excess in every way. we had our calvin kleins and ralph laurens and donna car rans. it was rather scandalous. the underwear ads stopped traffic in times square. in the 2000s, things have become less formal. super models brought fashion into every household. now what s embraced is being yourself. style gives you a voice. it s freedom. i spoke earlier to celebrity stylist josi about how american style came into its own. take a look. seems that american style is constantly evolving, so how do you define it? what makes it unique? well, i mean, i think when you really break down american style, it really isn t about fashion. you know, fashion isn t really just about clothes. but it s really about an expression, a way of life. and i think as you ve seen it in all of these decades, and i think that s the beauty of this particular series, that you ve seen how fashion can really articulate a period of time.
. well, tomorrow night on cnn fashion and culture experts give us a one way street to american style. 40s and 50 were definitely america finding itself. americans felt very second rate when comparing ourselves to europe. sports wear became the defining style of the united states. the bikini was the biggest thing since the adam bomb go through the 60s and70s, our style represents fashion and freedom. when you look at hippy culture. it s opposite to the vietnam war. it s important in terms of people being free to express themselves. in the with 80s, there was a lot of excess in every way. we had our calvin cliens and donna car rans. it was scandalous. by the 90s and 2000s, things have become less formal.