# Things that were once cool, but today scream "old geezer/ette" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789 "2026-01-18T14:34:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/21 "2026-01-18T17:33:35Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > good point - go to any classic rock concert (Deep Purple, AC/DC,…) and you are going to see a high proportion of geezers (on and off stage 😉 ) … most likely dressed in jeans I will say that this is a case of YMMV, a lot. I’ve been to rock concerts in the last 10-15 years which were exactly this, such as Styx and Foreigner. My most extreme example was seeing the progressive rock group Yes a few years ago, in which the audience was overwhelmingly white men over the age of 50. On the other hand, in the last decade, I’ve twice seen Queen (with Adam Lambert) and Electric Light Orchestra, and there were a surprising number of people under the age of 30 at those shows. In a lot of cases, it appeared that there were two- and three-generation families going to the concerts together. True, the audiences was still largely people over the age of 40, but there were was _far_ more younger people at those than at the concerts I mentioned in the first paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/22 "2026-01-18T17:33:57Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Especially Black Sabbath I saw what you did there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/23 "2026-01-18T17:36:49Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Yeah, ask me how I know… 😉 I’m going to see the Damned for their 50th anniversary on Feb 3, definitely dressed in jeans (because I’ve never worn any other kind of pants since I was 10), and **I don’t think there’ll be a mosh pit.** Replaced with a large number of comfy chairs. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/24 "2026-01-18T17:38:41Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > True, the audiences was still largely people over the age of 40, but there were was _far_ more younger people at those than at the concerts I mentioned in the first paragraph. Yeah, some artists/bands have that multi-generational appeal. I saw Iggy Pop last June at an open air venue, and the audience consisted of people from 20-80. Still most people were around my age (57). But Iggy is an icon and a legend and still has a rebellious appeal for some young people. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/25 "2026-01-18T17:41:53Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Funny, I dropped Levi’s a while back and switched first to cargo shorts and then also cargo pants. I’m pushing 60 at this point. The cargo pants are just very handy compared to Dockers or jeans. me too … I had the proverbial “501”, b/c I am a child of this age/epoc, when that was the trousers to wear … and moved on ( **heavily motivated by an aging prostate** ) to cargo pants. Undoing/redoing 5 bottons 10x a day is getting old, fast … The extra space for phone is just an added benefit. ---
**Author:** ![knavette57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knavette57/32/3871_2.png) [@knavette57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knavette57)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/26 "2026-01-18T17:44:16Z")
Those wide leg jeans seem very popular for the youngs. I see some interesting fashion out there, stuff I might have worn in my youth, but with added touches. Fun jewelry, wild hair, all colors of makeup and applied in different ways. To answer the question, though, sneakers (runners) seem an old person thing….without the laces, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/27 "2026-01-18T17:45:34Z")
Oh God, the Velcro closure tennis shoes. I don’t know where they buy them. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/28 "2026-01-18T17:49:52Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The cargo pants are just very handy compared to Dockers or jeans. “You see these pants, Jerry? They’re very comfortable!” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/29 "2026-01-18T17:51:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’m going to see the Damned for their 50th anniversary on Feb 3, definitely dressed in jeans (because I’ve never worn any other kind of pants since I was 10), and I don’t think there’ll be a mosh pit. Speaking of things that may or may not be multi generational like jeans, the last 2 concerts I’ve been to, the mosh pit has mainly been middle aged people including myself. It made me think that moshing is also dying out except the previous 3 concerts the mosh pit trending younger except there weren’t any older people there except me. (I also partook in 2 of those three as well: the third one I only participated for one song and even then I was hesitant because there were only a couple of other people, probably younger Millennials, in it, and I only went in during the moshable parts of the song. I have to save my lungs these days.) (For one of the 2 previous concerts, the demographics made sense: the Get Up Kids, despite their moniker, have now been around for 30 years so I don’t think we were _significantly_ older than the average fan, but I think that the pit in State Champs was older than the average fan.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/30 "2026-01-18T18:06:51Z")
