Abstract

Fashion in old age has been of increasing interest within various disciplines, including social gerontology and fashion studies. However, there remains a scarcity of research concerning older men’s everyday dress practices. This paper redresses this imbalance through a detailed exploration of the everyday dress practices of a group of three sartorially minded older men. A series of in-depth interviews revealed the conscious ways in which the men style themselves, the various constraints that structure their dress, and above all, the men’s emotional entanglements with their garments. The notion of wardrobe as a conceptual space (which is both mental and spatial) frames this study. Importantly, the older men’s dress practices are considered as they contribute to, and extend, notions of everyday creativity. Typically, when creativity is considered amongst older people, this has tended to focus on individuals who can be conventionally defined and socially labeled as “creative” types (artists, musicians etc.). In contrast, this study helps to reveal the extent to which all aspects of social life, including the mundane act of dressing, may involve creative practices. If creativity is de-coupled from “high artistic achievement” we can begin to understand how all individuals possess diverse forms of creative potential and capacity.

摘要

老年时尚在包括社会老年学和时尚研究在内的各个学科中越来越受到关注。然而，关于老年男性日常着装习惯的研究仍然很少。本文通过对三位有裁缝意识的年长男性日常着装习惯的详细探索，纠正了这种不平衡。一系列深入的采访揭示了男性有意识地塑造自己的方式，构成他们服装的各种限制，最重要的是，男性与他们的服装的情感纠葛。衣柜作为概念空间（既是精神空间又是空间空间）的概念构成了这项研究的框架。重要的是，老年男性的着装习惯被认为有助于并扩展日常创造力的概念。通常，当考虑老年人的创造力时，往往会关注那些可以被传统定义并被社会标记为“创意”类型的人（艺术家、音乐家等）。相比之下，这项研究有助于揭示社会生活的各个方面，包括平凡的穿衣行为，在多大程度上可能涉及创造性实践。如果创造力与“高艺术成就”脱钩，我们就可以开始了解所有人如何拥有不同形式的创造潜力和能力。