The shape of clothes to come
May 13, 2017 9:56 AM Subscribe
It’s the nature of fashion that proportions are tweaked, colours altered and ways of presenting garments change. The result is something new despite itself. What about clothes that try expressly to be the clothing of tomorrow? The shape of clothes to come? Not just modern but forward-looking. The concept of purposefully modern clothing is a fairly recent one and has intertwined with science fiction cinema and literature from the beginning. This is a very subjective overview but we’ve tried to tie the various strands of modernity that have come together in the last century, in doing so we attempt to draw attention to the cultural influences that define our era and shape our idea of what it means to be ‘modern’.
This also drops science fiction after Blade Runner. I'd argue that Star Trek: The Next Generation and the rest of the franchise was a huge influence on our concept of "future" clothing looks in the '90s.
posted by rednikki at 10:12 AM on May 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by rednikki at 10:12 AM on May 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
Also how we keep going back to this well of uniform, clean line, ...Swedish space modernism whenever we want to depict a future that isn't a dystopia (or sometimes we need a clean line dystopia but less often)
Which is why I really like the worldbuilding details in the fifth element - it's a campy soap bubble of a movie that also imagines a future that's genuinely fashion forward, full of competing aesthetics, and casually dystopian but not hung up on it.
posted by The Whelk at 10:16 AM on May 13, 2017 [20 favorites]
Which is why I really like the worldbuilding details in the fifth element - it's a campy soap bubble of a movie that also imagines a future that's genuinely fashion forward, full of competing aesthetics, and casually dystopian but not hung up on it.
posted by The Whelk at 10:16 AM on May 13, 2017 [20 favorites]
Zippers a relatively new invention in Pierre Cardin's heyday? Poppycock. They may not have been found much in haute couture, but they were patented in 1917. Just the other day, I saw a 1933 movie that contained multiple references to zippers on girls' dresses. This whole article is under-researched.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:31 AM on May 13, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:31 AM on May 13, 2017 [10 favorites]
I went to a John-Paul Gaultier exhibition a few years ago and came away thinking that The Fifth Element was basically a JPG movie that happened to be directed by Luc Besson.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 10:32 AM on May 13, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 10:32 AM on May 13, 2017 [10 favorites]
I know the intro says it is subjective, but this really sort of misses the mark. It veers wildly from ideological futures to technical fabrics, modernism to postmodernism, and felt like an extremely constrained viewpoint projected onto a huge and deep subject. Left out women's clothing pretty much entirely, as well as any designers outside Europe.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:36 AM on May 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by oneirodynia at 10:36 AM on May 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
.... or pretty much what the Underpants Monster said much more succinctly.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:36 AM on May 13, 2017
posted by oneirodynia at 10:36 AM on May 13, 2017
Oof, I get more irritated because I keep going back and rereading. I would argue that the austerity clothing of WWII Britain was extremely modernistic: stripped down to basic elements, little extraneous decoration, making use of fabric developed specifically in response to contemporary global influences. No it's not futurism- but modernism and futurism are not the same thing, and one of the other problems of this article is conflating the two.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:49 AM on May 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by oneirodynia at 10:49 AM on May 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
Despite the shortcomings, the article (perhaps unintentionally) spotlighted two different ways of envisioning the future of clothes: the prescriptive and the descriptive, the cathedral and the bazaar.
Fashion designers have a dictatorial Vision For How We Will Dress. Works of fiction (like Airtight Garage and Blade Runner (they totally missed the boat on the fashion influences in Blade Runner, which were very much 1980s (which in turn was a rehash of the 1950s) turned up to 11)) conversely seem to take an ecumenical view of what's happening in the world and extrapolate from that. The latter turns out to be a lot more interesting and fun, and—despite being science-fiction—more realistic.
I'll predict that In The Future, people won't want to dress like sexless worker drones. Clothing will be weird and diverse. Any coherent vision for how we will dress will inherently undermine itself. Unless we're in the early days of The Handmaid's Tale.
posted by adamrice at 11:18 AM on May 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
Fashion designers have a dictatorial Vision For How We Will Dress. Works of fiction (like Airtight Garage and Blade Runner (they totally missed the boat on the fashion influences in Blade Runner, which were very much 1980s (which in turn was a rehash of the 1950s) turned up to 11)) conversely seem to take an ecumenical view of what's happening in the world and extrapolate from that. The latter turns out to be a lot more interesting and fun, and—despite being science-fiction—more realistic.