Discussing Mosh pits (😀 ) seems olden. I have young adults around here. I’m going do a test ,and bring up mosh pits. I bet they have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/31 "2026-01-18T19:07:56Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Hey, even punk turns 50 this year It seems to me that ‘punk’ may mean different things on opposite sides of the atlantic. In NY, it was perhaps more of a theatrical and artistic movement: a bit like dada, almost? Whereas in the UK it might have been more of a social swell of disaffection from the unemployed in a bad economy? Then again, there is the narrative that the Sex Pistols were created by Malcom McLaren as a cynical way to cash in on a wave he had noticed? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/32 "2026-01-18T19:30:38Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > It seems to me that ‘punk’ may mean different things on opposite sides of the atlantic. In general I agree with you, but it would be a hijack to go into detail, so I leave it at that. There have been books written about it, many books. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/33 "2026-01-18T21:09:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Oh God, the Velcro closure tennis shoes. I’ve known a few who wore those things in their 40s and 50s, and they were also all short-fused snarling petulant gits…curmudgeons in training…then, like they couldn’t wait to turn 60+. Now that they have, and beyond, it hasn’t seemed to satisfy them. They were essentially cosplaying geezers, now they’re the real thing 😀 . Like the dog that just caught the car it chased: “_Now what?_” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/34 "2026-01-18T21:32:04Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Rock music, the rebellious youth music of old times, is basically dead, at least few people under 40 still listen to it. Stats sown it is very popular over 40, but still rock in in their top choices- after hip hop and of course “popular” music (Taylor Swift, etc). ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/35 "2026-01-18T21:53:56Z")
Following through. Nowadays, anything that sounds like a suggestion or plan or proposal must be considered idle chitchat until you get the text message that says “on my way”. Otherwise you’ll be the only one there. It used to be common at my workplace where someone might say “we should write some automation to take care of task XYZ”, and I’d deliver it a week or so later, and they look at me like I have two heads. “oh wow, you actually… built that?” Not in tones of awe or appreciation either, more like “this guy actually recalls conversations from a week ago and follows through on them, this is very weird and unsettling.” I’ve since come to realize that the tech work is like this now, where 99% of spoken conversations are basically meaningless wank, and any information more than 48 hours old is hopelessly outdated. ---
**Author:** ![Cheetahkins](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheetahkins/32/20603_2.png) [@Cheetahkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheetahkins)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/36 "2026-01-18T23:20:19Z")
Simply not true. The person who said ‘all ages’ wear jeans has it right. I work for a popular clothing chain that sells MASSIVE amounts of jeans, and the vast majority of customers are people between 15 and 25. Not only that, in the last few years we’ve greatly increased the variety of fits for jeans, there’s easily 5x the offerings of a few years ago. And we’re not the only jeans supplier out there, not even close. Imo jeans are more popular with younger buyers than ever, which is saying something because they’ve always been popular in the last few decades. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/37 "2026-01-18T23:40:58Z")
I agree. And it’s because their the the single best clothing item that was ever invented, and they have stood the test of time. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/38 "2026-01-18T23:41:55Z")
The observation about jeans I would say is broadly true here in the UK. People in their 40s and 50s are probably the key demographic that wears them (looks down at legs, yep, true to type, I’m in jeans as we speak). A much lower proportion of younglings are in jeans IME. Joggers are much more popular for young men, and various leggings for young women. We had something called the “Clarkson effect” years ago, of regular fit stonewash jeans being associated with middle aged men, like Jeremy Clarkson from _Top Gear_. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/39 "2026-01-19T00:02:32Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Joggers are much more popular for young men Hah I say! I see plenty an old geezers who where nothing but jogging pants all day. When you don’t work it comes down to comfort. Jeans are for people that go to work. I am retired now and I’d say I only wear jeans about 30% of the waking hours. When I worked it was more like 90% of my waking hours. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789/40 "2026-01-19T00:14:41Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Walking with their head held high. When was the time period that people said “You know what’s cool? Walking around with your head held high.”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-once-cool-but-today-scream-old-geezer-ette/1026789.md?page=3)