Was this a look you were considering for prom or something?

802 said:

Genesia said:

Oh, dear...do I really have to explain this? The definition of "iconic" is "of, or pertaining to, an icon." In other words, for something to be iconic, it has to be associated with an icon. Prince is an icon.

Platform shoes (or any other article of clothing) are not iconic, in and of themselves. To be iconic, they would have to be identified with an icon. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any.

Platform shoes are iconic, they were worn by pretty much every glam rock star ever. But they haven't aged well.

They are not iconic in and of themselves.

You wanna talk shoes as iconic? Fine. Prince's Cuban-heeled boots are iconic. They're iconic because that's pretty much all he wore in the 80s.

The fact that some Cuban-heeled boots (the ones Prince wore) are iconic doesn't mean all Cuban-heeled boots are iconic.

Just like not all platform shoes are iconic.

Virgo92 said:

802 said:

Platform shoes are iconic, they were worn by pretty much every glam rock star ever. But they haven't aged well.

Exactly! I don't know what "iconic" has to do with something ageing well.

It has everything to do with it. If something is iconic, it is so associated with a particular individual that it becomes ageless. Something that is ageless does not age - whether well or poorly.

Genesia said:

802 said:

Platform shoes are iconic, they were worn by pretty much every glam rock star ever. But they haven't aged well.

They are not iconic in and of themselves.

You wanna talk shoes as iconic? Fine. Prince's Cuban-heeled boots are iconic. They're iconic because that's pretty much all he wore in the 80s.

The fact that some Cuban-heeled boots (the ones Prince wore) are iconic doesn't mean all Cuban-heeled boots are iconic.

Just like not all platform shoes are iconic.

Prince's Cuban-heeled boots are iconic, but he is not the only one. One other example is The Beatles. They may not be high heels, but those Beatle boots do have Cuban heels. Beatle boots are far more iconic than what Prince has ever worn.

Genesia said:

Virgo92 said:

802 said: Exactly! I don't know what "iconic" has to do with something ageing well.

It has everything to do with it. If something is iconic, it is so associated with a particular individual that it becomes ageless. Something that is ageless does not age - whether well or poorly.

Iconic doesn't mean ageless.

802 said:

Genesia said:

It has everything to do with it. If something is iconic, it is so associated with a particular individual that it becomes ageless. Something that is ageless does not age - whether well or poorly.

Iconic doesn't mean ageless.

I know it doesn't mean ageless. Did you see the post where I actually gave the definition of "iconic?"

What I said was, if an item is iconic (ie, pertaining to an icon), it becomes ageless in that context.

Prince could put that purple trench on and walk out in it at a concert today and - because that trench is so closely associated with the time when he was becoming a star of the 5th magnitude - the crowd would go apeshit. Period.

Would it have the same punch if some schlub off the street (like you, Virgo92 or Roseanne) wore it? Of course not. Because - on you - it is not iconic. It is moronic.

That doesn't mean it hasn't aged well. It means it doesn't belong to you.

Genesia said:

802 said:

Iconic doesn't mean ageless.

I know it doesn't mean ageless. Did you see the post where I actually gave the definition of "iconic?"

What I said was, if an item is iconic (ie, pertaining to an icon), it becomes ageless in that context.

Prince could put that purple trench on and walk out in it at a concert today and - because that trench is so closely associated with the time when he was becoming a star of the 5th magnitude - the crowd would go apeshit. Period.

Would it have the same punch if some schlub off the street (like you, Virgo92 or Roseanne) wore it? Of course not. Because - on you - it is not iconic. It is moronic.

That doesn't mean it hasn't aged well. It means it doesn't belong to you.

I know people would be going out of their minds if Prince starts wearing the Purple Rain clothes again, but it woudn't look right on him these days either.

802 said:

Genesia said:

I know it doesn't mean ageless. Did you see the post where I actually gave the definition of "iconic?"

What I said was, if an item is iconic (ie, pertaining to an icon), it becomes ageless in that context.

Prince could put that purple trench on and walk out in it at a concert today and - because that trench is so closely associated with the time when he was becoming a star of the 5th magnitude - the crowd would go apeshit. Period.

Would it have the same punch if some schlub off the street (like you, Virgo92 or Roseanne) wore it? Of course not. Because - on you - it is not iconic. It is moronic.

That doesn't mean it hasn't aged well. It means it doesn't belong to you.

I know people would be going out of their minds if Prince starts wearing the Purple Rain clothes again, but it woudn't look right on him these days either.

