Mickey Mouse as a tribute to Fred Astaire and Michael Jackson. . . well, the problem with that is the latter of the two was born decades after the creation of the cartoon character.
On Fred Astaire and Mickey Mouse:
Graham Greene Wrote:Mr. Astaire is the nearest approach we are ever likely to have to a human Mickey Mouse; he might have been drawn by Mr. Walt Disney, with his quick physical wit, his incredible agility. He belongs to a fantasy world almost as free as Mickey's from the law of Gravity.
But as for Mickey Mouse's creation to be influenced by Astaire. . . I'm skeptical.
In the 1920s, Fred and his sister Adele were performing Broadway in London where the duo became famous and acclaimed. Either Walt Disney was in London during the decade or followed Fred's performances in New York prior, before Astaire became widely renowned for his live performing in America, at least beyond the audience of Broadway and Vaudeville.
On fashion and cosplay, what should be the relationship? That cosplay is a
subset of fashion or are they two distinct entities that should not be related to one another? Lifestyles?
In cosplay, it seems that the culture for the anime/manga cosplay is far more. . . developed than the comics cosplay. I don't refer to the cosplay itself, but more to the mind behind it. Though, I can't comment on sci-fi cosplay, such as Star Trek and Star Wars. They
arguably have a longer history than anime/manga. Emphasis on 'arguably'.
But I can shed light on one particular fashion icon and the time he lived in.
Fred Astaire acquired his sense of fashion in the 1920s while he spent his time performing in Great Britain, particularly London.
His main influence was the then Duke of Windsor (Edward something). Due to his position, the Duke was expected to be formally dressed and had various formal outfits for specific occasions. But the Duke hated to dress so 'stiffly'. He tried to dress in 'soft clothes' as much as he can, popularizing 'the dinner jacket and the pleated-front formal shirt' with a turndown collar'. For royal formality, these were indeed casual clothes. This was noted to be 70 years before Armani broke the rigid conventions of male dress from the Victorian age.
The Duke's style was called "chic dégagé" -- 'free' or 'at ease'. There were times, though, when he mixed and compromised between both. Astaire celebrated him for that, taking after tim.
During Astaire's time, fashion was set by those who were of upper class or were well off. Dressing fashionably meant you dressed like them.
And the most photographed or film-shown famous people had significant influence on the masses.
According to Liza Minnelli, even the Duke's fashion influenced the Hollywood celebrities. Fashion in Great Britain would ultimately be 'imported' to America.
The economic Depression separated "those who could not afford to dress well from the people who had money". The rich sort of continued what the Duke did, but by the 1930s, America was considered one of the best dressed in terms of men in the world, so much so that Europe's fashoin were beginning to be influenced by the well-admired actors in American film.
So, in a way, to be fashionable, you had to be able to buy the best clothes.
Describing Fred Astaire's fashion style, it would be the same chic dégagé but he had a very, very charming mix adding to that -- he had the air, the impression of a sophisticated, refined and elegant gentleman of the aristocracy; he had a casualness, a nonchalance; and he was one of most unpretentious persons you'd ever meet, and not just in terms as a celebrity or famed song-and-dance man.
Refined and elegant; easy and casual; and genuine. A perfect mix for the people to admire, and more importantly, desire to emulate, to be like Fred Astaire.
He never wore clothes because it was fashionable. He wore it because they appealed to him. Nonetheless, Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani admired Astaire and considered him among the best dressed men of his time.
That said, Fred Astaire danced. So a part of his clothing had to be suited for that, preserving his elegant image throughout the routine. He paid attention how the clothes interacted with his body shape, particular attention to his dress coats and how they reacted when he did a move and then when he was in continuous motion.
(Going in a tangent for some minor trivia, in some routines, he shortened his trousers so his socks could be seen more, which would direct the eye to his feet. Gene Kelly took a page from Astaire's book here, but wore loafers, keeping to his blue-collar image. And Michael Jackson took a page from both of them.)
But he had his odd touches. He would substitute the belt with other things, most often a necktie. A plug-cord and a length of scarf were among the items he used as a belt. He even danced wearing them.
Another eccentricity was he would sometimes. . . 'embellish' his clothing. One tailor recalls that Astaire, after being fitted with a coat with 4 gold buttons on each sleeve, he tore one off the sleeves. The 3 and 4 buttons, to the average person, would look used. . . casual. Imitable. Another person recalled that Astaire once stamped all over a new tweed jacket before picking it off, shaking it once, and wearing it.
He had an unusual body -- trim, slim, with long limbs that some people once compared him to a drawn toon. However, the length of his limbs contributed to the elegance of his lines when he danced and still gave off that air when he dressed. No one would look at Astaire and call him 'lanky'.
He selected his clothes, had them tailored and fitted to him, 'modified' them, and then wore whatever he felt like wearing that day.
In the 1950s, fashion changed with the films of Marlon Brando; rock 'n roll, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles.
Popularity.