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The Resurrection of Self Care, Luxury, & Excellence: Part 1
The Roaring 20s: men dressed in the best suits, suspenders, pocket watches, and top hats. Women adorned themselves in their best dresses, jewelry, and a decorative hat for each day. Getting ready in the morning was not a game of speed, as it is today. It was a passion for excellence, representing who the individual was and how they valued their place in the world. This dedication to self-representation, integrity, and congruency upheld a family name. It didn’t matter how hot it was outside; men and women were at their best day in and day out. There was no lounging around the house. What you wore out was what you wore in. It was beautiful.
This integrity and passion for excellence and luxury seemed to hold up pretty well until the late 70s, slowly dying into the 90s. So, what happened?
Industry happened. Factories began popping up like dandelions in the yard, and the cost of living started to rise with the dawn of appliances, cars, and keeping up with the Joneses. Slowly, this led to the breakdown of what I truly believe caused the collapse of self-care and the genuine desire for excellence in much of the world.
World War II landed on everyone’s doorstep in the 40s and really ushered women into the workplace and men into the battlefield. Industry provided the necessary battle gear to win the war, alongside the women. I believe this was the beginning of the breakdown of the family, first and foremost. Family values went to work with the husband and the wife, and the children began to fend for themselves. Thus, the beginning of the latchkey kids, coming home alone, waiting for their parents to arrive from work. Frazzled and doing the best they could, spending time with their child was not a top priority for most couples.
These latchkey kids saw their parents getting up from precious sleep, rushing around in the morning, barely speaking to one another, grabbing a bite of toast while running out the door. The ritual of self-care, luxury lifestyles, and nice things were diminishing with every morning that passed, understandably so. Getting dolled up was reserved for Sundays, if at all. I personally love how the country pulled together during this time: men went to battle to protect, and women pulled together to supply the battlefield, playing a key role in winning this historical and tragic war.
In the 60s, the rebel era began with leather jackets, blue jeans, and boots on the rise. Ladies embraced the freedom of pants and shorts, and young men discarded even the thought of wearing a suit. To be honest, as a man who now loves to wear a three-piece suit, the suits from the 60s to the 90s went through a wild phase of metamorphosis, which was the ugly duckling phase. I don’t blame these young kids; I would have done the same. In fact, I did the same. The 70s brought in the hippie, free-loving phase of bell bottoms and suede suits for men and corduroy for women. A revolution and a transformation began. While the older generation scoffed at this change, it was as relevant as cryptocurrency is today—it was moving, and no one was going to stop it. I’m glad I wasn’t present in this time; I’d hate to see myself in one of those suits.
Let’s not forget this is the era of the latchkey kids, left behind by working parents. What unfolded here is quite the interesting evolution. Along came the 90s, and blue jeans and T-shirts began their rise to fame in the business place. Suits went to the back of the closet, as did women’s best dresses, emerging only for church and fancy occasions. There is a saying about children: “More is caught than taught,” and by now, the average child was part of a broken home. Whether the parents were still together or not, it didn’t much matter—they lived two totally separate lives, and there was no love or care for these children to glean from.
With the rise of fast food everywhere, fried food became a staple, and there was no time for self-care. We not only started to care less about appearance, but we also became overweight. With this weight issue on the rise, the thought of “I want to look my best today” wasn’t even in the rearview mirror. Self-care was dead, buried under layers of guilt and shame for not being their best selves to their children and spouses, being married to a title at their job, creating a ritual of hiding rather than standing out from the crowd.
Yet…this rock-bottom place leaves only one way to go… Stay tuned.
