Barbara J. Hamby

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Uniform of This Era

Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that 75% to 90% (my estimate, not based on scientific survey) of the adults who bemoan the fact that adolescents must all dress alike, wear blue jeans. Those who are famous wear jeans with the knees cut out. Some wear jeans with torn shirts, bare midriffs, western shirts, or silk shirts and even velvet or satin blouses. Many pair jeans with blazers.

They claim that jeans are comfortable. Maybe they are if they have been pre-washed, stone ground, bleached, etc. to soften the denim. New blue denim is stiff and not comfortable on my body. Softer, stretch denim is better, especially with an elastic waist, rather than the stiff placket with the cold zipper.

It has always been a mystery to me why fly fronts appear on women’s slacks, shorts, and jeans. Could it be that male designers attribute envy of males to all females? I refuse to buy garments with fly fronts.

The clothing industry, I suspect, is not alarmed by my rebellion.