Fashionable Generation?

If there is ever a New York Times article I am calling bullshit on it is this one. It is trying to make the argument that males in their teens to thirties dress more formally than the generation before it. I just don't see it. This is not to say that there are not members of my generation who are that way. The Wedding and Prom fetish seems to prove that case. However it is just as easy for me to go to hollywood and find hundreds of people my age in torn clothes with tattoos and piercings. Watching the author try to prove his point is painful:

“But the younger generation is looking at getting dressed up and making their mark,” Mr. Cohen continued. “It’s a real generation gap here. I teach at three different colleges, and I am amazed how dressed up some of the students are. Girls still come in their hoodies and pajamas, but boys come in their suits.”

I have never seen a college student come to class in a suit, except occasionally for a presentation... Girls in my class were almost always putting more attention into their appearance.

NPD figures for the year ending Nov. 1 indicate that sales of tailored clothing among men ages 35 to 54 were down 17 percent. Among men ages 25 to 34, sales were up almost 4 percent.

Oh my, four whole percent! If there is any story to be found in those statistics it is that America as a whole is running from suits. America's obsession with Weddings holds up the numbers for one small demographic group.

The rest is just marketing and cherry picking characters from pop culture. If you ask someone at a suit company of course they will say suits are popular with young people! And of course you can find a character in an obscure TV show who fits any stereotype you want to make.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17CODES.html?em