Goodbye, blue jeans?

[Ohiogal]

(snip)

Once the ultimate in comfort and casual wear, jeans have been usurped by more comfortable — and stretchier — options. White-collar workers who are logging in from home say they’re increasingly reaching for basketball shorts and yoga pants to pair with more professional-looking tops for video calls.

Jeans sales have been sluggish for five years, but the pandemic has taken a real toll. True Religion, Lucky Brand and G-Star RAW have all declared bankruptcy since April, while the parent company of Joe’s Jeans and Hudson Jeans filed for Chapter 11 protection in May. Levi’s this month posted a 62 percent drop in second-quarter revenue and announced plans to cut 700, or 15 percent, of its corporate workforce.

(snip)

Consumers are certainly more conscious about how they spend their money,” said Wendy Liebmann, chief executive of New York consultancy WSL Strategic Retail. “Even if they are managing at the moment, people are looking at their closets and saying, ‘How much more do I really need?’ ”

Plus, she said, with many stores and fitting rooms still closed, it’s easier to buy a pair of sweatpants online than it is to gauge the size, fit and feel of a pair of jeans.

Denim sales have fallen by double digits in the past three months, compared with the same period last year, according to market research firm NPD Group. Last year, Americans spent about $17 billion on jeans, or 5 percent less than the nearly $18 billion spent in 2014, according to data from Euromonitor International. Sales of “super premium” jeans — brands like 7 for All Mankind, True Religion, Joe’s Jeans and Hudson, which can cost upward of $200 a pair — slid more than 40 percent during that period, as Americans traded down to lower-priced denim and athletic wear.

More

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/28/jeans-sales-leggings-pandemic/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_jeans-830am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

[underpants]

1. Yep mostly swimming trunks now

Cut out the “basket”.

I have a great pair of Wranglers I bought at Ollie’s for $8 (there’s no watch pocket) but our dog chewed through the ass. I’m going to patch them.

My wife bought me a replacement pair. I wore them to work Friday and it was apparent I’d dropped about 20 pounds. “Dad jeans” was the phrase of the day.

The $8 pair still are kinda ok. They are THAT great a pair of jeans.

[Ohiogal]

3. I am old enough

to remember when girls were not allowed to wear jeans to school. (Boys were allowed, but not girls ... how fair was that.). Girls had to wear “dressy slacks” if they wanted to wear pants.

A few years ago I saw kids pouring out of my son’s high school at dismissal wearing what looked like PJ pants.

[agingdem]

11. I'm old enough to remember when girls weren't allowed to wear pants to school...

except on Go Western Day and then we could wear jeans ...I also remember our skirt hems had to go past our knees..of course that didn't prevent us from rolling up the waist until we got caught and sent to detention...and this was public school...

[Ohiogal]

13. Yes, me, too

How was wearing miniskirts OK but wearing pants was not? It was this way for me until 10th grade, and I went to public school, too.

[agingdem]

14. when my 23 year old granddaughters a high school student

shorts had to be to the knee, mid rise jeans were fine as long as there was no shredding, no sleeveless shirts or flip flops...the reasoning...boys would get excited at the sight of a bare shoulder, a knee or a thigh or a back..and I suppose exposed feet would send them into sexual euphoria...boys could wear anything they wanted...and that was public school... so on weekends the girls would basically strip down to low rise boxer shorts and tight jeans, blunging neckline tees, cutoff so short and tight leaving nothing to the imagination...and because my generation was so stunted I cheered my granddaughter on...

[Ohiogal]

16. The sexual double standard was just ridiculous back then.

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. And then came 1968.....

Jeans took over the world within a few years. I thought it was wonderful.
A fifty plus year run for a piece of denim clothing is pretty good, I'd say.

[csziggy]

22. I remember when our school finally allowed girls to wear slacks

But my mother hit the roof when they required them to be "store bought." Mom had already gone to war with the school system that required girls to take Home Ec but boys were not required to take an equivalent course - which guaranteed that college bound girls would have one less class credit than boys did.

When the "store bought" rule came out Mom raised hell about why did girls have to learn to sew if they were not allowed to wear items they sewed to school. The school board caved at that point, though girls were still not allowed to wear jeans.

