Auntie Fashion

Sometime between Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Urban Cowboy (1980), the three Wilson brothers started calling themselves The Gap Band.  Soon they were charting R&B hits and making performance videos like the gem I posted above.

Like anyone who has an enduring sense of style, The Gap Band had conviction in their own aesthetic.  Unfortunately, their aesthetic was starting to look a little tired by 1982, when this song was first released.  While the rest of the world was moving towards a Duran Duran/Miami Vice look, the Wilson brothers were making their disco cowboy outfits more sparkly than ever.  The fringed pants in the video are especially wonderful (I think I’ve worn the same slacks to Sunday brunch).  Nevertheless, fashion had left the Wilsons behind.

I don’t suggest that anyone becomes a slave to the trends, but sometimes you have to play the game and keep up with the times.  Otherwise, you may end up in disco cowboy duds when you could have been primping in an onstage mirror while wearing a Zoot suit, like Morris Day of The Time.  Perhaps The Gap Band should have made “funk fusion” their singular style, rather than hitching their wagons to the disco cowboy look.

It all sounds so simple in retrospect.  But when it comes to style, having a signature look is the greatest thing you can do for yourself.  Just don’t bore anyone with a one-note repertoire.  Besides subscribing to InStyle, I don’t believe there’s a bigger crime against fashion than being boring.