It is hard to remember a time when I didn’t wear jeans. I have hazy memories of my mom or dad telling Steve and I that jeans were worn by workmen because they lasted a long time. I can’t remember if their point was that since I wasn’t workman I shouldn’t be wearing jeans and our place on the social ladder prevented us from wearing jeans. More likely is that dad and mom were encouraging us to wear jeans because they wouldn’t tear as easily as the pants we were used to wearing and hence would cost them less to clothe us.
Whatever they were talking about in the dim reassesses of time I ended up wearing jeans whenever I could. During the sixties jeans became an integral part of the uniform that you just had to wear if you wished to fit in. Sure you could get away with anything that was tie-dyed, but that wasn’t really for everyday wear, but more for those instances when you wanted to look smokin’ or if you happened to be smokin’. Back in the day, a pair of jeans would last me until I grew out of them or they became too grass stained and hash burned to be of any use.
There was a store in downtown Toronto that sold used jeans for a really good price, half to a quarter the cost of new jeans. I asked the girl working there where all of these jeans came from because I wore mine until the flared bottoms were ratty and shredded and there wasn’t an inch left that didn’t have a patch of some kind on them. The girl told me that in the States people could donate used clothing and get the full cost of those clothes as a tax deduction. Pretty good deal for the scum sucking businessmen and a really good deal for me. Sometimes I could overlook saving the planet for a bargain.
Bell bottom and flared jeans are now a thing of the past which is just as well I suppose. I mean without ROOTS negative heal shoes I just couldn’t look cool any longer. Being an old guy doesn’t help the “cool” look either and those negative heals were found to have negative health benefits on the wearers feet. The company couldn’t afford the law suits any longer. I still wear jeans and still find them the best leg coverings for most of the things I do. I suspect that if I am laid out in a coffin I should be wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that says “I’D RATHER BE ANYWHERE ELSE RIGHT NOW”
Well, I can’t remember where I was going with this so I will just end now. Better something stupid than nothing at all.