I had a great outfit I made from burgundy brushed denim with slacks and a vest. I actually made it as an outfit for horse shows but when I wore it to school I hadn't used it for that. I was proud to wear it the first day - especially since the pattern for the slacks was really a jean pattern.

It wasn't until I graduated from high school that they finally gave up and allowed girls to wear jeans.

[JustGene]

19. In H.S. (Public)

We were not allowed to wear jeans at all.
Belt required if loops
Shirt tucked (even pullover/sport shirt.
1st Grade had divided playground boys/girls sides.
Religion is a cultural anchor.

[3catwoman3]

23. Finished high school in 1969.We could only wear dresses...

...or skirts. Big stink when shorter skirts arrived on the scene, with lots of girls being sent to “the office” for skirts that were too short. I think culottes might have been OK if they looked more like skirts than shorts.

No one wore jeans.

[Ohiogal]

24. When I was in junior high

My older sister got sent home for wearing culottes, knee length culottes! And they were very nice ones that looked just like a skirt. This was probably around the early 70s. Oh my mother was mad and made a stink.

A teacher came up behind my sister unannounced with a yard stick and stuck it in between my sister’s legs and announced to the surrounding kids that culottes are unacceptable and report to the office immediately. My sister was humiliated. This was public school.

What’s the big deal,with not allowing homemade clothing at your school? Honestly, the dumb rules they had back then....

[LeftInTX]

34. Dresses and skirts only in school until we moved to Wisconsin - 1969

Maybe because Wisconsin was so cold, but finally at a school where we could wear pants.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. I've started looking for denim with at least 2% spandex. Looks great, very comfortable.

[frazzled]

4. I can relate

For the past five months I have worn nothing but yoga pants, leggings, and jersey joggers. Partly because I'm just going to be home working all day, and then afterward doing my compulsory 25-minute exercise workout anyway. And also because ... why not? They're comfortable!

Not many weeks passed before I realized this was dangerous. So every weekend, I determine to wear a "real" pair of pants—jeans or anything with a waistband and zipper—and top other than T-shirt, just to stay in practice and make sure I am not doomed to elastic-waist pants forever. Sometimes, I even put on a bit of makeup once a week, to keep in practice.

In reality, I'd really like to remain in my yoga pants–no makeup mode forever. But real life might return, so I'd better be prepared.

[Moostache]

8. Then again...maybe things NEVER go back to "normal" or "real" again...

Obviously, to each their own...but I am enjoying the lack of a rigid dress code and quite honestly the very concept right now is laughable to me.

I get as much or more done now then I did when the pandemic struck and the fact that I am not wearing shoes that hurt my feet and ankles or pants that require a belt and tucked in shirts only brings truth to the lie that those dress-up components were ever necessary in the first place.

You know who "needs" to put on airs?
Salespeople and Politicians.
End of list.

Frankly, I'd like it if salespeople got freed from the mandatory suits and ties and left only sleazy scumbag politicians in that uniform. I find that as outdated and stupid as powdered wigs and mandatory stetson hats.

[frazzled]

18. Well, I agree the old dress codes are passe

But we ladies have a worry about our waistlines getting out of control as we age. And that can happen real fast when a constant diet of stretchy pants allows you to ignore the growing girth. That is the main and only reason I try to put on those “real” pants once a week: to keep myself in check. Call it vanity. But it’s also a case of health, fitness, and self-image.

Plus, I have some nice things I’d like to wear out in the real world again some day. And the thought of putting on that pretty dress I bought last year and seeing a pot belly ... I don’t want to have to give it to Goodwill!

[Midnightwalk]

5. Who uses video on conference calls?

There seems to be some groups who do. I have tape over my lens and disable the camera. Belt and suspenders.

I find watching peoples faces distracting. Sharing slides or other material is good, but video is not for me.

Shoot time for my 5th call today.

[Moostache]

9. Most of the apps have a feature to distort or hide your video feed...

Teams offers a bunch of fake backgrounds that I have just been cycling through for goofs...I actually had one guy I work with ask me where I moved my office to get the window that appears in the Teams app...LOL!

[musette_sf]

29. One of my industry colleagues

who hates Rump as much as I do, usually has the Oval Office as his background these days.

[Dagstead Bumwood]

20. In all the calls I've been on

since sequestering in late March, I've yet to use my camera once. There have been a few meetings where one or two people had a camera on, but they were quickly advised of this fact and scrambled to turn turned off their cameras.

