George Will’s War on Denim

“Seventy-five percent of American “gamers” — people who play video games — are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote.”
Ha ha, oh wow. I’m not even going to click through to the article because I imagine it’s much of the same. How about this: “the sin of lookism — of believing that appearance matters” hasn’t gone anywhere, Will. Why do you think the billionaires you mention wear casual pants? To look casual, of course! Appearance still matters, and it always will. Where Will is caught up is in his own belief in what “nice” looks like. Will thinks you have to wear traditionally formal clothes to be presentable. Is he wrong? According to Will’s own article, popular culture says no.
And guess who gets to define fashion. Not you, Will. We do. If everyone else is just fine with denim – if all the “childlike adults” are exercising their ability (and responsibility!) to define what being an adult means to them – they do not, and should not, care what you think.

i’m not seeing how blue jeans are any different, really, from dress pants. same weave most of the time, same fibers- just a different colour.

does he think billionaires have to parade about in dress pants, smoking jackets and silk cravats?

and to push the point a little further-
so denium is one of the staple fabrics of our time, so what?
everyone in ancient times wore pretty much the same style of dress, made from similar fibers- what’s so wrong with wearing something popular, and relatively affordable?

so yeah, Sassafras- i agree.
get off my lawn, you stinkin’ kids.

Next thing you know he’ll be complaining because women are wearing trousers, and men don’t wear proper hats anymore.

I’m glad that, as a society, America has largely dropped the notion that it is a social requirement to wear uncomfortable clothes. Especially ties and high heels, which serve no other purpose than to make daily life a little unpleasant.

Down up the suit! Up with denim!

Jeans are economical! They last far longer than any other pants I’ve owned. (Wear for wear).

My biggest fear is becoming an angry old codger like this.

Don’t get so upset – he’s just ramping up his tactics for Andy Rooney’s job. Rooney is going to fall over one day very soon, and George has wanted that job since he was about 12.

I kind of see where he is coming from. Appearances do matter. Like when it comes to a job interview or a first date.
I however envision him as one of those old guys who wears a pair of Dickie’s coveralls, around the house.
Which is the standard uniform of the old cantankerous geezer.

@ Jae – jeans may be economical, but they are not as well constructed as they used to be. Levi’s used to be the thickest, well constructed denim jeans I swore by.
They have since switched to a thinner denim, and cheaper thread. they no longer hold up to the punishment that they used to be able to take.
Just hold them up to the light and you can see how thin a material they are.

George Will, the Jean Genie

As I noted in comments on WaPo, George Will looks and dresses exactly the same as when his mother first got him ready for his first day of kindergarten.

This is a supposedly adult man who wears a bowl haircut and bow tie.

I think he’s being facetious in a very highfalutin way. If not, well, then can’t say I didn’t deserve it. But it looks like the joke is on everyone else.

Wow. My esteem for Mr. Will just evaporated before my eyes. Lighten up, man!

I can see where he’s coming from, but there are MANY cuts & colours for jeans. The fact is places that impose a dress code these days are all ‘smart casual’ and you’ll find that denim is acceptable (minus the ripped denim), so you’ll never ever bring it down. What he should be disagreeing with is the alarming stereotype seen these days in which teenagers and ‘skater boys’ &c. wear jeans that are hanging halfway down their thighs with the rap style stitching and random metal hanging off everywhere. I’ll echo the call of every generation ‘STUPID TEENAGERS’.

Dude the Haunted Mansion during Christmastime is so good now it’s not even worth going on that ride in the regular season.

The Nightmare version is just leaps and bounds above anything else in the park around Christmastime.

Sad to see George Will venture into such frivolous fare. I stopped reading anything from a Newsweek columnist after one of their guys took up whole pages just to bitch about how much of an abomination those Croc sandals are.

I thought this would be a pretty interesting article, but he lost me at adult “gamers” being allowed to vote. Nothing wrong with playing videogames.

hm…or jeans are really comfortable and easy to wash? not to mention flattering.