Evil Jeans
They took this guys medication away, but still let him lecture.
Today' sermon is about the evil of jeans:
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.
...
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.
Hilarious ...
Are there still ANY sane conservatives around?
Posted by b on April 16, 2009 at 9:00 UTC | Permalink
There are some "real conservatives" around. They call often call themselves "paleo-conservatives" to distinguish themselves from the fake-conservatives out there.
Same with me; I have to say "classic liberal" to get my meaning across, but all labels break down at some point don't they?
The more I see of the actions of governments, the more I think the anarchists have a strong point.
Posted by: heru-ur | Apr 16 2009 10:01 utc | 2
On the one hand, Will has a point about how badly most Americans dress. This point was driven home to me when I lived in South Korea; Koreans dress extremely well, even on occasions when one might not expect them to. In short, Koreans make most Americans look like slobs.
On the other hand, Will only shows himself to be out of touch with the public by writing such a column. Most people will give a rat's @$$ about why people like Will think they shouldn't wear jeans or what clothing Astaire and Kelly wore.
(And, for the record, I gave up jeans long ago, when I lived in Arizona, but that was because it's too hot there to wear denim; I prefer khakis, myself. ;) )
This is one of my favorite and insightful passages by Guy Debord:
23
The root of the spectacle is that oldest of all social specializations, the specialization of power. The spectacle plays the specialized role of speaking in the name of all the other activities. It is hierarchical society’s ambassador to itself, delivering its official messages at a court where no one else is allowed to speak. The most modern aspect of the spectacle is thus also the most archaic.
Of course what Will is ranting about is the "absurdity" of the elites masquerading as commoners wearing blue jeans as a signifier of our wonderful egalitarian society, when nobody, especially himself, really believes it. And, as the veneers of the great society of spectacle continue to delaminate like cheap plywood in the rain, people like Will gaze wistfully back to a 19th century Dickens world where instead, the poor imitated the rich, wearing filthy collars and threadbare top hats, and not the reverse - thus broadcasting their class. Nonetheless though, like Debord says the grand illusion of modernity is in fact archaic at its root - some of which we are now beginning to witness. And it ain't very pretty.
Posted by: anna missed | Apr 16 2009 10:31 utc | 4
invidious-little-twitism.
Picture George in jeans. They would shrivel him.
Posted by: rjj | Apr 16 2009 10:47 utc | 5
Too funny.
Nothing useful to say, as usual.
[I think he should go after shorts]
I pretty much got over religion when the minister in the church I attended would rant and rave about people putting their glasses on top of their heads and "jungle music".
Posted by: beq | Apr 16 2009 11:23 utc | 6
anna missed-
I'm very slowly thinking my way through Debord – good stuff! I've read some interesting pieces on public relations, propaganda, media manipulation but Debord (the little I've worked my way through) seems to have captured the spiritual essence of the gold ring worn in the public's nose.
As for sanity... b is there any sane people around? My life feels more and more like Catch 22 by penned by Joseph Heller (I'd originally wrote Joseph Conrad... wrong Joseph, but "Heart of Darkness" may also be close to capturing the current madness)
In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king...
Posted by: DavidS | Apr 16 2009 14:11 utc | 7
Picture George in jeans.
exactly, why wasn't he wasn't writing this shit when george was getting photographed on the ranch?
JD is right, we americans look like slobs! i do anyway. the wapo is going down the tubes, men should look like astaire and women like grace kelly? jesus get a grip.
Posted by: annie | Apr 16 2009 14:50 utc | 8
My dad used to love to goad me for going to Rugby practice in the mud and rain. Hell, those were my favorite practices. He loved to say, "you don't have the sense to come in out of the rain."
Fair enough. I live in Texas. Anyone who wears a coat and tie in 100 degree heat has even less sense. Further, think about how these people have divorced all sense by wearing a coat and tie. What else will they do to keep up appearances? See what lengths they go to to polish the signet ring?
Why would anyone be so willing to adorn themselves in weighty robes for mere appearance sake? These people deserve pity or distrust, just as we would any poser who works so hard to be credible or to be accepted.
Posted by: scott | Apr 16 2009 15:09 utc | 9
I like G. Will pontificating about fashion. He's just as fup duck as when he tries to explain global warming but when he talks about my pants it will not exterminate all life on earth so much. Maybe he can tell us more about baseball, too. He knows all about baseball.