I'll predict that In The Future, people won't want to dress like sexless worker drones. Clothing will be weird and diverse. Any coherent vision for how we will dress will inherently undermine itself. Unless we're in the early days of The Handmaid's Tale.
posted by adamrice at 11:18 AM on May 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
That raglan-shoulder suit in the 2001 sketch is pretty nifty.
But the article as a whole is kind of strange, right? Like, if Lemaire gets in, who doesn't? Is it designers presenting explicitly their visions of what clothing of the future will be like (as in the movies)? Designers who are doing "futuristic" stuff for right now (pretty similar)—in which case, why not, I dunno, Aitor Throup? Designers trying to change the direction of clothing (more in line with the constructivism at the beginning)? (Why not Sruli Recht?)
as well as any designers outside Europe.
Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo?
But it is really weird and blinkered—shit, if you're going to include sports & technical stuff, why not include Nike? Why not include Y-3 rather than just mention Yamamoto in passing—or any tech-ninja fashion? (Stone Island is still around!)
posted by kenko at 11:25 AM on May 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
But the article as a whole is kind of strange, right? Like, if Lemaire gets in, who doesn't? Is it designers presenting explicitly their visions of what clothing of the future will be like (as in the movies)? Designers who are doing "futuristic" stuff for right now (pretty similar)—in which case, why not, I dunno, Aitor Throup? Designers trying to change the direction of clothing (more in line with the constructivism at the beginning)? (Why not Sruli Recht?)
as well as any designers outside Europe.
Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo?
But it is really weird and blinkered—shit, if you're going to include sports & technical stuff, why not include Nike? Why not include Y-3 rather than just mention Yamamoto in passing—or any tech-ninja fashion? (Stone Island is still around!)
posted by kenko at 11:25 AM on May 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
Super find, thanks for the OP
posted by infini at 11:32 AM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by infini at 11:32 AM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
The future, I suspect, is more casual. The 20th century has been the slow death march of formal and professional dress. Who wears suits regularly unless obligated?
I'd bet on understated Athleisure a la Lululemon. Color palettes and textures may vary, but The Future is stretchy, soft, breathable, and wicking.
I'd also bet on technical wool. Natural, renewable, and doesn't stink like synthetics.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:18 PM on May 13, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'd bet on understated Athleisure a la Lululemon. Color palettes and textures may vary, but The Future is stretchy, soft, breathable, and wicking.
I'd also bet on technical wool. Natural, renewable, and doesn't stink like synthetics.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:18 PM on May 13, 2017 [9 favorites]
I've been wearing the same basic ensemble almost every day for the past 33 years. I figure that's kept me out of the clutches of this weird ass industry.
posted by jonmc at 12:19 PM on May 13, 2017
posted by jonmc at 12:19 PM on May 13, 2017
Although, I am getting older and considering switching to cheenos and a tan windbreaker or some other generic old guy outfit.
posted by jonmc at 12:21 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 12:21 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Since it's a mensware blog, I'm not surprised that Dior's New Look, Barbarella, etc are not mentioned, but to ignore the Nehru jacket, the Beatles' early Eton jackets and Mao seems rather sloppy.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:21 PM on May 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Ideefixe at 12:21 PM on May 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
This weird ass industry
The hyphen works both ways.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:23 PM on May 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
The hyphen works both ways.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:23 PM on May 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
The future, I suspect, is more casual. The 20th century has been the slow death march of formal and professional dress. Who wears suits regularly unless obligated?
I'd bet on understated Athleisure a la Lululemon. Color palettes and textures may vary, but The Future is stretchy, soft, breathable, and wicking.
