What’s up with fashion’s awkward adaptation of military threads?

Zackry Colston
Apr 29, 2020 3:47 PM PDT
1 minute read
What’s up with fashion’s awkward adaptation of military threads?

SUMMARY

Military dress and fashion have been linked for a long time. Bomber jackets were used to save pilots’ lives in WWI. Then, in the 1990s, they were used by sitcom bullies on TV shows. US soldiers have been wearing BDU camo pants since the 1980s. Now,…

Military dress and fashion have been linked for a long time. Bomber jackets were used to save pilots' lives in WWI. Then, in the 1990s, they were used by sitcom bullies on TV shows. US soldiers have been wearing BDU camo pants since the 1980s. Now, Drake wears them in his "In My Feelings" music video.


Even the camo couldn't hide him from his son.

Go to a hip coffee spot. Chances are there's a dude with black-rimmed glasses wearing an army jacket or some form of a "war veteran" hat — basically walking around looking like an extra from Red Dawn.

But it's always been like this. Hell, as soon as cavemen started battling in decorated loin cloths, I'll bet their sons started ironically wearing decorated loin cloths to cave-school the next day. "Ug see, Ug do..."

Why are these trends adopted by people who (speaking in generalities here) are admittedly not involved or interested in military life? It's odd, and, it's actually getting a bit more extreme — streetwear and "hypebeasts" (someone whose identity is so tied up in what brands they wear that they become a walking billboard) have even started wearing tactical vests.

Just a "Supreme" sticker away from costing 0.

But nobody is guiltless here; the reverse is arguably just as bad — when military dudes bring a little too much HOOAH into the fashion world.

I mean, look at Grunt Style. Seeing a dude working out at the gym in a Grunt Style shirt is one of the fastest ways to recognize someone who has just enlisted and really wants you to thank them for their service. Don't get me wrong —patriots should be allowed to express their pride however they want, but rockin' a shirt that says "Alcohol. Tobacco. Firearms." is the FNG equivalent of a sorority girl with a "Live. Laugh. Love 3" tattoo on her wrist.

Oh, by the way -- Post Malone was seen, coincidentally enough, wearing that shirt at a concert. Another traditionally military-born fashion piece ironically worn to project some bizarre, label-manufactured street image.

Maybe it seems weird because of the odd political and social divide in our country right now. Maybe it seems weird because you don't need camo when you're on a giant stage with a spotlight on you. Maybe it seems weird because it's just plain uninspired. No matter what it "seems" like, the link between fashion and military has always been here and always will be.

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