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Although women’s fashions are seasonally “announced” and paraded through New York, Paris, Madrid, and Milan, the average men’s fashion trends are largely replications of two primary influences--the president of the United States and men in the movies and on TV. While it is a good suggestion to loosely follow these icons, today’s executive has to be cognizant of how far to align himself with trends.
Take, for example, the Jimmy Carter era that ushered in people like John Denver and the characters of The Waltons TV series. Overalls and flannel shirts became abundantly available. Icons like Gentle Ben the bear were treated with the same respect as movies depicting men who lived off the land, like Jeremiah Johnson. It was a rugged, outdoor moment in history. The Carter White House was rumored to host people like Willie Nelson and had staff members walking around barefoot. However, a relaxed image does not always conjure up a leader who can be trusted to attend to every detail. History has found Carter to be rather weak and unresponsive during key moments in his moment in the sun.
Not surprisingly, the anti-country boy look faded once John Travolta developed a case of Saturday Night Fever. Dacron and polyester replaced denim and flannel in a matter of days, and Tony Manero’s fever, indeed, must have been a strong case since it caused men to wear shades of pink, pale-yellow, and powder-blue “leisure suits” to every wedding, baptism, and formal affair, as well as to wear tons of hairspray. The ultimate look was dressing up the leisure suit with a necktie. Now there was a winning style that today makes looking at old movies a scream.