Posted by: ...---... | Apr 16 2009 16:32 utc | 11
what amuses me is that he thinks no "Americans" are actually working-class and do manual labour. I know there's been a lot of corporate flight -- why can't we call corporations that decamp in the night to cheaper labour pools "wetbacks", since they deserve an opprobrious nickname more than the members of the cheap labour pools they exploit? -- but there are still quite a few people doing honest physical work.
of course the true new proletariat is wearing polyester uniform pants and a uniform top with the logo of some transnat fast-food or overstock-dumping outlet embroidered on the pocket.
Mood Indigo by George Will. I'll be humming it all day.
Posted by: biklett | Apr 16 2009 16:52 utc | 13
@JDsg #3: "Koreans dress extremely well, even on occasions when one might not expect them to. In short, Koreans make most Americans look like slobs."
It's true that the majority of 한국 사람 are obsessed with style at the expense of substance. One could argue that this has had a stimulating effect on the Korean economy, creating a demand for man-makeup and man-panties. It has been my experience, however, that this has just created a nation of competitive conspicuous consumerism that has even surpassed American standards. This might have had the effect of making some 외국인 feel ashamed of their "slovenliness", but I am not one of them. Yes, I was told that I looked "like a beggar" for getting a second season out of last year's clothes. It didn't bother me.
The point of all of this banter is to reinforce two a priori ideas that I reject: viz. that all Americans work in an air-conditioned environment and that not visibly spending as much as the Joneses makes you a bad person. I, on the other hand, fail to see how a disposition towards dandyism is a laudable trait. I see it as another symptom of that same disease which caused people to flock into McMansions they couldn't afford or to drive spikes into the coffin of the environment by showing off their unnecessarily gigantic SUVs and Hummers.
I wish this were a simple issue of wacky "conservatives" vs. "liberals", but the only thing that is putting Mr. Will over-the-top here is that he is giving voice to an embarrassing attitude that most people want to internalize as quietly and tacitly as possible.
Posted by: Monolycus | Apr 16 2009 17:08 utc | 14
It's a regional thing. At a symphony concert in town you can see a fellow in jeans sitting next to one in a tux, with neither particularly caring--and we're rather proud of that. The music's the thing, after all.
I suppose we could all wear Mao suits and then no one would be unfashionable.
I'm content when folks are able to keep themselves clean and groomed. Fleas and lice are nasty as are bedbugs.
Posted by: Obelix | Apr 16 2009 17:24 utc | 15
Anna M: if you like Debord, you might enjoy Thomas de Zengotita's book "Mediated". He's a witty writer and talks about the specific ways we live "substitute" lives, virtual rather than real. Of course, he lacks the Marxist/French elan of Debord.
Posted by: senecal | Apr 16 2009 17:59 utc | 16
Georgie should stay away from SoCal. People around here tend to go to restaurants wearing shorts and flip-flops. I don't think Fred Astaire would approve.
Posted by: Sgt Dan | Apr 16 2009 18:14 utc | 17
living near a very large military base here in Germany I can tell you that it so easy to spot americans, they are wearing shorts and flip flops when it is 40 degreees fahrenheit and a baseball cap. or they are older people wearing slacks and trainers. more than anything else they are wearing synthetic fabrics.
germans on the other hand are mostly well dressed but are prone to wear sandals with white socks.
I do think we could spend a bit more time getting dressed. what some might call individualism and comfort is really nothing more than sloppiness and laziness. Usually women are better dressed than men and there must be a reason for that.
it really does make a difference to a lot of people. why shouldn't it? who would buy a car that is dirty or all scratched up? would you want to move into a house that is ugly? so why should it be different when it comes to other humans? are you more likely to approach a clean well dressed person or one with with a dirty sweater, greasy hair, and pajama pants?
the other points are all valid and G Will pontificating is really rich but then even a stopped clock is right twice a day. and obviously he was not allowed to say anything about the boy king then or now. it is not allowed.
Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 16 2009 18:33 utc | 18
metrosexuals dress all snazzy, and trim their nails, and use hair product, and lotions, etc. maybe they could teach slobs like me how to make myself presentable.
Posted by: Lizard | Apr 16 2009 20:14 utc | 19
I do have one standard: not appearing in public wearing a jogging/training suit unless you are out jogging or on your way to do some other sporting activity.
