Friday fun: Conservative rebels in blue jeans
From George Will, the weirdest comment of the week:
“Denim is the carefully calculated costume of people eager to communicate indifference to appearances.”
Er. Don’t know about you, but in my case, denim is the “costume” of normal people who like wearing something comfortable and inexpensive in the home office, to the supermarket, on the road, and at the kids’ soccer matches and horse-riding lessons. (And yes, even when they are doing Fox News segments!) Busy, budget-conscious wives are grateful to busy, budget-conscious husbands who wear jeans that don’t have to be ironed. This is not an “indifference to appearances.” This is attention to frugality, practicality, and time constraints.
I understand the conservative critique of our culture of casualness. Diana West wrote the definitive book on The Death of the Grown-Up.
But Mr. Will’s jeremiad on blue jeans is too much:
…the appearances that people choose to present in public are cues from which we make inferences about their maturity and respect for those to whom they are presenting themselves.Do not blame Levi Strauss for the misuse of Levi’s. When the Gold Rush began, Strauss moved to San Francisco planning to sell strong fabric for the 49ers’ tents and wagon covers. Eventually, however, he made tough pants, reinforced by copper rivets, for the tough men who knelt on the muddy, stony banks of Northern California creeks, panning for gold. Today it is silly for Americans whose closest approximation of physical labor consists of loading their bags of clubs into golf carts to go around in public dressed for driving steers up the Chisholm Trail to the railhead in Abilene.
This is not complicated. For men, sartorial good taste can be reduced to one rule: If Fred Astaire would not have worn it, don’t wear it. For women, substitute Grace Kelly.
James Lileks has a splendid takedown in his latest Bleat mocking Grandpa Will’s war on Demon Denim. Rachel Lucas has a ribald rejoinder as well.
But as always, a picture is worth a thousand words. Would Fred Astaire wear this anywhere (besides in the dark, I mean):
(Photo credit: Scott Ableman)
People in yellow pants shouldn’t throw stones.
Here’s hoping Will is cured of his intellectual wedgie soon.
Oh, and my prescription for what ails him in the above photo: A pair of Genuine Wrangler’s Loose Fit Jeans.
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- It’s Friday, So What Tha….? « Obi’s Sister
- The Baughers » How elite can you be?
- WWFW (What Would Fred Wear)? « Horseman, Pass By!
- I’m going to build houses in a Tux - The Angry White Guy
- California and North Carolina in March posted their highest jobless rates in at least three decades (California’s unemployment rate 11.2%) « Goodtimepolitics
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- Tea Parties Must Be Important: NYT Continues Snide Comments On Saturday « Peace and Freedom Global Future
- Truth v. The Machine » Archives » Working Blue
- Conservative Smackdown: Forever in Blue Jeans | KyleSmithOnline.com
- Hey, George Will! What about THIS movie star in denim? — Cynthia Yockey
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George Will needs Martha Stewart to help him get dressed…
Made it home okay.
Now, for my cut-offs……
I am always the only one wearing a suit when I appear for jury duty. Mot of the others would be dressing up if they wore dirty blue jeans. It guarantees my stay will be short.
I wear a black suit, white shirt, dark tie, carry my copy of Von Clauswitz’ “On War” prominently displayed and never smile. The only thing missing is a lapel pin exclaiming “Electric Chair Salesman of the Year”.
They once assigned me to a jury and I was seated as juror #1. I eyeballed the defendant and defense attorney as I passed them on my way to the jury box and was the first juror booted. I was at work fifteen minutes later looking like I just came back from a funeral. My operations manager was also assigned to the same jury but being dressed casual, he ended up on that jury for almost a month.
Is that what Georgie is talking about? Doesn’t sound like the civic duty-minded Georgie I thought I knew.
Then you need to get out here to “flyover country” to a small but great public course and out of the private country clubs. We golf in jeans all of the time and no one minds.
No jury duty for me. Doctor’s note…Sleep apnea
Newsflash, George –
Fred would never have worn a shirt that shows flabby pecs, and a gut rolling over the top of his belt.
Did that clown outfit you’re wearing in the above picture ever fit or are you just one of those fools that insists he’s a 36 waist when he’s been on the north side of a 40 for 10 years?
Don’t you get a free box of golf balls with a purchase of those pants?
Their is one glaring problem with wearing yellow pants: VPL.
Thanks. I forgot how high those shorts go!
Those aren’t golf courses – they’re Federally fertilized ConAgra homesteads.
