Nice jeans. But should you really wear them to the opera?

The Christian Science Monitor ^ | 3/9/05 | Kim Campell

[Kretek]

Just take a look around next time you're in public. The world is crawling with teens wearing "jeans" that expose their Archie Bunker bellies to the world. Indeed, when paired with the "crop tops" now popular, their ensembles make them look more like a can of biscuits that blew up than little girls. They could ban the vulgar things all together and I'd applause.

Really?

[Logophile]

Jeans have their place. But, when I see a chump at a nice restaurant with his baggy jeans, ball cap, and flip flops I cannot really take him seriously, at any level. Same goes for the Opera or equally formal event. You don't have to be wealthy to put on a collared shirt and a pair of trousers. And the whole "I just want to be comfortable" mantra doesn't resonate with me; clothes that fit are comfortable clothes. Actually, denim doesn't breath well, and can hardly be called luxurious, as fabrics go. Wearing dungarees to formal events is just another expression of unisize, ahistorical, narcissistic, lazy, slob culture and should be mocked whenever possible.

Very well put.

[Jaysun]

Really?

No, not really. I do wish they'd come up with some new patterns for the denim cutting machines though. And I think it's better to look good than feel good sometimes.

[Chef Dajuan]

Show respect for the performers?

If I pay $250 for a ticket to see "Tosca" at the Met, I'll wear whatever I damn well please.

Respect for the performers? Fine, when Jose Carreras learns to show respect for tempo and the conductor's beat, and Barbara Daniels has respect for staying on pitch I'll worry about showing respect for them.

besides, I did a mucical in high school once. You can't even SEE the audience past the first few rows. The rest of the house is a black void.

[Tamar1973]

Her parents apparently are throwbacks to the 50s and 60s when air travel was something actually special. "Jet set" and all that.

My grandparents told me similar stories about getting really dressed up for flying. I even heard Joan Rivers complaining about how people dress sloppy in first class.

[MississippiMan]

I heard recently of some city that passed a law banning "jailing," which is the wearing of pants that are falling off you, exposing your underwear, etc. (The term comes from the fact that inmates' pants fall off because their belts are taken away.) The fine was only $50, but hey, it's a start.

I needed a coupla pair of jeans last week and in the end I gave up and bought Levi's, even though it pained me to donate money to one of the most liberal companies around. I didn't have time to run from store to store looking for a plain fricking pair of jeans! Everything is either shaped huge like a pair of balloons, or has gaudy designs, or some coloring that makes them look filthy, etc. etc. I wanted PLAIN JEANS. Sheesh.

MM

[najida]

I hate jeans too! No matter how much they are washed, the seams are still uncomfortable and they are just too hot.

[Chef Dajuan]

It was tried in both Cleveland heights and somewhere in Virginia.

In both cases the laws failed to pass in the face of lawsuit threats.

technically, dressing is a form of self-expression, and you run smack into Number One.

[Modernman]

If I pay $250 for a ticket to see "Tosca" at the Met, I'll wear whatever I damn well please.

Certain settings require certain clothing. Wearing jeans to the opera is like wearing a suit to a heavy metal concert.

People used to be raised with an understanding of what was appropriate in certain settings. That seems to have gone by the wayside in our culture.

[been_lurking]

Some say "the clothes make the man" while others say "you can dress a hog in a tuxedo and it's still just a hog." Fashion is transitory and not absolute.

The level of fashion "elitism" shown by some of the posters is surprising.

[petitfour]

Amen!

[Jaysun]

I heard recently of some city that passed a law banning "jailing," which is the wearing of pants that are falling off you, exposing your underwear, etc. (The term comes from the fact that inmates' pants fall off because their belts are taken away.) The fine was only $50, but hey, it's a start.

Oh, I forgot about the boy's part in the madness. Thanks. My nephew showed up at our house for a Christmas party last year wearing a pair of jeans so large that it looked like a family of Mexicans had just moved out of the ass end of them. I went berserk and the whole affair finally ended with my wife running to Wal-Mart to buy him a pair of pants that actually fit.

[One Proud Dad]

If it doesn't say Wrangler on it I don't wear it, other than the one pair of Carhartt's I have while my Wranglers ( 10 pair ) are getting starched at the cleaners.

You haven't seen beauty until you've seen the right cowgirl in a pair of Cruel Girl or Rockies ( old style not that new relaxed sh_t ). Mmm... Mmm... good.

[Melpomene]

I have a great-aunt who regularly complains that no one dresses up to eat in hotels anymore (i.e., wears white gloves and hats).

[Melpomene]

What about Baby Phat?

[Betis70]

Last Easter, my brother, sis-in-law and I went to a very nice restaurant after church. Other than the ball cap, there were several of these chumps there. We laughed at them.

Properly fitted dress pants are more comfortable than jeans IMO.

[steve-b]

I probably won't wear [jeans] to a funeral

In my case, it would depend on the funeral -- i.e. am I going to pay respects, or to verify for myself that the SOB is in fact dead?

[Chef Dajuan]

I might be a short guy, (5'6"), but even I can't fit into those.

Phat farm gear is SO last year and lame.....

[k2blader]

15-20 pairs?? I think I own 2 or 3.