The Gym Teacher from the Past and the Hipster from the Future

This is cool. Dale Irby, a gym teacher in Dallas, accidentally wore the same clothes for his picture in the school yearbook two years in a row. He was embarrassed, but his wife liked it—so he kept wearing the same clothes for 38 years after that.

Watch the section of the video on "Curiosity Box," a feature of a YouTube channel called Vsauce. (It starts at about the seven minute mark and lasts for less than three minutes.) The phenomenon, which he dubs "retrospective aging," goes like this: people keep wearing the styles that were popular when they were young; later generations eventually come to associate those styles with old people; so when we look at old pictures of young people wearing those styles, we think they look older than the age they were. But all they're doing is continuing to wear the styles that were associated with youth when they themselves were young.

It's an effect I remember well from when I was young, because people who were young in the '40s and '50s looked so different from young people in the '70s when I grew up. And a lot of those guys were still wearing those same styles in the '70s, which pegged them as part of their earlier generations. I know one guy here in Upstate New York who still rocks a greaser haircut with a ducktail! That look has pretty much died out now. On the other hand, those guys looked silly when they adopted '70s styles. There were few looks more cringeworthy in the mid-to-late '70s than a 40- or 50-year-old guy with disco chains, super-wide lapels, long sideburns, and coiffed, blow-dried hair. (No offense if that describes mid-to-late '70s you.) 1970s styles were silly, and they didn't survive long.

A photograph of my father. In my opinion
his glasses, hairstyle, and expression make him look
older, but he was 17 in this picture, in 1946.

The photograph later in the video segment—the hipster from the future—is interesting too. I thought the whole video was interesting, actually, but as to whether you want to watch it you can of course suit yourself, no pun intended.

Mike

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Comments

[Kevin Crosado]

Disco chains were cringeworthy on any person of any age at any time.

[Dan Khong]

You are right. Your father looked more like 25 in that picture.

[Luke]

OK, now we want a photo of Mom.

[ASW]

I also find that both of my parents, especially my dad, looked much older than their true age in pictures from high school or early adulthood.
Conversely, current "kids" in high school and college generally look very young to me, but that might be because I'm now old enough to be their father.

[John Camp]

Other than the fact that your father was good-looking, he wouldn't attract a second look now, with that hair style, shirt and glasses. The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?

[Peter Komar]

Well, great hair, good looks and yes sharp shirt as well. The point of my comment is I just upgraded my prescription glasses and those are identical frames I just purchased. I know the following statement is overused but fashions do come back around if you wait long enough.

[Mark]

Dale Irby is my new hero.

[Mark Sampson]

I worked as a school portrait photographer, at a regional studio chain, for a couple of years around 1980. I had no experience, so I (and my new-hire colleagues) were trained by the studio's chief photographers. The company had high standards in posing, lighting, and exposure; we used a traditional four-light setup. We were proud of the quality work we could produce (in a five-minute sitting!)
So while I enjoy Mr. Irby's consistency and sense of humor, it pains me still to see the terrible quality of his portraits. Obviously from an assembly-line studio where they sat you down, took one frame, and called out 'next!' A shame, really.

[Rick Denney]

I see pictures of my father, and I wonder, how the heck did he get the good looks and I turned out...the way I turned out? I see Mike faces the same conundrum :)