That all sounds very logical, but it seems the future is never what is expected. I will nearly always take a rational vision of the future and bet against it. That's one of the reasons I liked The Fifth Element as well, the outfits looked ridiculous, yet plausible. I'm fairly positive if we could see the clothing of the future our reaction would not be "cool" but some version of "WTF?"
posted by bongo_x at 12:48 PM on May 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'd bet on understated Athleisure a la Lululemon. Color palettes and textures may vary, but The Future is stretchy, soft, breathable, and wicking.
That all sounds very logical, but it seems the future is never what is expected. I will nearly always take a rational vision of the future and bet against it. That's one of the reasons I liked The Fifth Element as well, the outfits looked ridiculous, yet plausible. I'm fairly positive if we could see the clothing of the future our reaction would not be "cool" but some version of "WTF?"
posted by bongo_x at 12:48 PM on May 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
We've seen athleisure before, with leg warmers and hacked-up sweatshirts from Flashdance. This gave way to more complicated mall-wear like Guess and their denim-leather mixes, variations on Madonna thrifty clubwear, and Esprit's layered pastels. Bicycle racing gear was also popular in the mid 80s, but like Lululemon, not everybody looks good in this stuff, so something has to take it's place.
posted by rhizome at 1:32 PM on May 13, 2017
posted by rhizome at 1:32 PM on May 13, 2017
I thought that this was a neat article, but didn't we already determine that in the future, all clothing will be JUMPSUIT?
JUMPSUIT update: For the next several months, we will be soliciting your gently used, and emphatically discarded Ivanka Trump brand garments, to be recycled into new, 100% Made in the USA, Special Edition JUMPSUITS!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 2:19 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
JUMPSUIT update: For the next several months, we will be soliciting your gently used, and emphatically discarded Ivanka Trump brand garments, to be recycled into new, 100% Made in the USA, Special Edition JUMPSUITS!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 2:19 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I've been wearing the same basic ensemble almost every day for the past 33 years.
jonmc, I suspect that the cut and finish of your jeans has probably changed a fair amount in the past 30 years...
leotrotsky, agreed on Athleisure. A lot of indy local boutique fashion shops around here is definitely going in that direction with (usually renewable, like bamboo fiber) technical materials and form fitting. Trend is clean non-fussy lines and a definite lack of "flair."
Yoga tights are practically women's uniform around here and increasingly form-fitting/stretchy pants are becoming more acceptable for men.
Recently the Daily Show played a clip from 15 years ago and Colbert and Stewart's suits were voluminous; broad shoulders, loose in the torso, and wide pleated pants - compared to today's form fitting suits (qv Sean Spicer's original too-big suit that even Donnie didn't like) and tapered pants.
It's a shame I can't seem to find (slim) cargo pants anymore?
posted by porpoise at 3:15 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
jonmc, I suspect that the cut and finish of your jeans has probably changed a fair amount in the past 30 years...
leotrotsky, agreed on Athleisure. A lot of indy local boutique fashion shops around here is definitely going in that direction with (usually renewable, like bamboo fiber) technical materials and form fitting. Trend is clean non-fussy lines and a definite lack of "flair."
Yoga tights are practically women's uniform around here and increasingly form-fitting/stretchy pants are becoming more acceptable for men.
Recently the Daily Show played a clip from 15 years ago and Colbert and Stewart's suits were voluminous; broad shoulders, loose in the torso, and wide pleated pants - compared to today's form fitting suits (qv Sean Spicer's original too-big suit that even Donnie didn't like) and tapered pants.
It's a shame I can't seem to find (slim) cargo pants anymore?
posted by porpoise at 3:15 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
90s suits were the worst.
posted by rhizome at 3:27 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 3:27 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
but didn't we already determine that in the future, all clothing will be JUMPSUIT?
Only if in the future, we have found a way for women to pee without having to take the stupid things off.
posted by pangolin party at 3:43 PM on May 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
Only if in the future, we have found a way for women to pee without having to take the stupid things off.
posted by pangolin party at 3:43 PM on May 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
The amazing Star Trek: The Next Generation Tumblr blog Fashion it So is always bringing up the question, why would you put small children in form-fitting jumpsuits that don't appear to have fastenings in convenient places?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:53 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:53 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Needs more Janelle Monáe.
