Poll: Is It Okay To Wear Sweatpants In Public?

[Brown_Eyed_Girl]

@DianaG

Well. that’s kind of my point, actually. It’s NOT any harder to throw on some jeans, and they DO go with everything, and pretty much anywhere. So unless you see fastening a button and a zipper as some monumental effort, why wouldn’t you choose the jeans?

Because a) they are more comfortable, b) my jeans are dirty/in the wash, c) I don’t feel the need to dress for other people in every situation, or d) all of the above? Do you honestly think people opt for sweats/athletic pants over jeans because they can’t be bothered to zip and button? I think you need to rethink that. Really, it took me longer to learn how to tie laces. Can you do that?

That said, I hereby concede that all jeans are not created equal, and neither are all “sweats”. I would consider these outfits far worse than this. And that when I’ve been saying “sweats”, I’ve been visualizing this or this or this.

Ah, well now we’re getting to the meat of things. So, let me get this straight. This says to you, “I just rolled out of bed and I couldn’t care less what I look like, but [267x400.JPG”]this](http://www.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/culture/2006/01/03/FASHION-UGGS2[1) says, “I am the paragon of style. Worship me.”
(Aside: I could totally get behind you if this thread were about Uggs.)

You’re right, you’re not going to be refused at the Cheesecake Factory for wearing sweats, but I was thinking more “somewhere without a children’s menu”. I go out to dinner all the time. It’s not an event, it’s just part of my day.

Okay, give me a better example then because it seems apparent (no snark intended) that my idea of a nice, but not Michelin-rated, restaurant is still pretty lame. What can I say? I’m sheltered.

I’m hardly ever “just” going to the grocery store. In fact I was baffled by the idea that anyone is “overdressed for the grocery store”, because in my mind, they’re obviously on their way to or from somewhere else. Someone upthread linked to some workout clothes and asked if those were “acceptable”, and yeah, I wouldn’t think anything about those except that this person is clearly on their way home from the gym. Honestly, I feel like it’s pretty easy to tell who’s in transit, and who actually lives in sweatpants. There’s a definite aura of despair around the latter.

Huh. I guess it’s easy to assume that a fat slob like me is not headed to the gym and I suppose you’d be right, but you must all accept the fact that cramming myself into uncomfortable jeans to go buy my Lean Cuisines for the weak is way more depressing than putting on the most awesome pair of supple, stretchy athletic pants to have ever existed. Mountain Hardwear didn’t call the line “Butter” for nothing. I don’t why it comes as such a shock to learn that some people actually set aside pre-planned time for grocery shopping AND that sometimes people run just to the store to grab something they previously forgot or ran out of. The idea that people dress specifically for the grocery store because they can’t bear to be judged “homely” or “depressing” is what people think of as overdressing. It’s just the grocery store, unless we’re back in the early 90s when people deemed bars were meat markets and decided to start hooking up in the produce section. Suffice it to say, I’m happily married and it’s better if I don’t impress that hot hunk of man fondling the cheeses. ("Dude! Get the Double Gloucester with the Stilton pressed in the middle. It’s divine!)

Someone upthread also said that sweats would feel like “giving up on life”, and that’s exactly how I feel. When you throw on a pair of sweatpants, it’s like saying “this day holds no surprises for me”. It’s closing yourself off to the possibilities. I’m a very spontaneous person, I can’t imagine purposely dressing to leave the house in a way that would so seriously limit my options. If I run into a friend and we decide we’d like to go get a drink, I want to be able to go get a drink.

Meh. Why does everyone have to be spontaneous all the time? And you’re not really going to let your Lean Cuisines melt in your trunk while your knocking back a few in the bar with a friend, are you? There are any number of ways a sweats-wearing shopper could handle this situation:

a) “Hey, I found this great little bar across town. You want to meet there around six?”

b) “I’d love to grab a bite to eat. Let me get these groceries home and I’ll meet you there in about a half an hour.”
Quick change at home after putting groceries away–unless you’re meeting at Friday’s, then no worries, I guess.

c) “You know, I’m really thirsty, too. I’m grabbing a case of Red Oak. Come on over and I’ll throw some bison burgers on my Foreman. We can listen to my old Blur collection.”

Wooohooo! Spontaneity! Flies don’t land on me!

Except that I’m hard to fit as well, and “never, ever pay full price” is as close to a religious belief as I have. Yeah, it takes some work. I’m worth it.

You’re patient. I’m not fond of clothes shopping. I’m worth not beating myself up in random dressing rooms, though.

