"[L]ast year, Hsu Hsiu-e, 84 and Chang Wan-ji, 83—a married couple who own a laundromat in Taiwan—became global social media stars thanks to their Instagram account..."

"... @wantshowasyoung. The pair pose in compelling outfits styled from clothes their laundromat customers have left behind. The account is now up to over 654,000 followers and the pair was recently named the ambassadors for Taipei Fashion Week." 

From "Grandpa Style: Why 20-Somethings Are Dressing Like Senior Citizens/Thanks to Instagram accounts like @Gramparents and books like ‘Chinatown Pretty,’ milllenials and Gen-Z are coming to appreciate their gray-haired elders’ fashion sense" (WSJ). 

 I'm amused by the way the WSJ tried so hard to get the double letters in "millennial" right and came up with "milllenials." 

Anyway... @wantshowasyoung isn't about youngish people dressing like really old people. It's old people wanting to "show as young" — look young. I'm blogging this little side issue, because I like the Instagram account. Such a perfect idea. Example:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 萬秀的洗衣店｜WANT SHOW as young (@wantshowasyoung)

As for millennials and Gen Zers dressing like "grandfathers," my favorite example of this is the YouTube icon Review Brah, who explains here — in his mesmerizing style — why he dresses like that: 

 

The Wall Street Journal has written on this subject before. Back in 2013, it had "Grandfather Knows Best — Instead of idolizing Dad, some well-dressed men reach a further generation back for their style cues":

"My grandfather taught me that a man always carries a handkerchief and always needs a clean-cut hairstyle," said Max, a private-equity firm associate who lives in Chicago....While his father is no slouch, Max explained, "he requires comfort in his dress."

Perhaps it's the legacy of the baby boomers who loosened their collars and made every day a Casual Friday, but many men are looking past dear old Dad and finding lessons in their grandfathers' wardrobes....

FROM THE EMAIL: Mr. Wibble writes: 

Over the past year I've fallen down the rabbit hole that is the historical costuming community on Youtube, and one interesting point that gets raised by these (mostly) women time and again is how much "comfort versus style" is a false-dichotomy. The two are not at odds; in fact, dressing well can often be more comfortable.

A well-fitting corset is far superior in support to a bra, natural fibers such as cotton, linen, or light wool breathe far better than modern fabrics, and the clever use of tailoring and padding can help create the fashionable shape and hide any number of sins. 

Personally, I've found that a jacket, tie, and slacks are far more comfortable for everyday wear than jeans and a t-shirt. I have to wonder if the rise of mass manufactured clothing post-WWII has played a role in the sloppiness of modern society. Modern fabrics (read, "plastic and rubber") sewn by Vietnamese workers and designed to fit the most body types without any adjustment will always look sloppy and feel uncomfortable. 

Also, that suit is too big for that young man. He needs it taken in, and needs to sit up straight. 

*rambles like an old man*

I agree that casual clothes can be uncomfortable and dressy clothes can be comfortable. It's a matter of fabric and fit. But it takes some thought and searching and, often, extra money to get yourself into dressy clothes that are comfortable. 

And I don't buy that corsets are more comfortable than bras. "Bra" is not just one thing. There's a whole range, and if you have something of good quality that fits, it might be pretty comfortable. For casualness, you can just toss out that bra, though some women insist that they are less comfortable with no bra at all! Personally, I think that's a problem caused by bra-wearing, which provides external support for what is otherwise be supported from the inside. But are corsets more comfortable than a well-made, properly fitting bra? Maybe they are if they are well-made and properly fitting, but it might depend on the person.

As for modern fabrics, I think the really high quality stuff that you find in athletic wear may be superior to cotton. Runners and hikers are advised not to wear cotton.

As for Review Brah, he wears what he likes, and he like oversized, baggy clothes. He gets people telling him all the time that his clothes should be more fitted, and he adamantly rejects the advice. His position is wear what you want, and he's wearing what he wants.

"Men are exposing their legs in public as a reaction to our public behaviour being so tightly policed in public for the last year. They want to feel the wind’s tactile caress on their skin."

Said Prof Andrew Groves, the director of the Westminster Menswear Archive at the University of Westminster, quoted in "Micro shorts for men: how short is too short?/With lockdown easing, will you be following Paul Mescal and Harry Styles and baring more leg than usual this summer?" (The Guardian). 

This isn't just another men-in-shorts article. This is the news that men are going back to the kind of short shorts runners wore in the 1970s. 

And it's a Gen Z thing. So says Shane C Kurup, a Men’s Health’s editor: “They are the most socially aware, health-conscious generation we’ve ever seen. There’s a strong emphasis among this generation of being comfortable in your own skin and not blindly conforming to a prescribed body type.” 

Great! I'm looking forward to a clown show of atrocious fashion. And I intend to enjoy the fun of the Z kids annoying the millennials. 

FROM THE EMAIL: Amadeus 48 writes:

Your short note on shorts impelled me to dig up the following quote from George Orwell’s “Road to Wigan Pier.” Orwell got so many things right he seems like a prophet:

“One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words ‘Socialism’ and ‘Communism’ draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, ‘Nature Cure’ quack, pacifist, and feminist in England. One day this summer I was riding through Letchworth [a new model town favoured by progressive intellectuals] when the bus stopped and two dreadful-looking old men got onto it. They were both about sixty, both very short, pink and chubby, and both hatless. One of them was obscenely bald, the other had long gray hair bobbed in the Lloyd George style. They were dressed in pistachio-coloured shirts and khaki shorts into which their huge bottoms were crammed so tightly that you could study every dimple. Their appearance created a mild stir of horror on top of the bus. The man next to me, a commercial traveller I should say, glanced at me, at them, and back again at me, and murmured, ‘Socialists’, as one should say, ‘Red Indians’.”

So, the kiddies of Gen Z may find that their ideas have consequences.