Also, French BDs a "less circulated medium"? To English speakers, maybe. It's hard to find figures to compare, but the size of France's comics industry (€400m) is, proportionate to population, three times as large as the US's. Top albums sell 500,000 copies.
posted by zompist at 4:21 PM on May 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Also, French BDs a "less circulated medium"? To English speakers, maybe. It's hard to find figures to compare, but the size of France's comics industry (€400m) is, proportionate to population, three times as large as the US's. Top albums sell 500,000 copies.
posted by zompist at 4:21 PM on May 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
zompist, I took that to mean comics are a less-circulated medium than film. He goes from Moebius directly to George Lucas and Ridley Scott. But I didn't know that comics were so popular in France. Most of my knowledge of Moebius is from Jodorowsky's Dune and hazy childhood memories but it's pretty clear that between Moebius and the Fifth Element that the French have had some pretty great future fashion.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:37 PM on May 13, 2017
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:37 PM on May 13, 2017
I wonder if in the future, women's clothing will have pockets. So many different takes on futuristic clothing and we don't seem to have achieved that yet.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 5:40 PM on May 13, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 5:40 PM on May 13, 2017 [15 favorites]
Only if in the future, we have found a way for women to pee without having to take the stupid things off.
I have been told by good authority that in the latest generation of military flight suits, in the womens version the the main zipper (the one you use to take the thing on and off) runs further down in the crotch (so, not like a pair of jeans where it stops at a point only useful to a dude), but instead continues pretty much until it starts to come back up the middle of the seat almost, and then the the zipper is double-ended (like a sleeping bag zipper, where you can unzip it from either end). I am told they are... less-than-ideal for running or marching long distances in, because the zipper basically makes for a very heavy crotch seam (ow), but they are mostly designed for sitting around in aircraft and vehicles and baggy anyway. I'd imagine if they caught on as a civilian fashion thing that the zippers could be made lighter and smaller.
Also, what's up with there not being a next step in fabric closures beyond zippers? I've got nothing against zippers, but it's a little odd that we haven't managed better in 100 years. My cat's food now comes in a bag with a strange, not-quite-Velcro-not-quite-Ziploc closure on it, and yet almost every shirt I own has buttons made out of plastic that are themselves made to simulate pieces of animal horn, because that's how old their design is. Impressive that they're good at their job, but it seems like there's some continuous improvement that hasn't happened.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:07 PM on May 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
I have been told by good authority that in the latest generation of military flight suits, in the womens version the the main zipper (the one you use to take the thing on and off) runs further down in the crotch (so, not like a pair of jeans where it stops at a point only useful to a dude), but instead continues pretty much until it starts to come back up the middle of the seat almost, and then the the zipper is double-ended (like a sleeping bag zipper, where you can unzip it from either end). I am told they are... less-than-ideal for running or marching long distances in, because the zipper basically makes for a very heavy crotch seam (ow), but they are mostly designed for sitting around in aircraft and vehicles and baggy anyway. I'd imagine if they caught on as a civilian fashion thing that the zippers could be made lighter and smaller.
Also, what's up with there not being a next step in fabric closures beyond zippers? I've got nothing against zippers, but it's a little odd that we haven't managed better in 100 years. My cat's food now comes in a bag with a strange, not-quite-Velcro-not-quite-Ziploc closure on it, and yet almost every shirt I own has buttons made out of plastic that are themselves made to simulate pieces of animal horn, because that's how old their design is. Impressive that they're good at their job, but it seems like there's some continuous improvement that hasn't happened.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:07 PM on May 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Also, what's up with there not being a next step in fabric closures beyond zippers?
What's really wild in a way is that we still attach pieces of fabric to each other by poking little holes in them and running a much smaller piece of fabric-constituent through them both!
posted by kenko at 10:52 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
What's really wild in a way is that we still attach pieces of fabric to each other by poking little holes in them and running a much smaller piece of fabric-constituent through them both!
posted by kenko at 10:52 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
At Clothes on Film, their Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi category includes the interview Snowpiercer: Q&A with Costume Designer Catherine George. She used the not-too-distant past to dress down the train's grimy, dystopian future:
Whatever future fashionistas look like, the human beings underneath won't be all that different from us.
posted by cenoxo at 11:50 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Clothes on Film, Christopher: Where did your main influences come from? How involved was director Bong Joon-ho?More Snowpiercer costumes at her website.