Wrong.

Genesia said:

802 said:

I know people would be going out of their minds if Prince starts wearing the Purple Rain clothes again, but it woudn't look right on him these days either.

Wrong.

Do you know what Prince looks like now?

802 said:

Genesia said:

Wrong.

Do you know what Prince looks like now?

Do you?

Unlike a lot of the men here, 52-year-old Prince would have no trouble fitting into a garment he wore when he was 24.

Genesia said:

802 said:

Do you know what Prince looks like now?

Do you?

Unlike a lot of the men here, 52-year-old Prince would have no trouble fitting into a garment he wore when he was 24.

Yes, but he looks different now. The look wouldn't work.

802 said:

Genesia said:

Do you?

Unlike a lot of the men here, 52-year-old Prince would have no trouble fitting into a garment he wore when he was 24.

Yes, but he looks different now. The look wouldn't work.

That is your opinion. And a minority opinion, at that.

I'm not the type of person who looks back at things from 20 or 30 years ago and calls it dated or says it didn't age well.

For me, all that stuff encapsulates a certain time period. To me, it's not supposed to look great in 2011... it was meant to represent cutting edge fashion in 1984 and that's how I will always see it.

Worn today, it's dated... But, it's cool as hell while reflecting back on the time period it represents.

Platform shoes, Afros, bell bottoms, Beatle boots, 80's synthesizers, flannel shirts & Doc Martens, poofy poodle hair, straight dudes wearing lipstick, eye shadow and blush, jheri curls...etc all represent the time in which they were in fashion. I never judge them by today's standards.

gemari77 said:

I'm not the type of person who looks back at things from 20 or 30 years ago and calls it dated or says it didn't age well.

For me, all that stuff encapsulates a certain time period. To me, it's not supposed to look great in 2011... it was meant to represent cutting edge fashion in 1984 and that's how I will always see it.

Worn today, it's dated... But, it's cool as hell while reflecting back on the time period it represents.

Platform shoes, Afros, bell bottoms, Beatle boots, 80's synthesizers, flannel shirts & Doc Martens, poofy poodle hair, straight dudes wearing lipstick, eye shadow and blush, jheri curls...etc all represent the time in which they were in fashion. I never judge them by today's standards.

Well said.

Virgo92 said:

I know it was kind of in style back then, but know when I see people dressing as him during Halloween, it looks so corny. I know the trench coat look is legendary, as actually love the way he wore it doing the Dirty Mind & Controversy Era, but the Purple Rain (purple trench coat only) coat was kinda corny. Just my opinion.

To be honest, I'd wear a purple trench-coat today I didn't think it was 'corny' at all, the Rude Boy Era was stellar, imho ...

gemari77 said:

I'm not the type of person who looks back at things from 20 or 30 years ago and calls it dated or says it didn't age well.

For me, all that stuff encapsulates a certain time period. To me, it's not supposed to look great in 2011... it was meant to represent cutting edge fashion in 1984 and that's how I will always see it.

Worn today, it's dated... But, it's cool as hell while reflecting back on the time period it represents.

Platform shoes, Afros, bell bottoms, Beatle boots, 80's synthesizers, flannel shirts & Doc Martens, poofy poodle hair, straight dudes wearing lipstick, eye shadow and blush, jheri curls...etc all represent the time in which they were in fashion. I never judge them by today's standards.

And even some of that stuff isn't dated. A person wearing an Afro is 'natural' that's how their hair naturally grows out. And Afro's are worn by people today and don't look dated. Bell bottoms too... Prince 1980's synth just can't be dated to me, that sound is just so electric... I'll take that over a horn section any day... GIMME SOME HORN!!

This look is still hella cool

He looks sharp

paisleyfunk said:

Virgo92 said:

I know it was kind of in style back then, but know when I see people dressing as him during Halloween, it looks so corny. I know the trench coat look is legendary, as actually love the way he wore it doing the Dirty Mind & Controversy Era, but the Purple Rain( purple trench coat only) coat was kinda corny. Just my opinion. [Edited 4/15/11 19:29pm] [Edited 4/15/11 19:43pm]

I think it looked awesome back then and still looks great, in fact Prince called a fan on stage to dance at the Columbia,SC concert a few weeks ago, dude was rocking the Purple Rain coat, with the ruffled shirt, Prince had him get up on the piano and dance.

ayy i was there! yeah that was hilarious i was crackin up..prince was a good sport about it. so was dude

Looking for his jacket - g