The 1990s left American men’s formal dress in decline until revival shows arrived.

Evidence

On the surface, Mad Men served as a cautionary tale about badly behaving men, but its allure lay in its aesthetic glamour—particularly in the wardrobes. The men’s slim suits, pocket squares, and pomade-slicked hair stood in stark contrast to the schlubbiness of modern men’s styles. The counterculture’s war on formal dressing had triumphed by the 1990s, leaving men in the sartorial wasteland of Dockers and golf shirts. As Silicon Valley and the creative industries rose in prominence, companies abandoned dress codes to attract freewheeling innovators whose ideation needed the full comfort of hoodies and sneakers. For most Americans outside of investment banking, the era of business casual reigned: soft button-down shirts tucked into khakis with sneakers or loafers. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 395

Categorization

• SEED: The Silicon Valley ‘hoodie as liberation from formality’ link feeds an essay on how tech’s comfort ethos rewrote male dress codes.