I’m sorry for your troubles. I hope that things get better for you soon.

Thanks and no worries. I’m not complaining. It’s only temporary, I’m sure. I’m actually really happy with my job and as long as my husband is still employed, we’ll ride out the downturn okay. Incidentally, I did get great eval and a raise yesterday.

I just need to work at getting back to my old clothes’ sizes instead of buying a whole wardrobe of replacements right now. In the meantime, my stretchy yoga pants that don’t look too horrible on me have to supplement the few pants I’ve bought to accommodate my now prominent pooch and backside. I do try to keep my hair cut nicely and wear some light makeup.

Next time you see someone who could be better dressed, don’t jump to conclusions. They just might be riding out a downturn in life as well. Doesn’t mean they’ve given up, though.

[CrazyCatLady]

Well, you know, probably 90% of my days don’t hold any significant surprises, and the surprises I do get tend to be of the “your grandpa’s in the hospital again” variety which I could quite frankly do without. And don’t freaking start about how surely I wouldn’t go visit someone in the hospital in sweats–visiting any of my family involves packing a suitcase.

That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on life–it’s probably not conducive to your sort of life, but I never wanted that sort of life anyway. But it suits my life just fine to know exactly what I need to do and sometimes plan to do just exactly that and not one iota more. If I’m sick, or have a million things to do around the house, or am just in a foul-ass mood and don’t want to deal with anybody, why shouldn’t I dress in a way that limits my possibilities to walking the dogs at work and picking a few things at Walmart before coming home?

If I actually have the time and inclination to hang out with someone, I generally won’t be in sweatpants or my cruddy gardening shorts (which I generally won’t change out of just to run out for more mulch). But if I should be dressed like that, we could either have lunch at my house (which has great food, a nice patio full of flowers, a bar, and candles if you want 'em), or she can come to the house and play with the critters while I put my stuff away and change, or we can make plans to meet up later.

[HolyFreakingMoly]

I love that the ad prompted was “Undo Circumcision Damage” ROFL

[Arnold_Winkelried]

@DianaG

Someone upthread also said that sweats would feel like “giving up on life”, and that’s exactly how I feel. When you throw on a pair of sweatpants, it’s like saying “this day holds no surprises for me”. It’s closing yourself off to the possibilities. I’m a very spontaneous person, I can’t imagine purposely dressing to leave the house in a way that would so seriously limit my options. If I run into a friend and we decide we’d like to go get a drink, I want to be able to go get a drink.

For you, the possibilities that you imagine in your day are related to places where you would feel out of place in your sweatpants. But there are other possibilities in life.

For example, someone’s idea of a fun day is not going to a bar or a restaurant, it might be going for a bike ride or a hike. I like to go with my kids on what I call a “nature walk” at the beach, and often I’ll decide to do this spontaneously. One of my friends goes bike riding every day. If he is at my house to discuss something related to our non-profit group, or for lunch, he is likely to say afterwards “let’s go for a bike ride down to the bay.” Good thing he wore sweatpants! For those people, casual dress actually enhances their possibilities for a fun day.

Another case (I’ve known several of these) is the person who doesn’t care about clothes. For them, wearing casual clothes or ill-fitting clothes doesn’t limit their possibilities because they don’t mind going to the restaurant in those clothes. That doesn’t mean that they have given up on life. In your case, your self-esteem is tied into your appearance and your clothes. But for these people, their self-esteem depends mostly on other things they do. That doesn’t necessarily make them right or you wrong - just different.

[Brown_Eyed_Girl]

I like you, Arnold. But I do have to ask, who let the sane guy in?

[Jophiel]

Heh… I originally said the “gave up on life” remark. Mind you, I’m only speaking for myself when I say that. I was raised with the notion that I have value and, although you don’t gain your worth from your clothes, there’s no excuse for not dressing as if you have value.

To me, dressing to a basic minimum standard of “nice” is the same thing as brushing my teeth, washing my hair, taking regular showers, etc. It’s no more imposition on me to wear “real” pants than it is to spend a couple minutes brushing my teeth so why wouldn’t I do it? The point where I no longer care enough to throw on a pair of pants when I go out into society is, to me, not really different from the point where I no longer care enough to make sure my hair looks presentable or that I don’t reek of body odor. Hence the “gave up on life” remark.

And, yeah, I’d take the five minutes to clean myself up if I needed to run to the hardware store in the middle of a project. I’ve done it before. It has less to do with the fear of some disapproving Home Depot cashier than it does with the fact I’m worth presenting myself nicely when I’m out and about. And don’t worry about my self-esteem – you can ask my wife and she’ll inform you that no one is more self-aware of how awesome they are than I

That’s all just my opinion. If you think sweats are nice enough to go out in or think that no one should care if their hair is dirty when they run out for milk, knock yourself out.

[Sarahfeena]

@DianaG

Well. that’s kind of my point, actually. It’s NOT any harder to throw on some jeans, and they DO go with everything, and pretty much anywhere. So unless you see fastening a button and a zipper as some monumental effort, why wouldn’t you choose the jeans?

That said, I hereby concede that all jeans are not created equal, and neither are all “sweats”. I would consider these outfits far worse than this. And that when I’ve been saying “sweats”, I’ve been visualizing this or this or this.

Now I get it…you aren’t really talking about neat vs. sloppy, easy vs. difficult…you are talking about having a sense of style or fashion. I picture you, based on this thread, as being the sort who wears stylish jeans with heeled boots and a nice button-up shirt. Well, not everyone has that same sense of style…some are sporty, some are outdoorsy, some are more glam, etc. I wear jeans almost every day, and I never wear any kind of sweats/yoga pants/stretch garments when I’m out and about. But I do tend to wear layered t-shirts and Converse. It’s comfortable, and the look is just more me. Can I bop into the trendy restaurant wearing that? Maybe for lunch, yes, maybe not, depends on the place. Of course, I usually have two little kids either with me, or waiting for me to come home, so I don’t tend to be as spontaneous as I might like. See? Everyone is different…everyone has a different style, everyone has a different situation. I would be the first one in a thread coming down on a person who wore sweats to a funeral, but that picture you linked to of the lady in the matching red & gray sweat suit? That looks perfectly acceptable to me for wearing to the grocery store…it’s coordinating, it fits her well, it’s clean. It’s not my personal style, but, then, everybody is not me.

[Chef_Troy]

Wow, who would have thought a cotton fleece hug for your lower body could inspire such vitriol?

I was struck by the apparent opinion on the part of some of you that YOU own the “rights” to another person’s appearance by virtue of being the one looking at it - that kind of “how DARE he go out of the house looking like that?” as though you are somehow being shortchanged thereby.

For the record, I only wear sweatpants on the weekend when it’s unlikely that I’ll be directly interacting with other people (not counting cashiers and the like), because I’m a freelance writer/editor, and after the first time I made a lucrative connection with a potential client while I was taking my kids out for a lazy Sunday brunch, I realized that I just NEVER know when that sort of thing might happen. If I weren’t always potentially “on” like that, I might feel differently about it.

Also for the record, I HATE jeans - I find them very uncomfortable. My usual uniform is well-broken-in pleated docker-type cotton pants, either with a collar-and-buttons shirt when I’m at work or a (neat) pocket t-shirt when I’m not. But I don’t wear them because I want to look presentable - I wear them because they’re the most comfortable option for me.

[Risha]

@Jophiel

That’s all just my opinion. If you think sweats are nice enough to go out in or think that no one should care if their hair is dirty when they run out for milk, knock yourself out.

See, the odd part of that sentence is that you equate dirty hair and sweats. Not that I particularily care if someone I see in Home Depot has dirty hair as long as he’s not stinking the place up, but cleanliness and fashion are two entirely different things.

[Jophiel]

@Risha

See, the odd part of that sentence is that you equate dirty hair and sweats.

I equate a minimum standard of dressing nicely and washing your hair as both facets of basic presentation. I don’t equate sweats with dressing nicely. Therefore, wearing sweats fails the “basic presentation” test just as failing to wash your hair would.

You might see it differently. You might well think that sweats are perfectly acceptable and nice things to wear for casual errand running. I don’t (and you’re unlikely to convince me otherwise) and therefore I put on “real” pants before going out into the world.

[Baldwin]

@Alice_The_Goon

I say no sweatpants in public. Unless you are extremely ill with something that precludes you from putting real pants on and you wear them to the hospital. I could possibly concede that it’s okay to wear them to the corner convenience store, like just to get the paper, but only if there’s no line and you have exact change, and you run the whole time, flinging the money at the cashier as you dash back to the car, hiding your face in shame the whole time.

In a few hours I’ll be going out in public, in sweatpants. I’ll go to SCA fighter practice, hit guys with sticks, and maybe stop at the store on the way home. Couldn’t possibly give a shit whether somebody like you is offended.

@Alice The Goon

One time I had a date come to pick me up to go to dinner wearing sweatpants. He lived in Phoenix and said something had happened to his other pants and that’s all he had. What, you couldn’t go to freaking Walmart and buy a 20 dollar pair of pants? I went, but I didn’t have fun, and I didn’t see him again.

Lucky break for him.

By the way, my girlfriend doesn’t like wearing regular pants because it irritates her right leg where the tibia is held together with plates and screws. Is it all right with you if she wears stirrup pants, Your Highness?

[tumbleddown]

@Jophiel

Heh… I originally said the “gave up on life” remark. Mind you, I’m only speaking for myself when I say that. I was raised with the notion that I have value and, although you don’t gain your worth from your clothes, there’s no excuse for not dressing as if you have value.

So dressing in a fashion that is comfortable to me and is acceptable to the things that I do from day to day sends a message to you that I don’t believe that I have value because it doesn’t meet your personal criteria of fashionable?

Give me a break. I know my worth. And I know that it is in no way based on the nature of the fabric covering my lower half.

[Risha]

@Jophiel

I equate a minimum standard of dressing nicely and washing your hair as both facets of basic presentation. I don’t equate sweats with dressing nicely. Therefore, wearing sweats fails the “basic presentation” test just as failing to wash your hair would.

You don’t see any difference between cleanliness and what you wear? What about someone who dresses nicely - even fashionably - but smells of BO? They’re not exactly uncommon. Which is the greater sin?

[Risha]

@Risha

You don’t see any difference between cleanliness and what you wear? What about someone who dresses nicely - even fashionably - but smells of BO? They’re not exactly uncommon. Which is the greater sin?

You know, I just went on to a different forum, but found myself still stewing over your previous reply. I think that I’m extremely insulted, but I’m not quite sure why, as I really don’t care if people don’t shower as long as they’re not assulting me with the smell. I’ll have to think on this awhile.

I suspect that I won’t be the only semi-“frump” with that reaction, though.

[Jophiel]

@Risha

You don’t see any difference between cleanliness and what you wear?

Sure there’s differences. But I place them both under the same general umbrella of personal presentation things I tend to before leaving the house. I really don’t know how else to explain it.

What about someone who dresses nicely - even fashionably - but smells of BO? They’re not exactly uncommon. Which is the greater sin?

Why do I have to choose? Neither is acceptable to me when I’m going out and about. I don’t go out stinking and I don’t go out in sweats.

I think that I’m extremely insulted, but I’m not quite sure why, as I really don’t care if people don’t shower as long as they’re not assulting me with the smell

I’ve taken pains to note that these are my standards which apply to me. I don’t go out in sweats the same as I don’t go out with my teeth unbrushed. Both are things that I do to ensure to myself that I maintain a certain level of self-determined presentableness. I don’t think I’ve said Word One about how no one else should be allowed out in sweats (or unbathed for that matter).

Why anyone else would be insulted by that is beyond me.

[Superorganism]

re: wearing jeans that

@welby

1. Have no fasteners.
2. Are size XXXL.
3. Have both stretchy material AND a drawstring.
4. Could be worn whether I gain or lose 20 pounds.

While you might be comfortable with it, this sort of stuff renders you so far out of touch that the fact that you’re participating in a thread that deals with clothing sort of bizarre. Note that most of the sweatpant brigade seems very upset about, uh, tangential subjects. Also note that there is a severe distinction between the sweatpant tourist (gym, etc.) and the sweatpant lifer.

[DocCathode]

@Arnold_Winkelried

For you, the possibilities that you imagine in your day are related to places where you would feel out of place in your sweatpants. But there are other possibilities in life.

This.

There is no place I feel out of place in jeans and a tee shirt. My favorite restaurants (both since closed) served excellent, affordable food with no dress code. There are many restaurants that won’t admit me in jeans and a tee shirt. They are not places I have any desire to go.

[NinetyWt]

@Superorganism

this sort of stuff renders you so far out of touch that the fact that you’re participating in a thread that deals with clothing sort of bizarre.

Out of touch? How so? I don’t get it.

[Gala_Matrix_Fire]

@Risha

You don’t see any difference between cleanliness and what you wear? What about someone who dresses nicely - even fashionably - but smells of BO? They’re not exactly uncommon. Which is the greater sin?

You make a good point. People who dress nicely–even fashionably–tend to reek of too much perfume or cologne. I cringe when I see that I’m going to have to share an elevator with them.

[Risha]

@NinetyWt

Out of touch? How so? I don’t get it.

Oh, good, I thought it was just me confused by that comment.