Ok Michelle – cut it out! Training the kids to be elitists are we?
Let’s just say Dressage is best left to the Rahm Emanuels of the world…sorry, that’s one toe over the line…hehe…
ahhahahahahah lol @ that one phil.
Ever since reaching puberty I have concluded the sooner a female takes off those damn blue jeans the better.
Now that I’m married, well, the sooner she takes off those blue jeans, the better!
Have a great weekend. Saturday at 6 we have a teaparty recap and regroup. You should too! and bring da kids.
Jeff2161, as I said, think I got the jest, saw the humor in it, making sure is all, I can enjoy good humor poked at me.
AlohaGuy you got it all wrong! Michelle is letting her kidlets take horse riding lessons so they’ll be ready to move here when Texas secedes.
Well – George Will is just another of those elitists anyway, isn’t he? Another like Christopher Buckley (and wouldn’t Dad Bill be proud of how he turned out?) or the countless other so-called “Conservatives” who never did an honest days work in their lives.
Sure – we should all go around wearing Dockers and tassle loafers every day – and you gals best be wearing your best LL Bean preppy wear too, ya hear!
Wearing jeans doesn’t mean we can’t afford to wear clothing the elitists feel are worthy (although that may be true in many cases, unfortunately) – it more accurately means we have no need to put on “airs” about who we are. We’re working people, solid down home Americans of faith, and we wear what we damned well FEEL like wearing, whether or not some smarmy elitist punks like it or not!
I enjoy friendly banter…sorry, if any offense was taken.
Hear, Hear…
As the owner of 4 pair of dungarees; versus 1 suit…I prefer utility and comfort.
Well, at least he’s a Cub fan.
http://evangelicalperspective.blogspot.com
*It’s almost as if George was trying out something up on Brokeback Mountain, didn’t much care for it, thus the disdain for denim.
*And this from a man well known for his knowledge and love of baseball; 60 year old managers with a beer gut wearing spandex pinstripes and his heart is all a flutter, but regular folk in Wranglers, can’t have that; He needs to hang with Junior at the track.
Did Georgie boy actually ever WORK? I have an idea he suffered a lot of wedgies in school.
The baseball team or baby bear?
That is one of the most idiotic things I have ever seen, and I’m now dumber for having read it.
Hypothetically, let’s drop George into Fargo, circa last month. You have a sandbag dike to build. Let’s see how George does. Oops, he’s just not very good at that is he? In fact, he’s a bit of a (technical term) pansy. He can’t even help bring loads around in his cute little Prius either. Can’t use him to help coordinate the work either because grown-ups get the giggles around him. So what does George do in the real world? Write apologetic tracts about overpaid ballplayers on steroids maybe. Maybe there’s a need for that somewhere but in Fargo early 2009, not really.
So. Hypothetically, let’s drop George into New Orleans circa 12 hours after Katrina came to visit….
Time for nap, grandpa Will.
George Will has become a caricature of Neal Boortz.
Hey! Get off my lawn!!!
I wear Khakis to church–otherwise I live in Levis. George Will probably wears knee-high black socks and dress shoes with his shorts. It amazes me how far,far,far out of touch these Washinton types are. I wonder what the terorists were were waring on 911– I doubt it was blue jeans. What a dweeb.
Since we’re discussing fashion here, aside from catching anything that will permanently stain, what purpose does a tie serve?
Just curious…
Spats?
Ironically, I spent Easter weekend with my mom and we watched “Easter Parade”. In it, Fred Astaire and Judy Garland dress like hobos!
George Will’s stunning outfit reminds me of what Rodney Dangerfield wore on the golf course in “Caddy Shack” (a classic!).
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1895887
I like George Will but . . .
What he would he say if someone described the fans of Baseball, his favorite pastime, as people who pine for a return to those simpler, happier, prehistoric days when men threw rocks, carried clubs and dwelled in caves, now called dugouts?
It hides the missing buttons on my shirt.
Teabag locator.
Even better: Teabag
locatorcompass.I realized that my familys Christmas get-togethers as I knew it, were over forever once my uncle (who was 15 when I was born) started wearing slacks at family events. I have refused to ever wear dress clothes around family unless it is for a wedding or a funeral.
Fortunately the industry that I work in (and my customers run the gamut of the Fortune 100 [#1 on down the line]) sometime even direct me to wear jeans while I am onsite, because otherwise I would stand out in their workplace.
