I didn’t get where anyone thought it was a problem just because you think something unkind about a person based on what they’re wearing… It’s the fact that you’d judge them based on such a small sample of who they are. I make observations all the time but I really try to reserve judgement. I do that by keepin the focus on me instead of on the other person. If I see the hoochie mama look you described earlier, certainly I notice but to keep from being judgemental I look at how it’s making ME feel, why I wouldn’t wear that outfit, not why she shouldn’t.
Yeah … I see that.
I didn’t really think you would. 
Now I have a serious question - for those who are on the ‘No’ side of the OP question, do sweatpants go in the same category of clothing as lingerie and pajamas? I’m thinking that’s another difference. Some people see them as legitimate out-in-public clothing and maybe some don’t because they’re ‘intimate’ or ‘not real clothes’. I know that sounds kind of ‘duh’ obvious but … what do you think? I keep trying to rephrase this and it still sounds dumb. sigh
If it isn’t okay, I did something not okay today. A couple of times, I think. I often do. I’ve even worn sweatpants to work, but I realize that not many people have workplaces where you can do that (and nor do I, anymore - dress code makes Priceguy sad).
As for other people… well, seeing a woman in sweatpants in public does make me think something about her. That something is “how fucking great, a woman who values comfort over impressing shallow strangers, please love me”. Not to mention that sweatpants are sexy, but apparently I’m the only one in the universe who thinks that.
Except that I’ve repeatedly said, it’s okay to wear whatever you want. Just be aware that people *are *judging you. And that it’s downright silly to act as though the clothes we put on our bodies are less of a choice than the words that come out of our mouths.
I’m certainly more likely to take notice of someone pumping gas in a teddy than in sweats if that’s what you mean. I’d probably take more notice of a guy in his boxers than in running shorts at the grocery store. Sweats aren’t undergarments.
Clothes say much less about who people are than their words do. Judgements based on what a stranger is wearing at the Costco are uninformed and shallow. Judgements based on what people say can still be erroneous or incomplete, but at least they’re based on some kind of valid data.
Double post
And my response to that is, if you are so shallow as to avoid getting to know me because I’m wearing sweats at the grocery store, I don’t really give a shit that you are judging me. Judge on sister… Your (global “you”) opinions are inconsequential. While I don’t think the clothes I wear are any less of a choice then the words I speak, I don’t consider them to be of equal importance. I can expouse some pretty profound, compassionate or funny stuff whether or not I’m wearing jammies or a suit!
Of course people are judging us! Whether we’re wearing a prom dress and pearls, work attire or the dreaded sweats, most people who see us make observations and form opinions based upon what they see…Derrrrr!
My point (and the point of other posters) which you seem to keep missing, is that what is incorrect is to decide that your opinion is a correct assessment of who that person might be, based solely upon what they’re wearing. And again, based upon what you’re posting here, that appears to be very much what you’re doing.
That is something that people are seeing expressed within your posts, many times over. People are not saying “I don’t care what anyone thinks, OOOooh, she thinks something BAD, now I care”. What they’re saying is: Thinking something bad and BELIEVING that your assessment (based upon this snapshot of their lives) is actually true, is what is making you shallow, and frankly shortsighted and a bit immature.
Ding ding ding… We have a winner!!!
I don’t consider them “real clothes.” I’ve seen them at funerals and I think it looks terrible. Of course it’s much less inappropriate at the grocery store. Also, there are sweats and there are “sweats.” Some are much worse than others. When the knees are fagged out, and they’re speckled with house paint and there are holes and the elastic is gone from one pant leg, you really shouldn’t go further than your mailbox in them. If they’re in pretty good shape, I’m not nearly as horrified.
SNORT!! 
Well, I don’t know about you southern bells, but those teddies are pretty tiny, and even in the summertime it’s a bit too chilly to wear them out in public. (also, please read previous post regarding my hideousness and scaring small children!).
Sorry, to answer your question. What in the world do sweats look like to some of you? Up here they are solid, WaaaAAARM, long pants, they just happen to be fuzzy on the inside. The way they’re made, they’re really no different than palazzo pants, or even other pull-on dress slacks, other than that they’re made of thicker material. They have two legs and pull on. As someone else said, it’s not as if they’re somehow indecent.
