I have recently started a new job, forcing a small rethink of my wardrobe strategy. As part of my thoughts on what to wear, I had some creative mental meanderings about how dress and formality of dress has changed. I came to a personal conclusion that my generation, the Gen-Xers, are the first Peter Pan generation, refusing to adopt the sartorial trappings of adults, among other rejections we showed towards growing up. My generation’s dress sense is indistinguishable from that of Gen-Y and the Millennials: we are all wearing the same wardrobe.
Gen-Xers grew up in exactly the same technology environments as our parents and grandparents did (we are the last generation to recognise a lot of now obsolete technology) and yet were the first generation to experience the impact of digital, the world the Gen-Ys and millennials now occupy alongside us.
It was us that witnessed the introduction of the PC into widespread use, us who saw the rise of generational marketing, us who witnessed M-TV’s impact, us who helped globalisation gain a foothold, us who ushered in home entertainment via VHS, us to first played video games. And us who refused to change our clothing to the ones our parents wore to work.
If you look at ads from the 20th century, the Baby Boomers may have had sideburns and shorter skirts, but there was a definite “work” and “leisure”wardrobe that was not the same piece of kit that their children were wearing. But today, we love our jeans and active wear and it’s the same as that being worn by the younger generation.
It turns out that this Peter Pannism is infectious.
An article on items seen at this month’s CES in Las Vegas on The Ringer catalogues and critiques products that are encouraging adult infantilisation tendencies. Living longer, delaying starting families due to longer tertiary study, low incomes and a difficulty getting on any kind of home ownership trajectory, plus a world of discovery available in gap years, global working, Instagram inspirations were all factors I did not have to deal with as a young adult. None of these things applied to me. I knew, when I left university, that I needed to find a job, buy a house, go up a career ladder, and so on. Those were the things my parents told me were important. But I do remember hating to wear the corporate garb. Now, it seems, we not only do not have the same impulse to follow those paths, but are actively being encouraged to avoid it by new products available soon on an Amazon 1-Click buy in your location.
PT Barnum, that famous showman of the 19th Century, allegedly once said words to the effect that there’s a sucker born every minute. That’s as true today as it was over a hundred years ago. The only material difference is that today, we will pay money for the sucker in addition to being the sucker.