On occasion, I will dress up when I fly First Class, because it does attract a higher class of gold-diggers and flight attendants.
Not that I spent alot of time looking but his panties are in a bunch. Sad because I usually enjoy his writing. I don’t think he gets it – he’s too well off.
Not fer nuthin’ here…
But I think we have the definitive answer to the relative propriety of denim.
Mr. Will may argue if he wishes.
– MuscleDaddy
Why is it that so many “conservatives” want to give up the essential aspects of conservatism (such as fiscal responsibility, low taxes, no unnecessary laws, 2nd Amendment…)
but are heck-bent on keeping the irrelvant things, like “slacks”?
I wear jeans, tshirt, and sneakers to CHURCH and no one bats an eye. In the summer, shorts and sandals. I dare you to challenge my theology or my conservatism.
How does the presence or absence of a silk rope around my neck affect my understanding of, say, the Tenth Amendment?
Does the presence of a suit and tie mitigate the leftist nature of Obama, Biden, Kennedy, Kerry, Reid… ?
Aloha and Jeff,
Chapoutier is temporarily without internet at home (or my temporary home). He spent Friday night not ironing his underwear, but rather at a whiskey bar drinking sazerac and wheat beer and lamenting how the smoking hot bartender there has apparently developed cancer and is undergoing chemo.
All the best to her. I think we can all agree cancer needs to be throttled.
That reminds me – these guys, and these guys and these guys are in the forefront of both research and treatment of cancers of all kinds – and worthy of your consideration…
…and now, back to the George Will mocking. Feel free to use Latin.
I wonder how all the women who pay $150, give or take, or in some cases much more, for their name-brand designer jeans would feel about Mr. Will’s comments. In many cases, they are dressing to impress. In my personal opinion, many of these designer jeans don’t look all that great. I’m not a fan of rips, tears, effected fadings, etc. Some designer jeans, though, even to my eyes, look rather sharp. Surely most of the wearers of them think they do; I know that, if I spent over $150 on a pair of “dungarees,” I’d have a different image of myself in them in order to justify the expense.
Someone who is buying his/her jeans at KMart or Sears admittedly is probably not thinking all that much about dressing to impress; rather, the thoughts are about practicality, durability, and comfort. News flash to George Will, these are all important and, as much today as in 1850, necessary things. I can think of a ton of masons, electricians, plumbers, etc., not to mention moms, dads, cat owners (claws!), etc. who would take exception to his elitism. For any homeowner, the thought of doing yardwork in Dockers is the matter of jokes.
Furthermore, the important details of practicality, durability, and comfort appear all to be sacrificed by curious George in that photo. Yellow doesn’t match with much as a bottom for men… strike practicality. The pants are thin enough that the outlines of his front pockets are visible… strike durability. He’s clearly got a “muffin top…” strike comfort. Three strikes, he’s out.
For the record, these comments come from one who just turned 31 and didn’t wear jeans until he was 24.
I’m a little late to this party, buried as I was in reporting requirements. Still thought I’d chime in.
Most of my department works with a variety of people, from elected officials to cops, firefighters, and EMS teams. It’s not uncommon to see a county judge from a local jurisdiction to show up to a meeting wearing pressed Levis with a button down and a cowboy hat; the same goes for the county sheriffs and most of the local cops. In my position, I usually meet with the techs — those geeky guys wearing untucked polo shirts with the jurisdiction logo and jeans. In the end, it’s only the guys from “the big city” that wear the top dollar suits around here.
So you’d think that, to maintain a little “street cred” with the guys we work with on a daily basis, we’d at least be able to dress according to our audience. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Our fearless leader — let’s call her Daisy — has a pathological hatred of denim. We are the only department outside the exec director’s office that doesn’t get to wear jeans on casual Friday.
It also means that, when I go on a site visit, I’m expected to dress professionally. Last week, I went to a meeting at a local county radio shop. This location was basically a garage where they maintain equipment and install mobile comm units in county vehicles, that happens to have offices attached for the radio system staff. Needless to say, even the county emergency management rep was wearing a polo shirt and khakis; the county sheriff’s rep was in BDUs. Me? I saunter in wearing a suit and heels. I felt like an idiot. And, because of our department policy, I *looked* like one, too.
We already have a serious handicap in dealing with our first responders due to Daisy’s previous actions. Simply put — like George Will — she’s out of touch with her constituency. Her dress code policy is case in point, and only makes the situation that much harder.