FASHION FORWARD: HOW TO DRESS AMERICA

Lady Liberty greeted my in-laws when they sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from England to Canada showing them how to dress America.

She wore the same frock then as she does now with diagonally draped material pinned to her left shoulder and her bare right arm raised overhead holding the torch of liberty.

It’s been a good look, showing all who pass how to dress America. Call it consistent fashion.

While so much has changed since the early ’50’s, I like to think the best of the best remains.

Back then to dress America was to wear a grey flannel suit for men and nice sun dresses for stay at home wives. At least that was the long story told short.

They look like men in uniform? If you’ve ever wondered why the early fifties looked so uniform:

The men and women who lived through WWII are the same men and women responsible for starting the baby boom that produced, no surprise, Baby Boomers.

Take a good look at the couples responsible. Any of the women could be a model for the Statue of Liberty, the men ready to charge a deadly pillbox or run up a beach under machine gun fire.

These people are still with us, some of us. Not my grandparents, but others. All twelve of mine have passed. (One grandpa got married seven times and his first wife remarried.)

History works to dress America

Now the hard part, the part most reflective of today. The early ’50’s was awash in something called Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism.

From wiki:

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.

That’s Roy Cohn on the right, Roy Cohn in his younger days. As he aged he found new ways to influence in ways only he can influence.

And new people to influence.

That’s Roy Cohn on the right, a few years older and still influential Roy Cohn, still advising how to make accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.

Faces to remember

This is Nikita Khrushchev, the Putin of his day.

The Cold War was in full swing. Russia had a shovel and a promise to bury America.

This is President Eisenhower wearing a grey flannel suit after his stint as President of Columbia College following the job of supreme allied commander in WWII.

President Eisenhower knew how to dress America, so did everyone aboard the troop ships chugging in after May, 8 and VE Day.

I’m continually encouraged by guys like Ike, leaders who knew the ups and downs in the business of leading America.

Presidents get it right sometimes, wrong other times, but they were always relatable. The wide educational gulf between the patrician FDR with a law degree and his no college degree VP Harry Truman ran from 1932 during the Depression until 1952. They worked to get the it done.

Proud men have shown the world how to dress America in difficult times.

This isn’t one of those times.

On the other hand, when not speaking truth to power but addressing the abuses of the powerless to a fanbase:

Pick one:

He’s yelling about climate change and how much he wants to help?

Or yelling about helping immigrants navigate the system?

Explaining how important it is for the President of the United States to set a positive example and insisting on everyone being more accountable?

Final question:

Did Roy Cohn have a son?