The Power of Clothing

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by ebacon

Saw a lot of that in the 1970s and early 1980s. The "field jacket" carried about the same coolness as a well-worn denim jacket.

In my mind I still see the Marlboro man as representative of American cultural dress. Yes, he is associated with cigarettes which is now bad. Similarly, female models are associated with dietary issues which are now bad. Both rightfully so.

But when visitors come to America what do they want to see? Do Mexicans want to see the Taco Bell uniform? Do Germans want to see Frankenmuth dirndls? Do Japanese want to see a steak house uniform?

To some degree the answer will be yes to all of those. Visitors are curious as to how America interprets their cultures. They will see it, giggle at the errors, and still want to see the "real" America.

My understanding is that visitors want a machine gun experience. They want to drive a V8 car to the Grand Canyon. They want the Marlboro man.

And don't we? Why do we move away from old subdivisions to the country? Only to repeat the subdivision cycle again? The vicious cycle has been going on for 70 years.

70 years of searching for culture? For the Marlboro man?

I dunno. This is just the stuff that occupies my thoughts as I wait for traffic lights to change.

It's in the culture that if you're doing good you build a big new house. That's what gone on here since the Pilgrims. Factor in lots more people, economics, law, land use regulation, etc, etc, and we get what we've got. Lots of people can't build a big new house, but they want bigger and newer anyway....