# Which of history’s fashions would you choose, if you could adopt any style? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312 "2025-12-02T00:18:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/21 "2025-12-02T06:10:15Z")
A big, black, swishy cape. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/22 "2025-12-02T09:48:28Z")
I rather like the fashion of Caveman Couture™, a bold new look that says _“I invented the wheel but only use it to intimidate cyclists.”_ [![](https://i.imgur.com/MwKu6fe.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/MwKu6fe.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/23 "2025-12-02T10:16:05Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I’m a fan of a nice suit; wearing a well tailored silk suit is like wearing pajamas. And I appreciate the sartorial flair of men like Al Capone. So America in the roaring twenties would be fine by me. Same here. In the words of a song, “Got a brand new pin stripe suit of clothes, big wide polka-dot tie, cuff links as big as jaybird eggs, and look at that! Shoes made out of alligator hide!” I can do without the shoes made out of alligator hide, but the rest fits me. Pretty sure it would fit Big Al too—and if you disagree, well, I know a guy who might make you change your mind. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/24 "2025-12-02T12:06:51Z")
My favorite female fashion trend was the [flappers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper) in the 1920s. Second favorite would be early 1960s fashion. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/25 "2025-12-02T13:05:28Z")
I was watching a show on Prime last night where they recreated garb of the past, and I’ve seen other shows demonstrating the layers upon layers that fashionable folk wore. No thanks very much! I’d definitely have to go with 60s hippie attire or its equivalent. Come to think of it, apart from bell bottoms, that’s very much like what I wear anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/26 "2025-12-02T13:17:44Z")
I’m always drawn to the women’s fashions of the 1940’s, at least, as they were portrayed in the movies. Sharp and classy. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/27 "2025-12-02T13:20:08Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > My favorite female fashion trend was the [flapper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper) Not for me! Skirts too tight to walk in AND short enough that you need to think carefully about how you sit. That’s two big red flags right there. I’m going for either pants or a big flowy bottom that let’s me run and also drapes over everything when i sit. I quite like modern fabrics: strong, light, flexible. Silk is nice, too. Maybe i should stick with kimonos, or with what i actually wear, which is jeans and a loose top in a pattern i enjoy, with a rubber band to hold back my hair. (No, not really a rubber band, one of those hair things.) ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/28 "2025-12-02T13:25:59Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Whichever era it was that really had the Cary Grant attire I’m sure I would get annoyed with the fussiness of it eventually, but I kind of agree. The guy just exuded “coolness”. In the same vein, Humphrey Bogart in his white dinner jacket in Casablanca [![](https://cdnz.blacklapel.com/thecompass/2024/07/945f199d-4ebc-4017-9a26-f0915ab55104-290x290.jpg) ](https://cdnz.blacklapel.com/thecompass/2024/07/945f199d-4ebc-4017-9a26-f0915ab55104-290x290.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/29 "2025-12-02T13:30:06Z")
I think I’d go for 1950’s/1960’s era men’s attire, when folks dressed up nice to go to the ball game or to the movies. As long as everyone else went along for the ride. > [@Kimstu](#): > > Indian sari/choli is in my view the single most beautiful and elegant style of female dress known in human history, and not far behind the leaders in wearability/convenience once you know how, but a floor-length undivided skirt is always going to lose convenience points. Back when “outsourcing to India” was a new thing, a group of five of us went to India to visit our India-based teammates for a week. On the Wednesday of our stay, all of the women from the office took the one woman from our group, an American woman in her early thirties, shopping at some posh mall and absolutely fussed all over her. She was so happy when they were done and she was all dressed up in a beautiful sari. I have a picture of her among all of the other “India Trip” photos. She was positively glowing! ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/30 "2025-12-02T15:32:19Z")
One reason that I like the 1920s is because your collar detached from your shirt. This kept the collars looking fresh. On Sundays, I’d also like to be able to walk down the street wearing this. [![](https://i.ibb.co/YT3p2w96/IMG-2127.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/YT3p2w96/IMG-2127.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/31 "2025-12-02T15:47:36Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > authentic underwear ??? I am not a particular expert in Japanese underwear, but I would expect just cotton, worn as a kind of briefs, nothing especially weird. > [@Tibby](#): > > Caveman Couture May I go for ritual nudity? Perhaps that could count as a fashion, rather than just not being able to decide what to wear. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/32 "2025-12-02T15:57:12Z")
Shorts and t-shirts. and people say there’s nothing good about the current era! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/33 "2025-12-02T19:02:01Z")
I’ve grown to like a breast pocket, and I’m gradually upgrading from t-shirts to Hawaiian shirts. (For warm weather.) But i like that about the current era, too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/34 "2025-12-02T20:58:49Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’ve grown to like a breast pocket, and I’m gradually upgrading from t-shirts to Hawaiian shirts. For that reason I wear Carhartt t-shirts. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > A big, black, swishy cape. Yes, capes/cloaks are wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/35 "2025-12-02T22:31:53Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > > authentic underwear > > ??? > > I am not a particular expert in Japanese underwear, but I would expect just cotton, worn as a kind of briefs, nothing especially weird. For the _period_ kimono or yutaka wearer (and also today for special ceremonial occasions) the underwear was a long white cotton cloth that was wound around one’s nether regions, twisted to form a waist to hold everything, and also to run up the backside between the cheeks, while the front was left untwisted to cradle the twig and berries. So a sort of loincloth. Laborers in hot weather might wear nothing else (which was very shocking to Europeans when they first came to Japan). I’ve never tried them, but they look rather uncomfortable, and I have wondered what one does when one needs to use the toilet – it’s too cumbersome to take off and put on again, so I suspect they just pulled various parts to one side until they were finished. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/36 "2025-12-02T22:48:27Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > For the _period_ kimono or yutaka wearer (and also today for special ceremonial occasions) the underwear was a long white cotton cloth that was wound around one’s nether regions, twisted to form a waist to hold everything, and also to run up the backside between the cheeks, while the front was left untwisted to cradle the twig and berries. So a sort of loincloth. Or similar to what sumo wear today. Googling the word “fundoshi” helps. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/37 "2025-12-02T22:51:20Z")
Not really similar to the Sumo mawashi, except that the buttocks are exposed. The Mawashi is much bulkier and is not in any sense underwear. The images I get when googling “fundoshi” seem to be mostly contemporary versions, not the period version. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/38 "2025-12-02T22:52:42Z")
I do not want my backside anywhere near a bustle. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/39 "2025-12-02T22:56:22Z")
I’ve recently found a tunic hoodie. Big kangaroo pocket. Pullover with side zippers at the hem. Brand name Warmy. I love love love hoodies. I think they are next to a perfect design. IMO. Can’t really go wrong. So it’s hoodie, snug fit tee-shirt, leggings. Most days. So I guess I go around in my jammies. I can’t really think of a historical clothing except maybe the long white shirt Muslim men wear. Seems like it would be very comfy. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312/40 "2025-12-03T07:15:06Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Skirts too tight to walk in AND short enough that you need to think carefully about how you sit. That’s not flapper fashion at all. Skirts were generally around knee length. Miniskirts they ain’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-history-s-fashions-would-you-choose-if-you-could-adopt-any-style/1025312.md?page=3)