7 Iconic AMERICAN Styles That Transformed The World Men's Fashion History
[0:00:00] The first item on this list has been an American
style icon for over 160 years. Despite that long history, it remained a relatively obscured
regional item until Hollywood made it popular in the 1950s.
Today, it’s one of the most recognizable pieces of American footwear on the planet.
And, no, I’m not talking about Yeezys and I’m not talking about Crocs.
Gents, I’m referring to the iconic cowboy boot, also known as the Western boot. Made
popular during the cattle drive era of the late 1800s, the Western boot was prized then
and is prized now for its functionality. Seriously, everything about this boot is built
for a purpose. The shape of the toe, designed to go right into the stirrup of a Western
style saddle. The heel, to make sure that your foot doesn’t go too far into the saddle
in case you fall off the horse, you don’t want to get dragged to your death. [sound
effect] The height of the shaft, designed to keep
the boot on the wearer’s foot when he’s walking around and when he’s getting up
into the saddle. Finger handles to be able to be able to pull the boot on. Even the design
on the shaft is there to allow the wearer to express their own style.
And this pair right here in case you’re wondering does have meaning to me, made by
my friend, Will, over at Chisos Boots in Austin, Texas. What I like about this, we got the
sun coming up over the Chisos Mountain range in West Texas. I’m a West Texas born and
grew up at Midland-Odessa. So, when you got a pair of boots that actually
have meaning to you, I think that they’re, yeah, just an iconic piece of American style.
In today’s video, gents, we’re talking about iconic American items that transformed
men’s style. [Music]
Next up on our list, we’ve got an item that was contracted by the military in 1935. The
Army Air Corps needed a tool to be able to protect the eyes of their pilots at higher
altitudes and reduce glare. That item, gents, the iconic aviator sunglasses.
Now, a lot of people think it was the 1986 movie, Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise that put
aviators on the map. That is actually not true. [sound effect]
No. Let’s go back to 1944. General Douglas McArthur returns to the Philippines and he
gets all these pictures taken all over Time Magazine. And this photo became one of the
most iconic of World War II. In any case, my point is aviators are here
to stay. They’ve been around. And what I love about aviators is the function and the
style. So, first up, this style is going to work
with pretty much any face shape. When it comes to function, that’s what I love, again,
how it feels in this area. It protects your eyes from all those UV rays, again, assuming
that you got good quality glasses. Right here, I’m wearing Enemy. If you’re
not familiar, that’s Aaron Marino’s brand. [sound effect] And these aren’t sponsorships.
I’m just simply I own their products, I like them.
But, what I would recommend is go out there look at the different shapes. You’re going
to see them in square. This one is a bit more rounded. Find something that suits you.
And a couple of other companies to check out, Randolph Engineering, I really enjoy their
shades. And Maui Jim, they make some of the best lenses out there.
Now, really quick, gents, interrupting today’s video to talk about a country that us Americans
love almost as much as the good ole US of A. What country is this? Australia. It’s
the exports, right? Hugh Jackman, Chris Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie,
and of course, Vitaman grooming products. Now, gents, as you guys know I’m an owner
of Vitaman, so I’m a bit biased when I say that we make the best damn grooming products
on the planet. Seriously, everything is made in the land
down under using natural and organic ingredients from the Australian outback.
Now, I get it, a lot of you guys are thinking, “Antonio, what’s the difference between
your products versus the ones I pick up at my local drugstore?”
Now, gents, I could go on and on talking about how great our ingredients are, how effective
our products are. But, how about I put my money where my mouth is and make it so that
you can grab a sample for free. Seriously, gents, I’ve got a link down in
the description of today’s video, where you can go over to Vitaman and grab our sample
kit absolutely free. Now, the sample kit includes face and body
cleanser, face scrub, face moisturizer, shaving gel, shaving cream, and aftershave balm. All
of these in a reusable bamboo bag. My mission, gents, is for you to get the Vitaman products
in your hands and for you to see the Vitaman difference.
Now, gents, we’ve only got so many sample kits. This is a limited time offer, so use
the link down in the description to go over to Vitaman and grab your free sample kit today.
Next up, we’ve got an iconic item that’s defined American businessman since 1901. Introduced
initially as a cost saving measure, it went on to transform to change the entire industry.
So, what iconic American style item am I talking about? The sack suit by Brooks Brothers. Nowadays,
we take it for granted that we can walk into a store and buy a garment off the rack.
Now, it wasn’t the case a hundred and fifty years ago. Most really nice items were custom
made. The problem with this is that custom made items are incredibly expensive. So, the
only men that own suits were those that had a lot of money. And if you happen to own a
suit, you probably only had one. The idea that Brook Brothers brought to the
table that transformed the industry is that the garment really only had to fit in one
area. That’s the shoulders. It could be larger in the torso, the sleeve could be overly
long, even the jacket itself could be a bit long. All of that could be adjusted after
the fact. Now, the reality is the suit that you adjust
after the fact never is going to fit as well as a custom suit. But, with that reality is
also the realization, wow, we can sell these at a fraction of the price and the average
guy all of a sudden was able to own a suit that he could wear to church on Sundays.
