However sincere State Senator Eric Adams or Bill Cosby might be admonishing urban youth to, 'pull up their pants,' such efforts are hardly liable to work. The exploits of the lamented late Alexander McQueen and Lady Gaga alone are proof positive of one of fashion's most satisfying perennial pleasures. Style statements which shock and even scandalize an un-hip establishment are always the younger generation's favorite form of subversion.
Sporting sagging baggies that display immaculately white briefs, colorful boxers, and sometimes more, the disaffected of today -- poorly educated, un-and-under employed, filled with desire for a bountiful life, notwithstanding dire prospects -- are they any more unreasonable than their rebellious afro-wearing, bell-bottomed grandparents?
For certain, their audacious bravado in challenging anyone who doesn't appreciate what they see, to 'kiss my [the fashion-freedom-fighter's] ass!' is no different from the codpiece, a focal point of male attire for 200 years, from roughly 1400 to the close of the 16th Century.
Just what was a codpiece, you now wonder? Named for the old English term for bag or scrotum, it was a flap or a bag, attached in front to conceal the opening between a man's hose. This additional feature of male apparel was at first made necessary because of the shortening of the skirt on men's tunics. Soon however, it developed into something else altogether, not just a flap to conceal one's drawers. Ironically, in time, a fashion developed out of concern for modesty, evolved into a protuberance, puffed, slashed, even ornamented with jeweled pins and engorged with padding which deliberately called attention to the male anatomy.
Imitating the elite, the fashion was quickly adapted by soldiers, merchants, and even peasants in the fields. Embellishing court dress and work clothes, it even became a feature of suites of armor.
Brazen eye-catchers by the reign of Henry VIII, codpieces achieved their greatest elaboration and scale, sometimes doing double duty as coin purses or a place to conceal letters or poisons. The sawdust and wool wadding employed to allow men to enhance the proportions of their endowment, 'bombast,' is still a useful part of the language, signifying false pride and swaggering braggadocio.
Like sagging baggies, codpieces were a highly aggressive expression of masochismo. They also emanated considerable, usually unintentional, homoerotic appeal. With massive Henry's death and the accession of his sickly 9-year-old son Edward VI, who died at 15, the codpiece's prominence steadily diminished.
Whereas Henry's reign provided fashions that exaggerated what was normal, his daughter Elizabeth's rule was marked by fashions featuring unnaturally manipulated silhouettes. With a woman on the throne of England , and homosexual Henri III, king of France, the shrinking codpiece gradually fell from use to disappear altogether by the start of the 17th Century.
"With the decline of the codpiece, overall male costume showed a tendency in the 1670's, towards feminization inspired by Henri III, accentuated by diminutive muffs, tousled ringlets and pearl earrings," noted fashion scholar Michael McCollom. How odd that perhaps the gay world's all-time favorite fashion statement, before sagging baggies, should have floundered, due to the influence of two queens?
Sagging baggies, tattoos, false nails and hair, piercings, what are we of a certain age and with squeamish sensibilities, to make of such modishness? The more current styles are able to annoy and anger old folks, the longer they are inclined to continue to enjoy popularity that transcends race and class. Given how effectively young people are presently able to outrage us, it's difficult to imagine just what offensive fashions their offspring might devise to outrage them.
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David Cameron was an exceptionally bright student, one of the brightest his Oxford tutor says he’s ever taught. Cameron took the non-stereotyped route though university, he was the first Eton pupil in 30 or 40 years to study PPE at Brasenose college, not a prestigious college, he worked hard and got a good first. He was known for his hard work and honesty and as the one everyone looked to lead and care for others.
When Ivan very sadly died last year, aged just 6., Cameron paid tribute to 'our beautiful boy'. Cameron had spent 116 days of the last year of Ivan’s life sleeping on the floors of NHS hospitals after Ivan had severe fits. This inspired his love of the NHS and its staff, his admiration and empathy for sick children and their parents and led him to take up the fight for them and others in need. In the hospitals where the Camerons had to spend so much time, David was often found reading in the early hours to sick children who couldn’t sleep, frequently getting just a few hours sleep before going into parliament to do PMQs or an all day session.
David Cameron is a lovely man.
"Are you in a position to form a government, Mr Cameron?", the queen will ask him.
"Yes, your majesty", he will reply, bowing low.
"I invite you to form my government, Prime Minister Cameron."
"I am honoured to do so, your majesty", our new Prime Minister will say.
Then PM Cameron will climb back into his silver Jaguar/ Jensen; note the symbolism, sleek and modern, light and open, no hiding away in a sinister black limousine, the small cod piece of a man secure enough not to need a phoney large one: a departure from tradition, like everything else about our remarkable new PM.
This is so wonderful. The people of England will have our civil liberties and rights returned to us, no more biometric ID cards or intrusion in our emails, goodbye EUSSR! We shall make our own laws and no longer be the most watched people in the western world. We shall no longer live in fear of our own Prime Minister and government.
Cameron won a million more votes than won Blair our last election yet was awarded 50 less seats than Blair, which disgracefully denied Cameron an overall majority.
The appalling thing is that the number of votes Cameron polled was sufficient to give him an overall majority of seats (MPs), but the corruption of our electoral boundaries under Labour, which has subverted our election results throughout Labour's terms of office, denied him the seats he should have won. Conservatives have to win an average of thousands more votes (up to 26,000) in order win each MP's seat under Labour. We've also had electoral fraud, a number of Labour candidates have been linked to multiple bogus postal votes scams, there could be many more fraudulent votes which have not been detected.
Our Constitution prevents HM speaking her mind about politics, but her face in the photographs taken with the two Prime Ministers tells us all we need to know. She looks most uncomfortable - and nervous - in a picture taken with Brown on his resignation, yet is smiling broadly in the photograph of her meeting with Cameron.
But then we'd run into the inevitable codpiece padding,... maybe push-up lift for codpiece.... maybe even silicone codpieces... oh boy.
I also think women do the same thing, most women dress for other women. Sure both sexes (assuming they are straight) want to attract the opposite sex, but their fashion choices also reflex how they want to be seen by their own sex....
its quite a remarkable study of human behavior...
I dont think class or race really has any effect on people dressing for the same sex. I would dress up a bit for my business classes because the other guys were dressed up a bit, there were no woman in the class, and no dress code, but i didnt want them to look down on me, I wanted to dress to impress.
Interesting that the baggy style supposedly began in imitation of inmates whose belts had been taken away, causing their pants to droop.
One of the downsides, as it were, of baggy fashions is that when trying to run, as when fleeing the police, the fashion-transgressive man's pants will fall down. This often causes laughter and glee on the part of pursuing police. It's also interesting to note a backlash against tattoos--because they can be used as identifying marks by law enforcement.
As for baggy trousers, just go to Chelsea in New York or to Malibu and you'll see all sorts of hipster wannabes showing their 'best side'