Since the French Revolution threw out court dress, people have been forced to label some garment or other as some symbol of Oppression. The gaudy excesses of the aristocracy were understandably the subject of criticism but I really do wonder if the whole trend that started of trying to dress down as much as possible as though you still risked losing your head to the guillotine really is necessary today.
This line of thinking is further reflected in this Soviet cartoon:
Lenin is sweeping away those Capitalists in court dress and morning dress. In late Victorian times the black coat and top hat had became like the lounge suit in the mid-20th century, worn by professionals and small time shopkeepers alike - a very egalitarian uniform. Black was after all meant to be a democractic colour. Yet each generation found the dress of the former one too monstrously formal for everyday wear - the frock coat, the morning coat, and now increasingly the lounge coat.
Take a look at Lenin dressed in a lounge suit, chesterfield overcoat and tie:
Today he might be considered to be dressed like those the previous cartoon depicts him sweeping away. I just wonder where this is going to stop. Soon we will be forced to walk around naked in order to be considered one of 'the people'.
Whatever happened to the good old dandy Left Wingers who knew how to dress. Thomas Mann:
