Timely thread, as I just got a pair of Rock and Republic jeans in the mail yesterday. The tag says, “Consider that dark denim may rub off onto light clothing.” The inside label says to turn inside out and wash once before wearing. I’ll wash and dry them before I take them to a tailor. I’ve got a pair of 7 for all Mankind jeans that I am supposed to pick up from the tailor next week. If I remember right, the inside label says to be careful with light clothes and furniture, because they can cause stains.
Relax, I’m getting off your lawn. Also, if you’ll refer me to the particular section of the Bible with the church dress code, I’ll be much obliged.
I have a couple pairs I wear out of the house when need be, to look ‘cool’. I find them hard to buy (trying on hundreds of pairs to find something that fits), they are always waaaay too long (short legged - shoot me now), and uncomfortable (cut into my waist like an iron band unless there’s a little spandex in the mix). Never liked jeans, though I own a lot of other denim clothing pieces. I can hardly wait till I’m old enough to buy fuschia pink stretch pants and matching T-shirts with kitties and sequins on them - Quacker Factory, here I come! (off to bingo and to pick up my bus ticket to Atlantic City…)
If you can’t wear jeans to a concert/bar, where can you wear them? Were you really expecting people to wear dress slacks to a concert?
Jeans of middling or better quality improve with age, unlike any slacks. I could never understand why Dockers were supposed to be more work-appropriate, because after you’ve had those for a while, they get all puckered and faded–which jeans do, too, but for them it’s an improvement.
Besides, will no one think of the cats?
From watching German TV on the internet it’s clear that this isn’t just a U.S. thing. Jeans seem to have greater acceptability there, in professional settings, than in this country. Talk show hosts are often seen wearing jeans on the air, which I’ve never seen in this country, unless the host is always shown sitting behind a desk or table, like Larry King. Similarly, in dramatic shows you often see professional, white-collar city dwellers in their 40s and 50s wearing jeans; American producers still tend to push the idea that you’re supposed to stop wearing jeans around age 30, even when that’s usually not true IRL. Tellingly, the in-between still shots of Larry in the commercial breaks show him standing, and wearing black jeans with his trademark suspenders and tie, yet during the actual show you never see that.
This and this. Jeans are so much more comfortable than any pair of slacks I’ve ever owned.
Also- and I feel like this is something I’ve been saying in a lot of threads lately, so I apologize if I’m becoming a bit of a one trick pony- but this definitely a generational thing. My 60 year old father owns maybe one pair of jeans that he uses for gardening, running stuff to the dump on Saturdays-- stuff like that. All other days, he wear’s khakis or suit slacks, whatever else. If my dad went to a club or bar (particularly a hip or more upscale one), he would never wear jeans.
But if you go to most hip, current, upscale clubs, you will see a lot of chicks in teensy mini dresses, but also a lot of women in jeans. Now, there’s still a dress code: for instance, dark jeans are much more acceptable for “dressing up” situations (like the club) and usually have to be paired with high heels and a nice blouse/top. I honestly wouldn’t think twice about wearing a pair of dark jeans, pumps, and a nice top to a nice restaurant, because that’s just . . . normal to me. It looks fine.
It does seem the rules are a little more strict for men though- I have no proof of this, it’s just my perception. That said, if I walked into a high end club and saw a woman wearing this or this or this, I wouldn’t think twice. Or this or this or this in a nice-ish restaurant. Then again, I’m from California, which is a little more laid back than most places. We all sort of dress like Kardashians here (hopefully, that’ll make sense to the two people reading this who have watched the show-- sort of casual, but still sort of upscale and clean).
So, for me, it’s more than just the comfort: a nice dark pair of jeans are versatile. I can wear them around running errands on Saturday with a tshirt, I can wear them with a cardigan and pearls to work, I can wear them with fuck me pumps to a club.
Holy Jesus Fuck. I hate posts where people bitch about other people’s splurges, and for all I know $255 is pocket change to you, but I wouldn’t spend that much money on a pair of jeans if they had an inbuilt scrotum-stroking device.
And I like jeans.
Okay, I probably would, if they got the pressure and rhythm just right.
Different strokes (built into pockets or not) for different folks. I also get ragey if I spend more than $50 on jeans, but that’s mostly because I get the trendy jeans of the season, so I don’t really need them to last years. Ideal jean price for me is ~$25 (I usually get $80 jeans. . . just on sale for $25-$30 :)).
But, I’m not knocking- I have some God-awful expensive shoes. Everybody has their thing they splurge on.
I’m not sure about the gender differences as a matter of “rules”. Probably it’s more the fact that most guys, especially younger ones, tend to wear frumpy looking oversized jeans that fit about the same as bib overalls, with the similar huge pockets and the same “anti-fit”. Overalls and jeans originally weren’t worn to make you look good, but just for practical considerations of durability, and ample pockets for tools and ore samples. I think a man in well fitted jeans can get away with as much as a woman.
Interestingly, from reading threads here and other online material, and from observing female family members, it seems to be the women who are more prone to giving up jeans when they turn 30 or so. I used to wonder jokingly if women have a “slacks gene” that kicks in at about that age, and precipitates a radical change in taste. Particularly when my cousin started showing up to family gatherings in what looked like cheap go-to-church slacks, instead of the 501s she had favored previously.
I don’t get the outrage here. If we assume an annual income of $30,000, which seems to be an average-ish figure for an American over age 25, and assuming a 5-day work week, $255 works out to be not quite 2 and a quarter days of work. Why wouldn’t you spend that much on an item that’s comfortable, looks good on you, is acceptable to wear in most places, and may last several years? I don’t call that a splurge, unless you’re buying a new pair every two weeks or so.
It’s of no matter to me how much someone wants to spend on clothes (I mean that earnestly), however, I have found jeans with all three of those qualities for $30.
This strikes me as a terribly dated argument for some reason - 1980.
You know, you’re right. I see plenty of men looking slick in clubs in fitted (but not skin tight, I just mean: jeans that fit) jeans that are dark in color. Some guys wear blazers with them, some wear nice button ups and clean dress shoes. I suppose it is about the same thing.
And if I had to guess why women stop wearing jeans as much around 30, it’s probably because a lot of jeans fall into one of two categories: teen jeans or mom jeans. There is an inbetween, but goddamn it’s hard to find. For me, I’m 24, but I like to wear tight, trendy jeans. I can tell you, though, finding a pair of well-fitting (ie: not skin tight like most of mine), “regular” (ie: not trendy) jeans is hard. The minute you step out of trendy, you hop right into mom jeans— with a rise up to your tits, super thick denim that makes your butt look like a really sad pancake, etc. So, I could see where if you were a 30 year old woman with your body changing with age and you go to the store to try on jeans— the teen jeans are going to muffin top the fuck out of you and look totally inappropriate— all while the mom jeans make you look dumpy as hell. So, you just think: hey, I guess jeans aren’t for me anymore – and you give up in a sad depression.
Outrage is a bit much. More like surprise.
If Tarwater is actually going to be wearing those jeans for several years, that would change my point of view.
Heh, check out this brand then.
I feel like it should be pointed out now that Versace sells a $500 plain white tshirt, but that doesn’t mean most folks buy $500 plain white tshirts. 
Now we’re getting into a price range where I wonder why you would buy off-the-rack at all. You could be going to a custom tailor & getting a cut of jean that addresses all your personal particularities.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything for $30 that would last years and look really good. Though maybe my standards are different?
Or you’re looking at the wrong brands? The pair of jeans I’m wearing now is coming up on three years old, doesn’t have any holes or noticeable wear, and I wear them a lot.