Posted by: ralphieboy | Apr 16 2009 21:06 utc | 20
Astaire wore bespoke suits. Kelly was dressed by Hollywood and fashion designers of NYC, Paris & Milan. Will should abstain from fashion commentary.
Of course, it is about distinctions of means and class. Anyone who has visited certain communities of southern California or Aspen and certain ski resorts, knows that jeans can be as great an accessory for style and conspicuous consumption as any of Kelly's outfits. It's not jeans, it's how one wears them.
It seems that it's not the equality of apparel that Will actually deplores; it's the 60's and everything afterwards.
Will overlooks what may be the most telling social indication of the fashion shift to more practical, "working" clothes - the disappearing servant class in developed countries. All but the wealthiest parents now regularly change nappies and clean runny noses of their own children. But that brings up class again, a taboo subject in the US, which Will skirts with a remarkable collection of circumlocutions and euphemisms ("lookism," "elitist").
Posted by: small coke | Apr 16 2009 23:06 utc | 21
The Daily Mail on Grace Kelly's wardrobe:
... for her honeymoon she took seven evening gowns, six cocktail dresses, 16 day costumes, and numerous suits, coats, furs and hundreds of hats, bags and pairs of shoes, all of which she had packed herself, as well as her black poodle...Her ivory wedding dress was made by another Oscar-winning Hollywood costumier, Helen Rose of MGM, and was made up of 300 yards of antique Brussels rose-point lace, 25 yards of heavy taffeta, 100 yards of silk net, 25 yards of silk taffeta, with a three-foot train and tulle veil, all studded with pearls...
Posted by: small coke | Apr 16 2009 23:28 utc | 22
BTW, did you all notice this little gem:
Seventy-five percent of American "gamers" -- people who play video games -- are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote.
Apparently, in Will's Bizarro World, if you play video games, you're much too immature to be allowed to vote. I guess it's not only "George Will, Snob," but "George Will, Closet Aristocrat" as well.
George, why do you hate democracy?
I became self-employed so that I could write my own rules, and do my own thing. The more casual I am, the more relaxed I feel. Put me in a suit or slacks and shirt, and I will charge you accordingly.
Posted by: Benny Mitchell | Apr 17 2009 0:25 utc | 24
I've often wondered, in the last few years whenever I saw his byline - again - how this bloke George Will could continue to sell commentary through any medium. In the few times I have bothered to read him, half-hoping to see something interesting or new or factual just because after all y'know, he is George Will, I have remarked to myself either that 1) there's no content here, or 2) he's a lyin sackoshit. (#2 has become uncomfortably common among LOTS of journalists now.)
Now I have a better idea of how he gets away with it. His very name gets him featured in MOA, (and other blogs surely), even if it is for almost unanimous mockery. All publicity is good publicity isn't it? There seems to be a mood of surprise that such a big name guy can be such a fukkup, but on reflection, that shouldn't be surprising, but more of a depressing display of how minds/attitudes of the masses can be so easily herded. IOW, Will's publication has a purpose, and it doesn't have much to do with credibility. It works anyway.
I believe the best way to deal with this large gang of liers is to totally ignore them. Don't listen, don't read, don't acknowledge. In any discussion, treat said lier as irrelevant, a waste of your valuable time.
So saith pot to kettle.
Posted by: rapt | Apr 17 2009 17:54 utc | 26
are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote.
they are also old enough to man drones for the military.
Posted by: annie | Apr 17 2009 18:06 utc | 27
Few things seemed to Newland Archer more awful than an offense against "taste," that far-off divinity of whom "form" was the mere visible representative and viceregent.
-- Edith Wharton, "Age on Innocence"
Grace Kelly in jeans - http://tinyurl.com/clnox5
Grace Kelly's grandson in jeans and as Astaire.
Posted by: small coke | Apr 17 2009 22:45 utc | 28
Here in China, jeans are fashion clothes, worn by the new middle class. Working men wear something like a western suit.
Zhu Bajie
Kunming
China
Posted by: Zhu Bajie | Apr 18 2009 9:22 utc | 29
The comments to this entry are closed.
Are there (still) ANY sane conservatives (around)
No
and i don't even like jeans, am a skirt girl.
Posted by: sabine | Apr 16 2009 9:26 utc | 1