Jeans
They’re everywhere, literally. It doesn’t matter where you are – the mall, the park, the grocery store, the hardware store – you will see them. Look to your left. There they are. Look to your right. There they are again. People of all shapes and sizes are wearing them. Granted, some look a good deal better than others, you can’t miss that, but they’re all wearing them. I am of course referring to jeans.
Never, ever has there been a style that caught on and held on like jeans. They’ve been around since the 1800s, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that the blue jeans market exploded. Why the sudden change? Jeans became cool, and nothing tops cool.
From the time I entered my early teenage years, I thought that jeans were the bomb. I did not, however, actually own a pair until I was getting ready to leave for college, and the style of jeans we were all wearing at that time was a definite departure from the jeans you see today. There were a number of differences, but the flared pant leg was the main one. They were referred to as “bell-bottoms,” and those flares just kept getting bigger and bigger with every passing year. We took no notice. We just walked around with those things flapping noisily around our ankles, all the while thinking we could not possibly get any cooler.
Those days are long gone, and though I still like the look of jeans, I haven’t worn them in years. I realize I may be alone in this. The problem for me is that if I buy them loose enough to be comfortable, I look like a slob. If I buy them tight enough to look good, they’re miserably uncomfortable. The last time I shopped for jeans I tried on a snug fitting pair, looked in the mirror, and thought they looked great. Then I tried to sit down. I ended up buying the next size up, and I’ve worn them exactly once.
Although I personally may have given up on jeans, I think I can safely say that jeans are here to stay. That style isn’t going anywhere, at least not for another few hundred years. By then, if science-fiction movies are to be believed, everyone will be wearing those stretchy form-fitted one piece outfits. If that does indeed happen, we can be assured of one thing. Our descendants will all have to work out like mad and really, really watch what they eat.