Now my curiosity is cooking, didn’t anyone look at the picture of the three young college men that someone posted? What exactly is so darned Bad about sweat pants? I mean Yes, YES, I can see, they really would be out of place at a dance, or whatnot. But as someone else said, the grocery store isn’t exactly The Ball.
What gives? What is it about sweats that is so unacceptable, I mean there are so many other ugly clothes that people really REALLY shouldn’t wear.
As I said earlier, if we’re going to start deciding which clothing means that someone is acceptable and worthwhile as a human being, we really need to start with some of the really bad clothes, like saggy poopy-diaper thug pants! (Kidding! I would then be deprived of seeing said young thugs in diaper pants attempt to climb stairs and step down off of curbs).
Did you read the rest of my post? I didn’t carefully consider what sort of “statement” I wanted to make when I put on the clothes I’m wearing right now. That’s the sort of choice you want to talk about.
OK, yes, I did “choose” this top, because it has long sleeves and I was cold. I “chose” my underpants because they were on top in the drawer. I “chose” the socks because they’re knee-highs and my legs were cold. I “chose” the sweatpants (OH NOES, YES I’M WEARING SWEATPANTS!!!) because they were on top in the drawer.
I may indeed need to run to town today. I’m NOT going to concern myself with what kind of fucking “statement” or “motivation” someone might assign to me because YES, BY GOD, I’M GOING TO WEAR MY SWEATPANTS TO THE STORE! (Probably covered up by my boots and coat, so only the middle part of my leg will be showing. Does that make me any less scuzzy? Or are boots too sloppy for the store also?) What, a bunch of shallow old hags are going to squint at me and decide I’m a serial killer because I didn’t put on pantyhose and makeup to spend 5 minutes in the grocery store??
Why do you think I should worry about impressing people every time I run out for cat food???
How the hell do you ever get anything done, if you’re so busy studying everyone else and deciding that they’re a piece of shit because THEIR clothes aren’t up to YOUR standards??
Do you ever challenge your judgements of people based on stuff like attire? What if it’s not a case of not giving a fuck but rather one of not being able to afford “nicer” clothes, what if they’d much rather be wearing a nicer outfit but can’t afford to? What if they just suffered a house fire and all their clothes were burned up and someone gave them some ratty sweats to wear?
When we judge people, we tend to be harsh and the truth is, we know NOTHING of their circumstances and really have no right to judge.
I’ve seen enough college kids here to know that wearing pajama bottoms as pants, especially on women, is common and you see people all over town in them but I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anyone much over their age do it. I think that’s what they wear in place of sweats. In terms of lingerie it all depends on how revealing it is and what setting it’s in. It can range from cute to desperate looking to me. I have camisoles that I wear under low cut sweaters - that’s sort of lingerie but not even noteworthy in terms of sexy.
It is okay with me if people wear sweatpants, tennis dresses, jodphurs, or whatever for activities they were not intended for,* such as shopping at Macy’s. It’s their perfect right.
It’s also my perfect right to sneer at them inwardly–probably outwardly as well, a bit, although I try to curb that–and to save the best for saying to my friends that they would not BELIEVE what the chick I saw at the mall was wearing.
*Except if you stop for a cold drink somewhere directly after your hot polo or tennis match.
I choose not to wear sweatpants in public—I want to feel like I look nice and to convey that I am considerate of anyone who views me. I also groom myself for the same reasons—so I feel good about how I look to the general public. I don’t expect that everyone who views me finds me overwhelmingly attractive, but I do want to look nice. If I were to arrange to meet someone in public, say for dinner out, then I would take even more care with my appearance, so as to be pleasing. I don’t see this as shallow, just considerate. I did have a man ask me for coffee and then show up in sweats, unshaven and uncombed. He said he wasn’t sure how much he’d like me, so he didn’t bother to change. I felt like he had already decided he wasn’t going to try to impress me and it worked wonderfully well.
Hey, if you can’t judge people on their attire, what can you judge them on? That’s a big clue right there.
Clothes ARE valid data. You chose them. You put them on your body. You left the house that way. You may not have given it much thought, but that’s a choice too.
I don’t believe that I’ve said anything even remotely like “My entire and unalterable opinion of you is based on what you’re wearing.” But I really can’t help but be amused that people seem to want it both ways. If you really don’t care what anyone thinks, then why defend yourselves so vociferously? And if you really DO care what people think, then accept that the way you present yourself influences peoples’ opinons of you. I don’t get what’s hard to understand about that.
