A lot of these styles indeed were fashionable in the past, but in this day and age it so much more contrived with much of the concern in clothing wrapped up in image and cultivating that and how it ties into personality.
I'm not saying that wasn't the case in the past (plus I'd have no way to know if that is accurate) but I'd be willing to bet that clothes back then served function much more than fashion.
The styles and clothing nowadays, especially the menswear movement over the past couple of years, greatly exceeds simple function and sorta delves into this weird, narcissistic formation of styles propped up by pinterest and other social media networks which is slightly artificial.
I think I'm rambling now, just some thoughts.