Catherine George: Director Bong was very involved; he had been working on the concept on and off for 7 years. He found the original French graphic novel in 2005 and he worked with some conceptual artists in Korea on some of the set details and exterior visuals. I was free to develop the characters’ wardrobe but at the same time we did collaborate closely, which was a joy as he has such a wickedly dark and funny imagination. My influences were different for each character; the tail section originated from a practical angle while also trying to encompass the global aspect of the train. Gilliam (John Hurt) and the group of martyr’s clothes were a mix up of eastern and western, I looked at photos of Gandhi and I found an image of an Indian street beggar who was wearing an old tweed sports jacket and a sarong, I love that combination of traditional with western contemporary in one outfit.
I looked at a lot of utilitarian clothes for Nam (Kang-ho Song) as he had worked as a train engineer before he was imprisoned, and I was inspired by photographs of old train engineers from an early industrial period and vintage French railway jackets. I have always loved how Japanese Boro fabric is patched and combined and I used that idea in some of the tail section costumes, particularly Nam’s. Edgar’s outfit was inspired by Mike Brodie's (aka the Polaroid Kid) beautiful portraits of contemporary young train hobos [Mike Brodie gallery], who jump freight trains in the US living off the grid. They have an anti-authority feel to them.
Whatever future fashionistas look like, the human beings underneath won't be all that different from us.
posted by cenoxo at 11:50 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
One rarely-seen little fashion item that brings astronaut space suits back down to Earth is the MAG.
posted by cenoxo at 12:09 AM on May 14, 2017
posted by cenoxo at 12:09 AM on May 14, 2017
This is a strange article. Glaring omissions, crazy errors, yet surprisingly insightful in places. I think its biggest problem is that the writers don't seem to understand the difference between futurism and innovation, with the result that the two get conflated throughout the article.
For instance, the retro-futurism of Moebius and forward looking design of 2001 were products of their era, but both artworks informed the visual culture of subsequent generations and still do. La Jettee and Blade Runner are also interesting for their presentation of dystopian chaos, but you can substantially argue that all roads lead back to Metropolis and early Russian/Italian futurists. So far, so good.
Where this falls down though, is in failing to explicitly acknowledge how radically the garment industry has changed in the years since 1990. This isn't surprising at all, because that's fashion's universal blind spot at the moment. There's a sleight of hand where the article stops talking about futurism and starts talking about innovation, but doesn't actually say so.
At this point, I think they've done a reasonable job of identifying who and what are driving the changes, but it's disappointing that they don't really drill down into "why". Uniqlo are leading the field in providing good quality affordable clothes for a mass market and the +J collection set the standard impressively high, but signs are that they won't be able to maintain that. Arcteryx are reinventing urban classics with cutting-edge technology, but mostly making products that can't easily be remodelled or repurposed.
Fashion, like many other industries right now, is trying but failing to imagine a future for itself beyond the late stage capitalist consumer model it's now stuck with. You can argue that this has always been the case, but actually quality has declined so badly by now that most clothes that get made are functionally disposable and many people have no reason to learn the skills to repair anything, let alone make it themselves.
Nevertheless, there's a good reason why we still use buttons, and sew them on with needles. If humanity ever manages to build a sustainable future, we'll need ways of combining industrial technology with human craft. I'm very glad they mention Christopher Raeburn, because he does wonderful things with recycled materials and small scale workshop production, making him the only real futurist in the bunch in my opinion.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 3:35 AM on May 14, 2017 [5 favorites]
For instance, the retro-futurism of Moebius and forward looking design of 2001 were products of their era, but both artworks informed the visual culture of subsequent generations and still do. La Jettee and Blade Runner are also interesting for their presentation of dystopian chaos, but you can substantially argue that all roads lead back to Metropolis and early Russian/Italian futurists. So far, so good.
Where this falls down though, is in failing to explicitly acknowledge how radically the garment industry has changed in the years since 1990. This isn't surprising at all, because that's fashion's universal blind spot at the moment. There's a sleight of hand where the article stops talking about futurism and starts talking about innovation, but doesn't actually say so.
