Porche A.

Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

Paradigm Decade Shifts; the transition of American Style and Music

The shift from one decade to the next brings about a new set of lifestyle trends that people follow. The transition of the 1990s turning into the 2000s brought about one of the most noticeable paradigm shifts in our American decades. Both significant and smaller differences will be noted within these time periods. The shift in American culture from the 1990s to the 2000s will be accomplished by tracing shifts in peoples way of dress, along with music messages, and the ideological aspects and reasoning behind them.

Style of America: Women and Men of the 1990s

The 1990s genesis brought about two large sweeping shifts in Western fashion. Two key shifts were the rejection of fashion and the start of the tattoo and body piercing epidemic (English Articles). In regards to the clothes/style of dress it was generally categorized as the casual chic look. This look comprised T-Shirts, jeans, hoodies, and trainers (tennis shoes). General trends in the 90s were also developed through the growing popularity in grunge and alternative rock music. These clothing styles made the 1990s obtain what the Telegraph online magazine refers to as the return of the minimalist artistic fashion sense (Mower). The minimalist aspect severely contrasted the more flashy trends in preceding decades such as the 1980s. However, fashion trends throughout this decade also started recycling styles from previous times, which include the 1960s, 1970s, and ultimately continued through the 2000s.

Once the type of clothing women and men wore in the 1990s is broken down a better understanding of why people did these things will come about. The women of this decade tended to wear a lot of neon colors; the coloring usually ranged from being on the shirt, on the jeans, to

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

baby doll dresses, and denim jackets. During the mid-90s the women sought to incorporate what many refer to as the hippie look into fashion (Gerhard).This trend included turtleneck shirts, lace blouses, gypsy tops, overalls and what Kelly Barr of the Daily Record calls the must have embroidered jeans. In the late-90s women wore pastel colors such as pink and baby blue that were on fleeces, tank tops, and even union jackets. The 90s women even adapted to wearing leggings and exercise wear in relation to the causal chic trend which is currently extremely prominent in todays time. The rise of designer clothing also emerged in the 1990s. Labels were essential; they included Gucci, Chanel, and Armani. People jumped head first into this fad by buying clothes that were labeled head to toe. The pastel colors, leggings, and designer clothes are all everlasting and reemerging trends that pop back up in the first 2000 decade. The mens fashion of the 1990s consisted of a vast shift from the grunge look to a dressier style. Men wore a lot of flannel shirts throughout most of the decade. Acid wash denim jackets, wool sweaters, and Members only jackets were also worn and topped off with Converse All Star tennis shoes. This could be considered a dress down look. However, some guys opted for the less casual choice. The preppy clothing trend grew increasingly popular in the United States during the 1990s (Hogan). Khaki slacks, boat shoes, Polo shirts, and blue blazers made up these outfits. The preppy look still exists in the fashion world today, however in my opinion its less likely to see a man dressed preppy. He would have to be going to a party or somewhere important, such as work. Clothing styles of the 1990s reflected the American desire for self-expression. Back then being unique and individualistic was very important. Considering the major success of

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

Madonnas 1989 hit song Express Yourself and 1990s hit song Vogue, it seems most people copied the strut what you got and made it your own phase. Several sociology researchers thought of Madonna as being the poster child of feminism; everybody saw her as womens guidance of being true to themselves and to dressing accordingly. Dressing the way you please basically showed people that they can be fearless, and empowered women and even men to be themselves and express it in their inner and outer appearance. In contrast to 1990s fashion, the 2000s fashion decade included an array of varying modern clothing trends. Items such as hoodies, high top tennis shoes, skinny jeans and Ugg boots are the global trends that started in this decade. Womens fashion yet again included designer labels such as Burberry, however this time people were buying what models like Tyra Banks wore on the runway. I have firsthand experience that this buying method was proven to be somewhat repetitive after a while; it got to a point where I would buy the clothes off the rack, wear them, and have on the same shirt as someone else. Thus, womens fashion in the 2000s could be characterized as not nearly being as uniquely identifiable as the 1990s were. Changes into the 2000s also include the transition in womens color, formality, recurrence of clothing and the incorporation of accessories. As mentioned, the bright colors started to fade into pastels during the late 1990s, but made a full return in the early 2000s. Women also started moving away from minimalist clothes and gravitating toward dressier styles over this decade. According to an article in The Daily Beast, American fashion started to recycle styles by reemerging the pea coats, blouses with thin belts, capris worn with crisp shirts, and over all vintage look all back into being the it thing again ("What Goes Around Comes

