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Tight Squeeze: Making Room For a New Men's Fashion
Wall Street Journal ^ | July 8, 2009 | Ray A. Smith

Posted on 07/06/2009 6:23:59 PM PDT by reaganaut1

Doug Black has found himself in a tight squeeze more times than he cares to remember. One day, he got caught in the rain without an umbrella and was unable to run. When his colleagues sat in a circle, the 23-year-old English teacher from Portland, Ore., couldn't cross his legs. And when he tried to jaywalk, while in Beijing for work, he couldn't hop the median divider with his friends.

"I had to walk half a mile down the street on my own to use the crosswalk," he says.

His jeans were too tight. But he has no plans to buy a looser style. "Discomfort comes with the territory," he says.

Skinny jeans, with tapered legs and narrow-peg ankles, seemed like a flash in the pan when they appeared in stores a few years ago. They seemed more suited to women. Today, though, sales of men's skinny jeans are going strong, and mass brands Gap and Levi's are getting in on the action.

Explanations abound for why men would want to wear jeans that look so uncomfortable and impractical. Some fashion observers say skinny jeans' tight hold on certain men stems in part from the wearers' desire to show off their gym-sculpted bodies. Then, too, denim brands, retailers and men's fashion magazines have relentlessly promoted skinny jeans. And pop stars like Justin Timberlake and Kanye West, by wearing skinny jeans, have given something resembling permission for style-conscious young men to wear them.

But men are discovering, as women have long known, that the style can be unforgiving. One sometimes must diet and wiggle, tug and stretch to squeeze into a pair of tight jeans.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: fashion; jeans; metrosexuals
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Susan, commenting on the WSJ site, commits a hate crime, writing "I'm sorry but men in skinny jeans is [sic] just gay. I would run if a guy wearing these ever approached me. Yeck!"
1 posted on 07/06/2009 6:23:59 PM PDT by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1
“Skinny jeans, with tapered legs and narrow-peg ankles, seemed like a flash in the pan when they appeared in stores a few years ago.”

Huh? “Skinny jeans”?

Aren't these the same straight leg jeans we wore in the 80’s? The Levis you could barely get you foot through?

2 posted on 07/06/2009 6:29:45 PM PDT by ryan71 (We're in deep kimchi!)
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To: reaganaut1

Those were the days.

Now I couldn't fit one leg through the waist.

3 posted on 07/06/2009 6:31:06 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: ryan71

The men wearing them in the video were wearing Gang of Four and Siousxe and the Banshees T-shirts. Was this story really from 1983?


4 posted on 07/06/2009 6:31:59 PM PDT by oblomov (Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods. - Mencken)
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To: reaganaut1

I have Skinny Jeans, but women still aren't coming around.

5 posted on 07/06/2009 6:33:10 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: reaganaut1; devolve; ntnychik; PhilDragoo; MeekOneGOP; dixiechick2000; Lady Jag
Looks like one of Santa's elves escaped!


6 posted on 07/06/2009 6:33:43 PM PDT by potlatch
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To: reaganaut1

G...g....g...g....g..a...a...a....y...y.........y!


7 posted on 07/06/2009 6:34:49 PM PDT by wac3rd (80 Carter/Obama 08)
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To: potlatch

Those must be awful uncomfortable on the privates. And the coprporals too.


8 posted on 07/06/2009 6:36:07 PM PDT by csmusaret (If you like this economy, keep voting for Donkeys.)
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To: reaganaut1

9 posted on 07/06/2009 6:36:31 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: csmusaret

I can too spell. I just can’t type.


10 posted on 07/06/2009 6:36:57 PM PDT by csmusaret (If you like this economy, keep voting for Donkeys.)
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To: reaganaut1

I assumed wearing these pants was an attribute of the gay subculture.


11 posted on 07/06/2009 6:41:28 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (Just say "No" to socialism.)
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To: reaganaut1

Men in women’s pants.


12 posted on 07/06/2009 6:43:45 PM PDT by magellan
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To: ryan71
Aren't these the same straight leg jeans we wore in the 80’s?

Not only the 80's in the U.S., but also the 70's 60's 50's, and probably earlier ... also in the late Renaissance of Europe (correct me if wrong, FReepers) ... there is nothing new about tight pants on men

13 posted on 07/06/2009 6:44:10 PM PDT by Mr_Moonlight
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To: martin_fierro

Sorry but the Romones wore pretty loose jeans compared to some of the jeans I’ve seen teenagers (boys) where these days.


14 posted on 07/06/2009 6:45:44 PM PDT by Domandred (Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.)
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To: reaganaut1
For some reason, this guy came to mind...


15 posted on 07/06/2009 6:47:04 PM PDT by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
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To: csmusaret; devolve

Probably so, and being a woman that’s why I chose the photo I did, lol. Silly people who have to follow bad fads!


16 posted on 07/06/2009 6:47:40 PM PDT by potlatch
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To: JoeProBono

That’s a joke, right? Nobody would be dumb enough to wear pants that tight, would they?


17 posted on 07/06/2009 6:50:57 PM PDT by McGavin999 (How's that change old Hopey Dope promised you working out?)
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To: reaganaut1

Maybe it’ll screw up heir testicles to the point where they can’t procreate.

Look for the silver lining.


18 posted on 07/06/2009 6:59:26 PM PDT by ItsForTheChildren
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To: reaganaut1
Hark! Need for *Ye olde cod piece* resurfaces ...much to be made here.

Emergency Codpiece Substitutes

19 posted on 07/06/2009 7:07:22 PM PDT by Daffynition ("If any of you die, can I please have your ammo?" ~ Gator113)
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To: reaganaut1
On the bright side "skinny jeans" really reduce the possibility that these fools will reproduce.
20 posted on 07/06/2009 7:11:06 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (I miss the competent fiscal policy and flag waving patriotism of the Carter Administration)
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