Do you wear denim? George Will thinks you are a immature slob (1 Viewer)

[RobertR]

I don't think he does. I've seen plenty of rants on HTF on various subjects--behavior in theaters, service in restaurants, behavior in stores, the price of various goods, etc. Such rants don't mean the people "hate America", but rather, express their displeasure at what people do. Expressing an opinion is VERY American.

As far as dressing in jeans, the culture has changed. I rarely see people dress up in my office work environment. That's just the way it is.

 

[Jerry Almeida]

He should have titled that piece, "F*ck You Yankee Blue Jeans!"

 

[RobertR]

Considering that he was born in Illinois, received much of his education in the Northeast, and lives in D.C., I don't see what relevance the "Yankee" label has.

 

[Jay H]

You may be an immature slob for some, but it could make you rich!

Brit Eaton: Hunting for Vintage Denim | Outside Online

Jay

 

[MarkHastings]

I would have been perfectly fine with the article (and would have agreed) if he had just spoke about how people wear denim inappropriately. I'm not fond of it when I see people wearing jeans to church or "classy" occasions. I've even seen my share of jeans at wedding receptions. To me, that's just disrespectful.

But George's views were not just that, he's definitely still holding onto the ideals of the 30's and 40's where people dressed up whenever they went out in public. Going to the movies, dinner, sporting events, etc. meant you got dressed up nicely. Have you ever seen photos of old baseball games where all the fans would wear suits and those old hats (Bolero's??)??

But fashion and style changed with the times. It is now socially acceptable to wear denim as an every day item. It's also acceptable to go out to dinner without the need for wearing a jacket and tie. Society is allowed to dress more relaxed then was socially acceptable 50 years ago.

The problem I see is that George's ideals are still stuck in that time period. That's not a healthy view and should be used as judgment on society. Sure, maybe back when George was a child you'd be looked upon as 'low class' if you wore jeans because only the low class people wore jeans (i.e. the coal miners and laborers), but I would have hoped that we've all learned from our mistakes and that it's no longer sociably acceptable to look down on people whom we feel superior to.


EDIT: after rereading the full article, I'm a bit confused - how much of this article is actually George Will and how much is Akst?? Is George just agreeing with this guy? because it sounds like the real ass in this Daniel Akst guy.

 

[KevinGress]

That's the same opinion George Will has about jeans. It's just a generational thing. I'm sure when I'm his age I'll rail against what the younger generations are wearing (or not wearing).

And I agree with MarkHastings, while day to day living, jeans are fine, it would be nice if people would 'dress up' for church or 'classy occasions'.

 

[RobertR]

I feel the same way about young guys wearing pants way, WAY low. I hope I'm not considered an "America hater".

 

[MarkHastings]

But in Troy's defense, at this point in time, it's more sociably acceptable to wear jeans when going out (i.e. to a restaurant) than sweat pants.

When sweat pants become 100% sociably acceptable as appropriate attire in decent public places, then you'll sound like George if you bad mouth it.

But as of right now, it's not exactly proper to wear sweat pants when going to Applebee's or Chili's.not hating them is one thing...but to say "summoning Americans to soul-searching and repentance about the plague of that ubiquitous fabric, which is symptomatic of deep disorders in the national psyche." is another.

Them's pretty strong words against the American society. He may not exactly hate America, but he surely hates society...or should I say 'the "low class" society'.

 

[RobertR]

I think he intensely dislikes many aspects of popular culture, some of which I agree with and some of which I don't agree with.

 

[Holadem]

I always wonder whether a 68 y/o conservative Washington columnist would approve of my outfit before I walk out of the house. The article is an amusing read but it's generating a surprising (and puzzling) amount of controversy here and elsewhere, some of it personal.

--
H

 

[TravisR]

I had the same thought. George Will (or anyone for that matter) can tell me to my face that I shouldn't wear jeans and I'd just laugh at him rather than put any stock in what he said.

 

[MarkHastings]

I prefer to fight fire with fire....F*** me? F*** you!

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I can't speak for seinfeld, since it hasn't been on-the-air in about a decade, but I'm reasonably sure the only person who wears denim jeans on Two and a Half Men is Jake, the child. (The two adults are Dockers and Khaki shorts respectively).

But it begets the question: If not blue-dyed denim, what should we make our casual, durable long pants from? I suspect it could be leather, but whenever I wear leather pants people always assume that I am either riding a motorcycle or I'm cruising for a leatherboy. If pants were made of wool we'd all be itchy, industrial vinyl we'd all be sweaty and have ingrown hairs and if we construct our pants from hemp then we'd all be dirty hippies.

So please, what should be make pants out of?

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I can't speak for the decline of the "suite" but hats as "required fashion" ended about the time we invented a shampoo for lice. The popular hat was the Fedora, Bolero is a neck tie.

Cheap soap is still very new, and a vast, vast, VAST part of our collective culture was developed to deal with other people, who have historically been very filthy, infested or both.

Examples:
*"threshold" - the part of the door that keeps the "thresh" inside. Before carpets and hardwood flooring people put hay ontop of packed dirt. Nobody uses thresh but we still have thresholds.

*Church incense - Where does the village go on sunday? Church. What smells really bad? An entire town of peasants who bathe in a municipal river twice a year (the same river they crap in) crammed into one building.

*Underwear - Kinda useless today, But until the last century rolled toilet-tissue didn't exist. Better to sacrifice the undergarment than mud-stripe your pantaloons.

 

[MarkHastings]

Ah yes, Fedora, that's what I was thinking of.

Actually, the Bolero I was confusing it with was the Spanish Bolero hats that Flamenco dancers wear.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

The Bolero is also a Spanish dance made famous by Maurice Ravel.

I think you are referring to the "bolo" string necktie.

 

[Patrick_S]

I disagree with that statement. The decline of hats is primary due to JFK.

 

[gene c]

When it comes to attire I try to follow the rule "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Problem is, everytime I find myself in Rome, they've changed the rules again!

I tend overdress the few times a year I need to dress-up. Otherwise, it's a good old fashioned pair of pants and a t-shirt/sweatshirt (but pretty nice ones). Thanks for the info Michael but frankly, I just don't give a s*#% whether he's respected or not. Sorry. Looks like it's going to be a bad week

.

 

[Ed Moxley]

I wear Wrangler jeans 99% of the time. I really couldn't care less what anyone else thinks of it. I wear what's comfortable..........

 

[Jimi C]

Brett Favre?

I prefer Levi's.