[0:05:06] Or as Brooks Brothers found out, all of these
men migrating to the cities looking for white collar jobs. All these men coming back from
the war looking to start wearing suits, they had money, but they wanted to be smart with
it. Now, the number one sack suit from 1901 was
eventually followed up in the 1930’s with the number two suit, which had a little bit
of a slimmer fit and profile. Point being is Brooks Brothers figured out, hey, if we
all of a sudden start giving these different sizes, these different cuts, people are going
to be into it. Nowadays, it’s amazing. There are so many
options online. You can find companies that specialized in thinner men. You can find companies
out there built for the larger guy. Gents, the biggest contribution of the sack
suit is it drove down the price of clothing. All of a sudden, instead of people spending
20%-30% of their income on clothing, it nowadays has less than 10%. And that freed them time,
and money to be able to spend it on other things.
Now, sticking with Brooks Brothers, let’s talk about another iconic American item that
they helped to bring to the masses and that is the button down collar.
Now, the button down collar has actually been around for quite a while, 1880s, 1890s on
the polo fields, we saw this style. But, it really hadn’t gone beyond that and it was
Brooks Brothers that saw the opportunity of a collar you don’t have to think about,
one that has just a bit more of an informal look. And that’s exactly what they introduced
this for. This was an everyday a casual wearing shirt that in the 1930s, 1940s, you can wear
this without a tie. That being said, still a lot of guys wore
it with a tie. Fast forward a hundred years to today, the button down collar is a classic
in menswear. What’s great about this, again, a casual weekend that you want to wear something
with a blazer, but you don’t want to wear that tie, this is the option you want to grab.
Now, gents, if you’re the kind of guy that likes freedom, do me a favor, smash that like
button. Seriously, gents, all I’ve got to say is Merica. [sound effect]
Now, for this next item, it’s debatable who came up with this, the English or the
Americans? I’m going to go ahead and claim it for the US. I’m saying that we came up
with the classic t-shirt. So, we go back 140 years, we look at what
men were wearing underneath all their clothing. It was actually the square buttoned up garment
that was long sleeve. Yeah, it was just kind of a pain.
So, the idea with the t-shirt when it first came out in about 1895 was to be able to have
something that you could strip off your top shirt if you had to work on decks. It was
in the military. We, especially the United States Navy where we saw the t-shirt first
get its inroads. And it was just something that started picking up a bit of steam that
was very useful. The idea was you had your arms free, you had
a simple item, it could be washed easily, didn’t cost a whole a lot of money and protected
your more expensive outer wear from sweat and soiling.
Now, in the 1930’s, there was a very interesting movie, which I will reveal at the end of today’s
video that the Fruit of the Loom company actually made promotional t-shirts for. It was the
first time anything really have been done and they recognized, hey, if we get this in
front of people, that movie went on to become of the most popular of all times. Kind of
surprising. This was a big deal. Most people hadn’t
seen this garment and then all of a sudden World War II happened, the demand for t-shirts
shot up. In the 1950’s, things continued to accelerate
for the t-shirt. Marlon Brando in two movies, A Street Car Named Desire in 1951 and in 1953’s
The Wild One. I think it’s safe to say that today, the t-shirt and all of its various
forms is perhaps the most worn American iconic item on the planet.
Next up, the iconic basketball shoe, a.k.a. Chuck Taylors. Nowadays, pretty much all the
top basketball players have their own shoe or their own shoe line. Seriously, if you’re
not aware of, Michael Jordan has built a billion dollar brand off of his shoes.
But, in 1921, that wasn’t the case, Chuck Taylor walked in the Converse and actually,
they didn’t give him a deal, they hired him as a salesman and he went around for over
the next 50 years. Basically, this one man force got so many people to start wearing
his shoes and it just became a household name, Chuck Taylors [0:08:55 inaudible]. And to
this day, that style of shoe is still being made.
And by the way, on a side note, besides basketball, these are excellent weightlifting shoes.
Now, in today’s video, gents, I’m not going to hit everything. I know there are
items on your iconic list of American style pieces that have transformed the world and
I didn’t cover them. Let me know what I missed down in the comments below.
And by the way, in case you’re wondering about that movie I was talking about early
in the 1930’s that made t-shirts popular, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz.
The next item on our list of iconic American style items, this one has been around for
almost a hundred and sixty years. We’ve got denim jeans. 1871 the Levi’s company
first started making jeans. This jacket right here, I’m not going to say that this one
is made back in that time period, but the jean jacket soon followed.
Point being is denim has been a part of American style for a long time. In fact, my only issue
with denim, Levi’s jeans in particular, is finding the right fit. I mean, there are
so many different styles out there. That’s why, gents, I made this video for
you right here. I break out Levi jeans and the different styles, the different fits,
how to find the one for you for your body type.
Guys, this is my ultimate guide. If you haven’t checked out this video and you’re looking
to buy a pair of jeans, you want to go check it out. And even if you’re not going to
buy Levi’s, you want to watch it because I talk about the different styles that fit
different body types. [0:10:10] End of audio