Fashions, fads always changing

By Cecil Chandler
Feature Reporter
Published: September 7, 2008

Good morning, everybody, and welcome back to another Cecil’s World in Print. Have you ever noticed that today’s world is made up of fads and fashions? People do whatever is popular during the time they are growing up. Both fashions and fads change every few years. As a teenager growing up in Darlington back in the early ’60s, my wardrobe included khaki pants, madras shirts and penny loafers.

And, of course, you had to have at least two baby blue Gnat shirts in your closet. The girls were wearing bell-bottom pants and miniskirts. While the girls were collecting pictures and magazines of their favorite movie stars, the boys were collecting 45 rpm records. My collection reached 5,500 before upgrading my music to computers.

During the last 40-some years, fashions and fads have continuously changed. We’ve gone from playing with the hula hoops to skateboards. When I was in school, wearing your shirt tails in and having neatly pressed pants was the dress code. Today, however, anything goes. One fashion I can do without is the guys wearing the pants down below their butts with their underwear showing. Come on, fellows, that is not cool. It is vulgar to me.

Today’s modern times have really changed dating. In the ’60s, if you did not have a steady girl, you had to call at least a day ahead of time to get a date. The Dairy Bar, a local hangout in Darlington, was a great place for finding a date on Saturdays. If a girl had her hair in rollers hanging out during the day, she already had a date. If not, she was available. Dating fashions have also changed from the ’60s. Most of the young people today, instead of dressing up for a date, they would rather wear old jeans and a T-shirt. In other words, anything goes. You can dress like a slob and get a date or dress neat and look like a nerd compared with today’s dating standards.

Fashions and fads are always changing, but some have been around for awhile and are once again picking up in popularity. I’m talking about tattoos and body piercing. Wow, I think I hit a nerve for some of you parents reading my column. I know a lot of you are faced with your kids getting tattoos and parts of their bodies pierced. I am not for or against tattooing or body piercing. I feel it is entirely left up to the individual. My dad had a tattoo on his arm that he got when he was in Korea, and I always thought it was cool, and a lot of my friends have them. When I was in basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., back in 1968, me and an Army buddy went to get tattoos. He got his first and I could see it was a little painful, so I chickened out. I was considering an American flag or a rose on my right arm. I don’t know why. It was just the thing to do back then. Now it is popular again. The fad used to be piercing your ears. Now, it has expanded to the nose, tongue, eyebrows or other parts of your body. A lot of people still do this, but I feel this has slowed somewhat.

Now that tattooing is legal in South Carolina, the younger generation is rushing to tattoo parlors. A lot of my friends have tattoos. While some of them hide them under their clothes, others proudly display their works of art on their arms, legs and faces. The laser technology of removing tattoos was developed in the ’90s. The average cost is $135 for the first square inch and $25 for each additional square inch.

Yes, life goes on and trends, styles and everything else changes. I wonder what next year will bring. See you next week, right here in the Morning News and on the tube.

— Cecil Chandler is a veteran reporter at WBTW News13. His column appears Mondays in the Morning News.