A Conversation for Ask h2g2

What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 21

You can call me TC

Save a lot of hassle at bed-time, though!


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 22

Xanatic

I've been hearing about wearable electronics for over a decade. I've yet to see anyone on the street wearing clothes incorporating it. Except for t-shirts with an equalizer on, those are a bit cool.


What advances have been made in fashion ...that Xanatic's seen worn on the street?

Post 23

AlwaysLunchtimeSomewhere - "at ALS's restaurant" (thanks DG!)


smiley - whistle


What advances have been made in fashion ...that Xanatic's seen worn on the street?

Post 24

Xanatic

What I meant was that I'm not sure that's it's really made it past the prototype stage.


What advances have been made in fashion

Post 25

Xanatic

What about those "engineered" jeans they've been selling, are they any different to the old styles?


What advances have been made in fashion ...that Xanatic's seen worn on the street?

Post 26

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

Not really, it's just a different cut.


What advances have been made in fashion ...that Xanatic's seen worn on the street?

Post 27

You can call me TC

And they look very uncomfortable.


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 28

2legs - Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side...

Who said we're not walking around in togas? smiley - blushsmiley - divasmiley - handbag


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 29

~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum

smiley - bigeyes
The kilt was a variant on the toga.
It involved nine yards of material
to be skirt, cape, bedroll and towel.

British quarter-masters were notorious
for short changing Scots enlisting in the
Highland regiments, shaving off two or more
yards from each issue - the results of which
were problematical - especially in the important
towelling and bedroll aspects.

An honest and therefore rare quartermaster was
said to give 'the whole nine yards'.

smiley - prof
~jwf~


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 30

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

Which is but one of many possible origins for the phrase. smiley - winkeye


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 31

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

Besides which the Féileadh Mòr was only around 7 yards long anyway (I did a load of research about it once and then never wrote the Entry).


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 32

swl

No, that's wrong. The origins of the phrase are a bit more recent. The Industrial Revolution led to many men giving up a pastoral life for long, hard shifts in factories and mills. Such strenuous work led to many men becoming exhausted and it even affected their libido to the extent that they could barely summon the energy to have sex with their wives. The average, uhmm, act of procreation involves the male making 50-60 thrusts before ejaculation and the average penis length is 6 inches. Assuming full thrusts, the woman could therefore normally experience between 50x6" and 60x6" *. The average would be around 54x6" bringing a total of 360" which of course equals 9 yards. Tired men often only made a maximum of 20-30 thrusts before ejaculating and/or falling asleep, leading to the common refrain reverberating around the bedchambers of working class Britain in the 18th Century - "Oi, I wants my full 9 yards!".

*Less endowed men had to work a little harder and women enjoying larger endowments were just grateful.


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 33

~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum

smiley - erm
Outside of the constant development of new materials I'm still
having difficulty with the notion of 'advances in fashion'.

It's kinda like the idea of 'progress' in evolution.
There is no progress, just change and adaptation.

It was the ego-centricity of Victorian christians that gave
the idea that all previous stages in evolution were steps
toward the goal of modern man.

This is much like the idea that there can be advances in fashion
as if there was some pre-destined final goal to attain or that any
contemporary status quo is an improvement upon past 'creations'.

Except for the aforementioned new materials we might see
such new devices as belts, buckles, laces, stays, buttons,
zippers and velcro fasteners as progressive advances in
the use and function of clothing. But I don't understand how
one can consider an esthetic judgment like 'fashion' to be
capable of 'advancement'. Fashion is always a socio-cultural
phenomenon of the present tense - often trapped in tradition
and ritual - but it's always just change, not an improvement.

smiley - zen
~jwf~


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 34

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

smiley - rofl


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 35

2legs - Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side...

Fashion can progress all it wants... Some of us arn't necessarily going to surrender to the whims of such passing fads... smiley - zen right, which trilby shall I wear tonight... smiley - diva


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 36

Xanatic

You can use the word "clothing" instead of "fashion" if you like.


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 37

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

I'm not sure substituting 'fashion' with 'clothing' really makes that much difference to the question. Clothing might have changed in style, cut, fabric and whatnot but ultimately it still fulfils the exact same functions it fulfilled 3,000 years ago: keeping us warm, keeping us dry, stopping us being naked, showing off how wealthy we are.


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 38

Xanatic

That's like saying there's been no progress in automotive engineering as cars still take us from A to B.


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 39

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

smiley - erm Because clothing and automotive engineering are so similar?


What advances have been made in fashion?

Post 40

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

I mean really, one cannot compare the advances in the size and effeciency of the internal combustion engine to the progress of trousers throughout history.


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