At this point, I think they've done a reasonable job of identifying who and what are driving the changes, but it's disappointing that they don't really drill down into "why". Uniqlo are leading the field in providing good quality affordable clothes for a mass market and the +J collection set the standard impressively high, but signs are that they won't be able to maintain that. Arcteryx are reinventing urban classics with cutting-edge technology, but mostly making products that can't easily be remodelled or repurposed.
Fashion, like many other industries right now, is trying but failing to imagine a future for itself beyond the late stage capitalist consumer model it's now stuck with. You can argue that this has always been the case, but actually quality has declined so badly by now that most clothes that get made are functionally disposable and many people have no reason to learn the skills to repair anything, let alone make it themselves.
Nevertheless, there's a good reason why we still use buttons, and sew them on with needles. If humanity ever manages to build a sustainable future, we'll need ways of combining industrial technology with human craft. I'm very glad they mention Christopher Raeburn, because he does wonderful things with recycled materials and small scale workshop production, making him the only real futurist in the bunch in my opinion.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 3:35 AM on May 14, 2017 [5 favorites]
almost every shirt I own has buttons ... Impressive that they're good at their job,
I'm guessing that you don't have big boobs
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:28 AM on May 14, 2017 [8 favorites]
I'm guessing that you don't have big boobs
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:28 AM on May 14, 2017 [8 favorites]
(I found that website design repulsive, and gave up trying to read it after about three frames. Either y'all have better browsers than mine, or don't mind obnoxious gimickry.)
posted by Weftage at 8:02 AM on May 14, 2017
posted by Weftage at 8:02 AM on May 14, 2017
Most of my knowledge of Moebius is from Jodorowsky's Dune
All this indicates is a US focus. French BD influence on French designers would be very different. There's no way Gauthier had not seen, been soaked in for decades, Giraud's designs, and Metal Hurlant in general.
posted by bonehead at 8:35 AM on May 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
All this indicates is a US focus. French BD influence on French designers would be very different. There's no way Gauthier had not seen, been soaked in for decades, Giraud's designs, and Metal Hurlant in general.
posted by bonehead at 8:35 AM on May 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
Thank you so, so, so, so, so much for posting this. It ticks all of my boxes and then some.
posted by kariebookish at 1:46 PM on May 14, 2017
posted by kariebookish at 1:46 PM on May 14, 2017
It's a shame I can't seem to find (slim) cargo pants anymore?
These definitely exist, though sadly I can't remember the brand that I know I've seen make slim cargo pants anymore, so I can't link you to samples.
posted by kenko at 12:47 PM on May 15, 2017
These definitely exist, though sadly I can't remember the brand that I know I've seen make slim cargo pants anymore, so I can't link you to samples.
posted by kenko at 12:47 PM on May 15, 2017
Also, what's up with there not being a next step in fabric closures beyond zippers?
Velcro post-dates zippers!
posted by kenko at 12:48 PM on May 15, 2017
Velcro post-dates zippers!
posted by kenko at 12:48 PM on May 15, 2017
There are also clothes with magnetic closures. These are intended for people with limited finger dexterity, but hey, freakin' magnets!
posted by adamrice at 1:48 PM on May 15, 2017
posted by adamrice at 1:48 PM on May 15, 2017
There are also clothes with magnetic closures. These are intended for people with limited finger dexterity, but hey, freakin' magnets!
Are you sure they aren't intended for ripping off your cop uniform in one move so you can start dancing?
posted by bongo_x at 3:04 PM on May 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
Are you sure they aren't intended for ripping off your cop uniform in one move so you can start dancing?
posted by bongo_x at 3:04 PM on May 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
That's the great thing about universal design: it benefits people with palsies and strippers equally.
posted by adamrice at 8:33 PM on May 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 8:33 PM on May 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
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So clean lines, bright shining surfaces, simple geometric shapes, metal and tile and uncluttered cleanliness, the tings we associate with modernism? All hygiene movement fixations.
posted by The Whelk at 10:10 AM on May 13, 2017 [32 favorites]