Surfing on Fashion

Archive for January, 2009

ew parents are full of concerns about what regular household activities may pose a threat or present problems for their newest family member. At some point the question about the best ways to wash baby clothing will arise. Parents typically ask whether there is a certain type off detergent that they should use, whether it is safe to wash baby clothes with the rest of the family‘s clothing and what special steps should be taken with cloth diapers if they are being used.

Detergent

This is a valid concern. It is not atypical for certain detergents to irritate the skin of adults and older children, so it is certainly feasible that a baby‘s tender and sensitive skin can be easily irritated by harsh detergents.

Washing Baby Clothes with Family Clothes

Some parents feel that the baby‘s clothing needs to be washed separately from that of the rest of the family. The rationale for this is that the other family members‘ clothing could somehow taint or contaminate the baby‘s.

Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers are fading into memory, replaced by the more convenient disposable brands that are on the market. For families that choose to use these, however, there are some special considerations.

The zoot suit has a vague origin and complex history. In fact, the exact origin of zoot suit will never come to light. The zoot suit played a major role in the urban music and dance scene during 1930s. It served as a symbol of minority social resistance, urban youth and working class pride.

A Zoot suit is a suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed pegged trousers and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. The suit was always worn with a long keychain that looped almost to the ankle. It was the rebellious fashion of young men during 1930s and 1940s. The oversized suit was an extravagant personal style and a declaration of freedom and auto-determination. Many people still consider it as a “rebellious garment of the era”. The zoot suit is described as a “killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic’s cell.”

Harold C. Fox, the Chicago clothier and big-band trumpeter created and named the zoot suit. The zoot suit crated by Fox had reet pleat, reave sleeve, ripe stripe, stuff cuff and drape shape, and it was the stage rage during the boogie-woogie rhyme time of the early 1940’s. The credit also goes to Louis Lettes who as a tailor in Beale Street and Nathan (Toddy) Elkus who was a Detroit retailer.

This style of clothing is popularized by African Americans, Mexican Americans, Filipino Americans, Italian Americans and Hispanics, during the late 1930s and 1940s. The Zoot Suit first gained popularity in Harlem jazz culture in the late 1930s where they were initially called “drapes”. The suit became very popular among young Mexican Americans, especially among those in Los Angeles who styled themselves as “pachucos”. It was popular in the Latino community.