Blue Jeans Destroy Culture

[Dr. Shane]

Blue jeans are destroying what’s left of culture

On any American street, or in any airport or mall, you see the same sad tableau: A 10-year-old boy is walking with his father, whose development was evidently arrested when he was that age, judging by his clothes. Father and son are dressed identically — running shoes, T-shirts. And jeans, always jeans. If mother is there, she, too, is draped in denim.

Writer Daniel Akst has noticed and has had a constructive conniption.

He should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has earned it by identifying an obnoxious misuse of freedom. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he has denounced denim, summoning Americans to soul-searching and repentance about the plague of that ubiquitous fabric, which is symptomatic of deep disorders in the national psyche.

It is, he says, a manifestation of “the modern trend toward undifferentiated dressing, in which we all strive to look equally shabby.”

Denim reflects “our most nostalgic and destructive agrarian longings — the ones that prompted all those exurban McMansions now sliding off their manicured lawns and into foreclosure.” Jeans come prewashed and acid-treated to make them look like what they are not — authentic work clothes for horny-handed sons of toil and the soil. Denim on the bourgeoisie is, Akst says, the wardrobe equivalent of driving a Hummer to a Whole Foods store — discordant.

Long ago, when James Dean and Marlon Brando wore it, denim was, Akst says, “a symbol of youthful defiance.” Today, Silicon Valley billionaires are rebels without causes beyond poses, wearing jeans when introducing new products.

Akst’s summa contra denim is grand as far as it goes, but it only scratches the surface of this blight on Americans’ surfaces. Denim is the infantile uniform of a nation in which entertainment frequently features childlike adults (“Seinfeld,” “Two and a Half Men”) and cartoons for adults (“King of the Hill”). Seventy-five percent of American “gamers” — people who play video games — are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote. In their undifferentiated dress, children and their childish parents become undifferentiated audiences for juvenilized movies (the six — so far — “Batman” adventures and “Indiana Jones and the Credit-Default Swaps,” surely coming soon to a cineplex near you).

Denim is the clerical vestment for the priesthood of all believers in democracy’s catechism of leveling — thou shalt not dress better than society’s most slovenly. To do so would be to commit the sin of lookism — of believing that appearance matters. That heresy leads to denying the universal appropriateness of everything, and then to the elitist assertion that there is good and bad taste.

Denim is the carefully calculated costume of people eager to communicate indifference to appearances. But 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 Levis. 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.

Edmund Burke — what he would have thought of the denimization of America can be inferred from his lament that the French Revolution assaulted “the decent drapery of life”; it is a straight line from the fall of the Bastille to the rise of denim — said: “To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.” Ours would be much more so if supposed grown-ups would heed St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and St. Barack’s inaugural sermon to the Americans, by putting away childish things, starting with denim.

[text from link]

[Gail]

Oh, my word! What next?

I'll take denim ANY DAY over polyester or some other weird synthetic fabric!

Denim doesn't have to look dingy. It can be quite stylin'. Like any clothing it depends on a good cut and a proper fit.

[carolaa]

Who decided denim was suddenly childish? It used to be work attire for all ages. I guess some people just have to have something to complain about.

[GreatLakesGramma]

That guy needs to get a life.

[Bravus]

I'm hooked on numbered points today

1. Had to check the byline to see whether it was an April 1 post

2. Originally thought the item would be about some repressive Muslim country

3. A perfect example of the 'if I don't like it, no-one should' view of life

[Gail]

hahaha- You said what you had to say in a very organised manner, Bravus!

[Dr. Shane]

I have not seen any studies specifically about blue jeans. However I have read studies that have been done about wearing casual clothes to work verses formal clothing - specifically those working in sales. Those that wear formal clothing perform better than those wearing casual clothing. A most interesting study was done with a telemarketing firm. The employees were allowed to dress casual one month and then required to dress formally the next month. In this study no customers ever saw the sales people because they were telemarketers. Plus, this was not a comparison of two separate groups of people. The group remained the same. One month they dressed casual and the following month formal. Their performance was significantly better when they dressed formal than casual.

Most educators know that students that are required to wear uniforms will, on average, perform and behave better than if the school had no dress code. Some argue that what we wear reflects who we are rather than influences who we are. However these studies tend to show that what we wear actually does have an influence on who we are.

[Gail]

I'd like to see someone lift boxes of books and climb ladders like I do sometimes wearing good clothes.

