a true fez but a "chechia," a sort of softer variant of the fez, and yes, they are hopelessly dated.

I assume the inclusion of walking sticks means only ones carried by the able-bodied for effect and not by those who need them for assistance in locomotion.

Some of the things on this list are perplexing, like monk straps or felt hats. I am assuming the inclusion of jeans is merely in jest. Would that they were hopelessly dated!
 
When any of the items alone or when grouped together make the wearer look like he is wearing a costume is more in play here than it necessarily hopelessly dated. The smoking jacket and almost-fez never made sense to me so they have always been peculiar. Felt hats look good on a few individuals but i usually notice them on people who should not be wearing a hat as it does not suit them. Certainly a walking stick is peculiar unless it is a mobility aid.

So much has changed because of finding an easier way to manufacture. Like detachable collars, sock and arm gaiters.

A pocket watch is never outdated as it is tool and an accessory. To some, any timepiece is only a bauble as time is kept with their mobile device.

Are monks hopelessly outdated as they have jumped the shark and are seen refularly on people?

How about a two-button jacket closure because it ain't the staple design of Neapolitan taikors?
 
Journeyman said:
However, I'd certainly agree that if you're not a barrister, then there's absolutely no reason for you to be wearing detachable collar shirts unless you're deliberately trying to dress up in an anachronistic manner.
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I'd love detachable cuff and collar because I could get by with less laundering and the shirts would last forever. Otherwise, comfort and convenience would surely suffer
Jan Libourel said:
I am rather surprised the fez was included.
Some of the things on this list are perplexing, like monk straps or felt hats. I am assuming the inclusion of jeans is merely in jest.
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Yeah, I clearly made the list on the fly. Monk straps seriously seem like an evolutionary throwback to me, as the buckles really don't make sense. Felt hats, in fact almost any dress hat, is seen, somewhat accurately, as a thing from generations past by the young. Which is a shame. A whole other thread could be started on perfectly functional and reasonable clothing that "modern" people see as silly and fussy and pointless.
Thruth said:
The smoking jacket and almost-fez never made sense to me so they have always been peculiar.
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Well you smoke modern cigarettes in modern ventilation and are barely at risk of ash, spark, and funk saturation.
 
Russell Street said:
I'd love detachable cuff and collar because I could get by with less laundering and the shirts would last forever. Otherwise, comfort and convenience would surely suffer

Yeah, I clearly made the list on the fly. Monk straps seriously seem like an evolutionary throwback to me, as the buckles really don't make sense. Felt hats, in fact almost any dress hat, is seen, somewhat accurately, as a thing from generations past by the young. Which is a shame. A whole other thread could be started on perfectly functional and reasonable clothing that "modern" people see as silly and fussy and pointless.Well you smoke modern cigarettes in modern ventilation and are barely at risk of ash, spark, and funk saturation.
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You haven't been in my truck have you?
 
Arnathor said:
Who wears a fez?
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greenfez.jpg
 
Since washing machines were invented detachable collars are outdated.
What is a fez? For me it is the typical red conic hat worn in the north of Africa.

Pocket watches are also outdated since we now wear them on the wrist. Easier to twist your wrist than to put your hand inside of the pocket. Mind you with the mobiles now it is easier to check time there.

I also voted for fishback trousers. Who has a pair? I am toying with the idea of having one pair made just for the sake or it but that is all. I have a pair or Caruso trousers that imitates the shape but there are not proper fishbacks.

Jeans and monks? Is that a joke? Is what I am wearing right now...
 
I have a pair of fish back trousers that are part of a three-piece tobacco linen suit i've had for about 15 years. I also have my great, great, great, great, grandfather's pocket watch and fob. Though, I must admit, I am self-conscious wearing it, more for the fact of its family history, rather than its hipster dick value. It gets aired at family do's only, never at the office.
 
Robert said:
hipster dick value
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This is a valid point, that context, the wearer, how worn can drastically alter the perception of any of these items.
Old Tibor gets points for owning his olde time look and acting like it's perfectly normal.
 
Other items that have a following among the iGentry that I would place in the "hopelessly dated" category would be stroller ensembles and Norfolk jackets. Yeah, I know Ronnie rocked a stroller at his first inauguration, but, hey, that was 34 years ago.
 
Monkstrap shoes and bow ties got four votes? I must see the former every day in the financial district. And the latter every other day - either some older gent from one of the legal firms with multiple names on it or some lad who decided to copy everything from his local Zara display.
 
Button boots, for me, are squarely in the obsolete category. There are some things that just do not warrant reminiscence because better developments replaced them. Inconvenient, unadjustable, and not particularly attractive, I just don't see the point besides thingking one is a unique little snowflake.
 
Neat, but they are indelibly tainted as period costume unless some weird cultural shift occurs. If someone has photos of modern men, not of the mustache wax and monocle crowd, wearing such things, I'd like to see it.
 
Would go pretty well with formal wear, or perhaps a charcoal or midnight blue three piece with a white shirt and conservative tie. I believe they have a laced version of that boot as well, which looks pretty cool too and is slightly more wearable.
 
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Arnathor said:
Yeah, I'm not about to start a turkish cafe.
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Moroccan, not Turkish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_(film)

Jan Libourel said:
Other items that have a following among the iGentry that I would place in the "hopelessly dated" category would be stroller ensembles and Norfolk jackets. Yeah, I know Ronnie rocked a stroller at his first inauguration, but, hey, that was 34 years ago.
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Interestingly, stroller ensembles are still used by politicians in Japan - the Emperor and the male members of the Japanese parliament commonly wear them at formal events, such as the opening of the Japanese parliament.

Edited to add: Strangely, I thought that I'd posted this yesterday, but it was still in the "post box" at the bottom of the page when I opened up DW this morning.
 
Russell Street said:
Button boots, for me, are squarely in the obsolete category. There are some things that just do not warrant reminiscence because better developments replaced them. Inconvenient, unadjustable, and not particularly attractive, I just don't see the point besides thingking one is a unique little snowflake.
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For the record, my mother would say something was as "outdated as high button shoes." And, she was using that expression 60+ years ago!
 
What of plain old rounded or club collars (or paired with being of white contrast fabric. I wore an ancient Joe Bank club collar, striped body, and nobody much seemed to notice. Nothing else was played up though. I really should get more. They are non-floppy and don't need collar stays and add a certain novelty.
 
I like club collars, I only have one in oxford from Land's End, but i like it if I could fit my fat gut into it again.
 
So the Brooks golf collar is slightly longer? Not that the bastards offer it RTW currently, but I really like it.
0be72bbca8d754c4d75aef61ce4b4512.jpg

The short, nearly uniform width, collars are not for me.
 
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