Posted on 03/09/2005 9:47:25 AM PST by qam1
NEW YORK – They've been part of the American "uniform" for years, worn to casual restaurants, house parties, and some workplaces.
But as jeans become more expensive, they are also becoming more ubiquitous, showing up everywhere from Midwestern churches to Broadway shows. Nothing is off limits, it seems. Or is it? Among those who buy high-priced, designer denim or who simply don jeans frequently - there's debate about where it's appropriate to wear them.
The tug of war over jeans etiquette is particularly prevalent in New York City. Here, people tend to be more creative about their appearance, and are often more demanding about how fashion-conscious people should look, says Dannielle Romano, editor at large for DailyCandy.com, a fashion and trends website.
Many 20- and 30-somethings here have theater backgrounds, for example, and often say it's inappropriate to wear jeans to theater and other cultural performances out of respect for the performers and the surroundings (even though the venues themselves have no official dress codes).
"I am all in favor of the current denim revolution that we are having, but I do feel that there are times when jeans should be left at home," says Lisa Kerson, a jewelry designer in her early 30s, whose parents insisted that she look nice when going to a play or traveling on a plane. "I still get bothered when I see people wearing jeans to the theater, ballet, opera, etc.," she says in an e-mail.
Melissa Popiel also prefers not to see denim at the theater, or at an engagement party. To her, jeans are OK for a house party or a casual dinner, but not for traditionally dressy places. "I don't like going to cocktail parties and seeing people in jeans," says the advertising executive, who's in her late 20s.
Ms. Popiel estimates she owns about 15 to 20 pairs, including premium brands, and has paid as much as $200 for a pair.
Many others are also paying big bucks for their jeans - from $150 to $1,000 or more per pair. Celebrities, in particular, are making jeans their garb of choice for appearances on talk shows and at some red-carpet events.
That, say fashion experts, sets the tone for the masses, who are encouraged by features like one in the Jan. 24 edition of Us magazine, "Hollywood's 10 Hottest Jeans," complete with suggestions for buying "premium" denim ($140 or more).
The concept of designer jeans is not new, however. They were also hot in the 1970s and 80s.
Are these jeans made for parties?
Etiquette experts offer few hard and fast rules about jeans, but among them are the obvious: Leave them in the closet when you're attending a wedding, or if your workplace bans them.
"A lot of it has to do with the appropriateness of the kind of jean you're wearing," says Peter Post, grandson of manners maven Emily Post and author of the book "Essential Manners for Men."
It comes down to determining if the jeans are for fashion or work. A pair that you do yard work in, for example, are "probably not appropriate to be wearing to a restaurant that night," he explains.
Mr. Post has seen men show up in quality restaurants wearing denim, which doesn't bother him as much as how sloppy their appearance sometimes is.He recalls seeing a man dressed in a T-shirt and old rumpled jeans. "He hadn't taken any care to step it up just a notch, to say to the woman he was with, 'You know, you're really important to me. I want to look good. I want you to look at me and be proud of me,' " he says.
Dark denim is making it easier for men to comfortably wear jeans in the evenings, especially since black jeans are no longer "in." But no matter how hip a certain style may be, some places are still off-limits.
"I probably won't wear them to a funeral," says Robert Smith, a 30- something businessman in Rockton, Ill. But in the past few years he's started wearing them everywhere else - to church and to most work-related functions.
Not the fabric but how it's used
The good news for jeans devotees is that standards for judging people on their appearance are loosening a bit - at least among women under 40. A recent study by Cotton Incorporated indicates that Generation X-age women (26 to 39) are less concerned about first impressions when it comes to dressing than they were 10 years ago, and more often are taking the approach that "you can't judge a book by its cover." The reverse was true for women boomer-age and older.
Alice Harris, author of the book "The Blue Jean," attributes the rise of jeans to casual Fridays in workplaces, which shifted the way people viewed dressing.
"We've actually gone back to a much simpler way of looking at it," suggests Post of the changing attitudes. It's not that certain materials, like denim, are bad. "It's what you've done with that material."
"Many 20- and 30-somethings here have theater backgrounds, for example, and often say it's inappropriate to wear jeans to theater...."
I always hated that expression "to theatre"... It just wreaks of snobbery. It's like "oh muffy, where do you summer?" Never saw either of those words as a verb, I guess??
If I'm ever banned, you can bet money that it will be for something I either said: A) Right before dinner when I'm hungry and cranky or B) After midnight when I'm tired and cranky but too stubborn to go to bed yet.
I've been to a lot of funerals in Texas where at least someo of those in attendance wore jeans. I've even been to a couple where everyone in attendance wore jeans.
Well, I've never heard that use of the word theater either. However, it's a completely appropriate use of summer. Summer does have a verb form, and has since antiquity.
To each his own. I'm a fundamentalist frump :-).
Who decides what is "Formal"? Further, apparently years ago when silks and frilly French fashions were considered "Formal" someone somewhere made a conscious decision to change styles. How did this come about?
sounds like my three month old grandbaby....LOL :)
"Theater" is being used as an adjective in this sentence, modifying "performances": "... to theater (performances) and other cultural performances ..."
It's kind of an awkward construction, but at least it's not, "I'm going to theater; are you coming with?"
Actually, I have a leather do-rag that I wear to dress up. I never wear the linen do-rags for formal occasions, that's just not right. I especially can't wear the do-rag with the finger on top for the police helicopter. :)
I hope the smily face means you don't own such a thing.
ROFL! That'd be a good line for a stand-up comic. Hopefully others can spot humor. I come from a long line of Norwegians. We love to live and love to laugh.
Thanks...at least that makes two of us,who know that that's right. :-)
No,it wasn't the MODS,it was the hippies,who wanted to destroy everything about the world as it was. Of course,it was the "leaders",most of whom were RED DIAPER BABIES and funded by the KGB,who led the naifs,like so many Pied Pipers, but that's when dressing appropriately, good manners, self responsibility,politeness, and never using inappropriate speech got far more than just a toe in the door.
The "FREE SPEECH" and "FREE LOVE" and "DO YOUR OWN THING " (which was far MORE conformity,than what these barbarians were supposedly railing against!)movements is what changed,upended society.Few fought it then and now, more and more people just accept it all...making the F word ubiquitous,thusly making it a useless word,impolite behavior the norm,and destroying dress codes,so that those who follow this trend are nothing but "proles".
HELLO COMRADES;AS FOR ME,I'LL STAY THE DINOSAUR!
I would agree with that. My father in law was interning at the WSJ in NYC in the early 60's and he remembers when the transition from men wearing hats outside to men not wearing hats outside occured: 1963.
I would say that Jackie Kennedy had a lot to do w/ women not wearing hats, too because she had a public disdain for them. That's why she liked the Pillhat, the smaller, the better.
HELLO COMRADES;AS FOR ME,I'LL STAY THE DINOSAUR!
*** Are ya shure??? :o)
Personally,I liked her hats and wore them myself.
Because I have ALWAYS worn hats,I can't put my finger on the exact date that women stopped wearing them much,but I think that it was after Jackie left the White House.
Part of the problem,was women's hairdos....falls and wigs became the "IN" thing and wearing a hat on top of all that hair,was just about impossible!
About me being a "DINOSAUR"? Well, that's what a poster called me. LOL
I still dress appropriately and always shall do;which does NOT include my wearing dungarees........ever.
You're not a dinosaur, just the Queen Mum of Manners.
I have a chrome leather do-rag, and a matching apron and gloves.
Thank you for putting it so nicely !
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