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

Around" ). In addition, people started adding a lot of accessories to their outfits. Shutter shades (sunglasses), rhinestone belts, large beaded/ flashy jewelry were all very popular amongst women. Mens fashion of the 2000s can be referred to as being un-uniquely uniform. According to many socialists the hip hop song White Tee lead the African American demographic to frequently wear white t-shirts with denim jeans and be associated with being in a gang. The sagging pants epidemic rose in this time period as well. Men would walk around with their pants hanging off their behinds as if it were the new thing. However this did not represent all men; most wore leisure wear (sportswear) that consisted of Nike Jumpsuits, Polo shirts, Cargo pants, with Nike or Adidas tennis shoes and the everlasting baseball cap were all also extremely popular. As described above people of the 2000s created their clothing ideas and practices to adapt to the copycat technique. They just did as what they had seen on television. During the 2000s both men and women were copying famous clothing styles they saw in music videos. Therefore, they made fashion trends very similar. This was so extreme that it would nearly be frowned upon if one did like in the 1990s and be unique with their clothing choices. Consequently I consider the shift of the 1990s ideology to go from expressing yourself, to the 2000s seeming as when in Rome do as the Romans do. In other words, the uniqueness of the 1990s disappeared and the adaptation of doing what the majority of people are wearing came into play.

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

Music Messages of the 1990s -2000s Music is another noticeable shift that has happened from the 1990s to the 2000s. Both decades have brought diverse music from different backgrounds, but there is a noticeable difference between what was mainstream music and the messages behind it. 1990s music specifically consisted of drastic shifts from the 2000s in two categories: RnB and rap music. RnB is the main area of change due to the fact that the message of its songs went from various topics to just one primary topic. Back in the 1990s it used to be about love, togetherness, and family - overall positive things. The music contained semi-poetic words about loving another person, which in general made the listener feel happy. There were various RnB artists back in this time ranging from girl groups, to lead male/female singers. However, the group that not only stood out from the rest, but also created the stand out moment was TLC. They were three girls that emerged in the 90s whose music was not only entertaining but powerfully inspiring to their young female fans. They also created one of the most memorable/significant moments in that decade by promoting safe sex in a very unique way. With the rise of HIV/AIDS cases in the 90s these three ladies made it a point to make songs that discuss practicing safe sex and even made themselves live demonstrations by wearing condoms on their clothes (Hunt).These details are the major difference of 1990s RnB music; the observation can be made that the 2000s lack the multi-message aspect. This means it does not cover real issues in our society like the 1990s and TLC does. The other music type that stood out in the 1990s and shifted in the 2000s was rap music. This type of music provides an ongoing time change that can never be categorized to have one direct

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

message. However, the 1990s is primarily known for gangster rap music; translation the violent lyrical movement that talks about people getting shot, stabbed or killed. It was a very negative type of music and lifestyle that was being promoted within many communities in the U.S. in the 1990s. The message was seen by young people as it being okay or even cool to talk about or actually killing a person. The shift from 90s RnB and 2000s RnB is simple: it went from positivity, peace, and being in love to strictly love making. Nearly every RnB song of the 2000s decade provided a sexual/sensual promiscuous message to people. The superstars of this time were a host of girl/boy bands such as NSynch, B2k and young adult singers like Brittany Spears. The female singers not only wore a lot of the exposing cut off midriff clothing described earlier, but also sent many sensual messages throughout their songs. Rap of the 2000s also shifted from the common violence ideology to sexual content. Rap artist less frequently referred to killing one another in their songs and more frequently discussed fornicating with females. Nearly every other mainstream song of the 2000s rap or RnB focuses on sex; this contrast to the 1990s vast and appropriate musical selection. Concluding Paradigm of the 1990s and 2000s Considering the information discussed the overall change from the 1990s to the 2000s can be seen as a shift from positivity and appropriateness within fashion and some music to trends that can be frowned upon. An example can include the conservative casual chic look discussed within clothing, versus the more non-conservative consumer driven revealing style of dress. Music also was described to have a declining appropriateness trend within its themes. Generally society can be said to have made a change within music and clothing toward a less wholesome image. Nevertheless the shifts are significant and important aspects of our culture; they provide very attention-grabbing

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

and thought-provoking ideologies about this specific shift and ultimately where the next shift in the future is headed.

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

Bibliography Barr, Kelly Cooper "Must Have; Embroidered Jeans.(Features)." N.p., n.d. Web. Daily Record July 3, 1999 | Web 29 Oct 2012

< http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60512081.html>

"ENGLISH ARTICLES." ENGLISH ARTICLES. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.englisharticles.info/2011/04/14/body-piercing-and-tattoos/>.

Gerhard, Jane. "The 1900s: Fashion." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 1: 1900-1909. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.

Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3468300087&v=2.1&u=psucic&it=r&p=GV RL&sw=w

Hogan, Chris. "The Roots of American Preppy." Men's Flair. N.p., 29 Feb. 2008. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mensflair.com/style-advice/the-roots-of-american-preppy.php>.

Porche A. Maloney
CAS 137H (Paradigm Shift Essay) October 25, 2012

Hunt, Dennis "TLC : Condom Fashions Are a Political Statement." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 1992. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-26/entertainment/ca-1225_1_fashion-statement

Mower, Sarah. "The Return to 1990's Minimalist. N.p., 09 Sept. 2010. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG7977307/The-return-to-1990s-minimalistfashion.html

"What Goes Around Comes Around." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 30 Sept. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/09/30/what-goes-around-comesaround.html