Why did clothing become boring?

Historical Function vs Modern Use

• Several comments stress that historically clothing was tightly linked to climate, transport, and status: layers for warmth, capes/boots for mud and horses, hats for protection, and sumptuary laws that encoded class in fabric and color.
• Today, better housing, heating, and transport make functional differentiation less critical, weakening the practical basis for elaborate wardrobes.

Industrialization, Mass Production, and Craft

• The industrial revolution made clothes cheaper and shifted attention to other pursuits; clothing became more standardized and less artisanal.
• Replacement of skilled guild work with sweatshops is blamed for a loss of ornamentation and quality.
• Some argue that historically notable garments are biased toward wealthy elites; a fair comparison today would be to haute couture or cosplay, not average streetwear.

Utility, Status, and “Fashion”

• A long subthread debates utility vs fashion: one side insists they are opposites; others argue every clothing choice—including “purely utilitarian” ones like fanny packs or identical outfits—still communicates identity and values.
• Clothing is framed by many as social signaling (status, group membership, professionalism, subculture), akin to art or music.

Subcultures, Homogenization, and Capitalism

• Older commenters recall visibly distinct subcultures (metal, punk, emo, goth, hip‑hop) among 2000s teens, contrasting with a more brand‑conformist, social‑media‑driven look in the 2010s.
• Others say subcultures still exist but get rapidly commercialized and diluted; disagreement over whether capitalism specifically causes this or it’s just what happens when niches scale.
• Some see cyclical swings between “trying too hard to be different” and “trying too hard to fit in.”

Variety Today: Boring or Not?

• Skeptics of the article’s thesis argue there is more variety in an average crowd today than among historical peasants; the article is seen as cherry‑picking aristocratic and ceremonial outfits.
• Regional differences (Tokyo vs LA, Miami vs Seattle) and youth experimentation are cited against the idea that “everyone dresses the same.”
• Others feel everyday wear is indeed dominated by similar global brands and black/neutral basics, especially in colder weather.

Technology, Laundry, and Construction

• Pre‑washing‑machine laundry shaped clothing design: undergarments protected outer layers, allowing batch washing and rare cleaning of complex garments.
• Discussion of suit linings and structural canvassing highlights how older everyday suits could be unlined, lighter, and less formal than modern ones.

Ethics, Environment, and Fast Fashion

• Multiple comments criticize fast fashion’s waste and pollution.
• Suggested responses: regulatory pricing of externalities, keeping garments longer, and decoupling self‑expression from constant turnover, while preserving fashion as a meaningful form of identity and communication.