As to the OP, yeah, I've never found jeans all that comfortable compared to dockers. And, they are a far cry in comfort from my new preference for work: the lounging pant. Damn, that's comfortable.

[musette_sf]

28. We are now expected to use video as often as practicable.

I had to remove the tape over the lens in my monitor, that I'd had there for years. I bought a folding screen for background, since my home office setup faces my Land Of 1000 Bottles (my makeup/skin care station). I have set my Zoom backgrounds to (1) a print of Paul Klee's Regentag, which I have hanging in my work office, and (2) a photo of the Garden Room at the SF Fairmont. We had an offsite in that room at Christmastime last year, and it is a special room to me. It is where the UN Charter was signed on June 6, 1945.

Regentag:


Garden Room:

[Midnightwalk]

30. Its very much optional for us.

We’re a big company and have been doing calls for ever, most of us are completely used to working with people we’ve never seen.

I worked with a great guy for 25 years and never met him. I happened to be at the site he we worked at one day but he was out that day. He retired and I still have no idea he looks like.

For us it seems to be a cultural/site/team and maybe individual things. People from some countries or sites are more likely to show their faces. Some teams as well.

Then there sites/teams like mine that are bad influences. After talking to us I’ve noticed some others switch to anonymous

I hope we continue being allowed to make out own choices. The video part if the call is really only important to share content like diagrams, pictures, etc.

[IcyPeas]

6. personally I am not into this trend of torn up jeans or

extremely tight skinny jeans. They have lost me!

I also don't mind denim with a bit of stretch.

The danger of leggings is you can eat too much and not get uncomfortable like if you are wearing jeans. Good to put on jeans once in a while to see if they still fit.

[JenniferJuniper]

10. Exactly! Jeans can keep you honest.

[Skittles]

21. I think the jeans with the tears look absolutley ridiculous

it's really testament to the stupidity of fads

[JI7]

7. A lot of those are overpriced designer brand jeans.

[NightWatcher]

12. Cargo shorts forever!

[Buckeye_Democrat]

15. I ordered blue jeans from Amazon a couple months ago...

... and I've been so happy with them!

Without mentioning the actual "brand" here, they were essentially their generic kind. (Free returns was an option or I probably wouldn't have tried them.)

I ordered the "athletic fit" and they are the best-fitting jeans that I've ever worn! My thighs are pretty muscular, so most jeans are either too tight in the thighs or too loose at the waist (if I tried to get a looser fit in the thighs). These jeans didn't give me those problems at all! Well-tapered at the calves too, which are much thinner for me compared to the thighs.

I only tried those jeans because I didn't want to be exposed to any infected people at a store. (My older jeans were ripping apart too, with the usual tears along the thigh seams.) It turned out far better than I thought!

[FakeNoose]

17. I have yoga pants and yoga shorts

... but I only wear them around the house. I don't pass judgment on other women, but I don't feel they are acceptable to wear in "public." It's like walking around in my underwear, or even long johns.

Not for me. I still prefer blue jeans and I guess I always will.

Then there are the "Walmart people" who go shopping in their pajamas.

[Ohiogal]

26. I agree, FakeNoose

I don’t think yoga pants are acceptable anywhere but at home or at the yoga class, I guess we’re old fashioned.

And I’m not being judgy, either. I feel that’s what’s right for ME.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

25. My go-to pants indoors and out. Have a dozen or so pair I've scored while traveling over the years.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

27. Video meetings, conference calls, webex...

My most frequent comment:
"I survived another meeting that should have been an email."

[Happy Hoosier]

32. I haven't worn jeans in years.

I prefer casual khakis and, yes, cargo shorts.

[Leith]

33. I haven't worn blue jeans in a long time

These days I like scrubs pants. Simple, comfy, big pockets, pull up. Wash'n'wear.

[LeftInTX]

36. Scrubs are good

[LeftInTX]

35. Chronic sciatica

All of my pants have elastic including jeans, heck I recently bought a pair of maternity skinny jeans (I'm 63)
They get taken off as soon as I get home. I usually wear skirts when I leave the home. At home I wear shorts year round. There are a few cold days where I wear ugly PJ type pants, but usually I just wear shorts (converted men's swimsuit trunks) and run errands in my shorts. It is pretty hot down here year round.