# Is It Possible To Carry Off The "Cosmo Kramer" Look Today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755 "2013-12-07T16:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/1 "2013-12-07T16:02:21Z")
I mean, Kramer made 1950s thrift store dressing cool-he made old bowling shirts and white socks classy again. Can you do this today? Or would you look like: -a complete jerk -a homeless person I like the look-and giving vintage clothing a new life! I am always amazed ad the quality of the 1950s garments-they were made to last! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/2 "2013-12-07T16:14:27Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I mean, Kramer made 1950s thrift store dressing cool-he made old bowling shirts and white socks classy again. You thought that the Kramer character was classy 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/3 "2013-12-07T16:27:09Z")
You’d look like Kramer. Whether or not that’s a good thing is left as an exercise for the reader. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/4 "2013-12-07T16:37:14Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > You’d look like Kramer. Whether or not that’s a good thing is left as an exercise for the reader. That’s _never_ a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/5 "2013-12-07T18:13:24Z")
Was it possible then? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/6 "2013-12-07T18:22:16Z")
I have a feeling someone REALLY didn’t “get” _Seinfeld_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/7 "2013-12-07T18:28:15Z")
A faux-hipster thinking he looks “ironic”. Combine with a ironic mustache, a soul patch and a trilby, and you’ll fit right into SF fashion for those in their 20’s. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/8 "2013-12-07T18:30:37Z")
I was going to say Malcolm Gladwell has sort of a Kramer/academic thing going on, but maybe I’m just focusing on his hair. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/9 "2013-12-07T18:37:33Z")
What’s to get? It’s a show about nothing! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/10 "2013-12-07T18:41:41Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > You thought that the Kramer character was classy 😕 Kramer was classy-he lived life the way he wanted to…wasn’t hung up on fads…a bit of a mooch, but classy! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/11 "2013-12-07T18:43:47Z")
In other words, a homeless person who happened to have a home. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/12 "2013-12-07T19:24:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Kramer was classy-he lived life the way he wanted to…wasn’t hung up on fads…a bit of a mooch, but classy! It worked for Kramer because he was ignoring cultural expectations and being himself. Anyone trying to imitate Kramer would automatically fail. You can’t be an original by trying to copy somebody else who’s an original. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/13 "2013-12-07T19:46:42Z")
Kramer is the part of that show I never understood. If I lived in that building, the first time he slid into my apartment I’d put about 5 locks on the door, and a wide angle peephole in the door so I could make sure he wasn’t in the hall. Did that guy have _any_ redeeming qualities? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/14 "2013-12-07T19:56:34Z")
The look is “hipster doofus” if you go by what everyone said on the show. The other characters didn’t think he was classy. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/15 "2013-12-07T20:21:47Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Can you do this today? Macklemore seems to have done a pretty good job of it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/16 "2013-12-07T20:56:58Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I mean, Kramer made 1950s thrift store dressing cool-he made old bowling shirts and white socks classy again. Who doesn’t wear white socks? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/17 "2013-12-07T21:26:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > A faux-hipster thinking he looks “ironic”. Combine with a ironic mustache, a soul patch and a trilby, and you’ll fit right into SF fashion for those in their 20’s. Yes, in the late 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/18 "2013-12-08T01:42:55Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Kramer is the part of that show I never understood. If I lived in that building, the first time he slid into my apartment I’d put about 5 locks on the door, and a wide angle peephole in the door so I could make sure he wasn’t in the hall. Did that guy have _any_ redeeming qualities? Levels! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/19 "2013-12-08T03:33:33Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Kramer is the part of that show I never understood. If I lived in that building, the first time he slid into my apartment I’d put about 5 locks on the door, and a wide angle peephole in the door so I could make sure he wasn’t in the hall. Did that guy have _any_ redeeming qualities? Wood! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755/20 "2013-12-08T04:56:58Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Kramer was classy-he lived life the way he wanted to…wasn’t hung up on fads…a bit of a mooch, but classy! Kramer thought he was classy. Everyone else thought he was an idiot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-carry-off-the-cosmo-kramer-look-today/675755.md?page=2)