If I'm supposed to do physical labour there is no way I'm going to count myself safe or comfortable in heels!

[Dr. Shane]

I like blue jeans personally but they do not call for respect. They are a common man's clothing. I think those working in professional jobs should avoid wear common clothing because psychologically I think we perform more like professionals when we dress like professionals. My company doesn't have a dress code. I normally wear pants with a shirt and tie Monday - Thursday. I make Friday "casual Friday" and will wear a college t-shirt and blue jeans.

[Gail]

That makes sense :)

[Bravus]

I find that if I wear really formal clothes like a suit or suit pants and a business shirt and tie I feel so uncomfortable, stiff and 'not myself' that I don't perform well as a teacher. I dress more formally for teaching than for just sitting in the office, but I think it general the issue is about our networks of expectations rather than anything real. I mean 'formal wear' in Scotland means a kilt: maybe we'd all be more productive in kilts?

[Gail]

The title of the thread says that "Blue Jeans Destroy Culture". I would think that they created their own culture.

[Bravus]

Agreed, but the whole article is from the perspective that holds the writer's own (idealised and false version of) 1950s American culture as the standard for all cultures everywhere.

[Gail]

I find that if I wear really formal clothes like a suit or suit pants and a business shirt and tie I feel so uncomfortable, stiff and 'not myself' that I don't perform well as a teacher. I dress more formally for teaching than for just sitting in the office, but I think it general the issue is about our networks of expectations rather than anything real. I mean 'formal wear' in Scotland means a kilt: maybe we'd all be more productive in kilts?

It would be interesting to take a poll to see who people would rather have teach them, man in suit and tie or Bravus in "nice-but-not-formal" wear.

Or, the third option- Bravus in kilt.

[Bravus]

Oops, the thread just turned into a horror story.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

I find that if I wear really formal clothes like a suit or suit pants and a business shirt and tie I feel so uncomfortable

Well, shopping around a bit will help one find formal clothing that is comfortable. That said, if one lives in the tropics wearing a neck tie tends to make them sweat more. Here is a tip, try a clip-on - they are cooler (as in, they don't make a person sweat as much). Avoid the suit jacket because it is just too hot. If the tie is just too hot, just wear a button-up shirt with a button-down collar - and button down the collar.

The dot-com boom is what really brought casual clothing into the professional environment. However when I walk into a room of school district officials, architects and engineers and I am dressed up, it does make a difference in how the other professionals talk to and treat me.

[Gail]

Although I don't think that will be Bravus' problem, as he is the teacher who teaches teachers...

[Outta Here]

I am one who prefers the durability of blue jeans; I find comfort in durability. Clothing that is less than durable, in my opinion, makes me uneasy and frankly, "undressed".

As for performance levels, I've found that I perform better when dressed durably than I do when I'm worrying about how I might look to others. To each his own, I say.

Don't judge me, and I won't judge you.*

______

* Post not directed to anyone in particular.

[Amelia]

I wonder if George lets his wife and kids wear denim?

[True-believer]

I'd like to see someone lift boxes of books and climb ladders like I do sometimes wearing good clothes.

If I'm supposed to do physical labour there is no way I'm going to count myself safe or comfortable in heels!

Stay safe Gail...

I would hate to wear heels while lifting heavy boxes like I do at my job most of the time..... I wouldn't be caught died in them...

hahaha hehehe hohohoh hahaha hehehe hohoho

[True-believer]

the third option- Bravus in kilt.

I wonder what it would be like to work in a kilt???

I love the scottish bagpipes--we had one of them in a kilt for my mother's wedding when I was 12yrs of age--it was so beautiful.

Could we all on this forum wear kilts either at the workplace or secondly playing the bagpipes???

Me personally---not at work----it would look too funny...

But while playing bagpipes---that would be pretty different...

Keep the cameras away please.....

hahaha hehehe hohohoh hahaha hehehe hohoho

[Dr. Shane]

When I was in college we had a student that wore a kilt and I never even noticed until when day someone brought it to my attention. I imagine they are more comfortable than jeans.

[SouthAfrican]

Mmmm... kilts...

now I'm interested in getting one

[Outta Here]

When I was in college we had a student that wore a kilt and I never even noticed until when day someone brought it to my attention. I imagine they are more comfortable than jeans.

You never even noticed what someone else was wearing?

[phkrause]

I agree bravus, and I don't buy it for one moment. I think what's bringing culture's and society down is the lack if Godliness. My 2 cents worth.

pk