OT - pajama pants in public vs. jeans in public

Oh how times change...

Turned on the AM talk radio last Saturday, and the subject of discussion was the growing trend for certain types of people to wear honest-to-God *pajama pants* in public.

"Why can't they put on a nice pair of blue jeans?" whines the host.

If this host were living in the 1950's and talk radio were what it is today, he'd be saying the same thing about people wearing blue jeans in public.

It wasn't that long ago that it was UNACCEPTABLE to be seen wearing blue jeans in public. Only backwoods hillbillies wore blue jeans in public. You only wore blue jeans to work on the farm. When you went to town you put on a pair of slacks.

My hometown has an LCMS Lutheran University. I can recall not so many years ago male students were required to wear slacks and sport shirts minimum when off campus, and female students were required to wear a dress or skirt and blouse off campus.

Also seems nowadays members of the military wear battle dress uniforms (BDU's) anywhere, anytime. When I was in the Marine Corps, the only acceptable dress for off base was Class A uniform or civilian slacks and sport shirt minimum. Married men who commuted from off base could wear their utility work uniform in their car to and from home, but they couldn't exit their car off base while en route except in an emergency.

Guess times are changing, and I'm not sure for the better. In any given situation, I opt for being overdressed instead of underdressed.

When our daughter entered Nebraska Wesleyan University, we attended a particular service as part of the parent orientation. It was clearly billed ahead of time as a religious service, and I dressed accordingly. I was appalled to see a large percentage of the students' fathers sit through the entire service wearing a T shirt and baseball cap, without even removing their cap.

No wonder their kids are such slobs.

I'll get off my high horse now.

USMC dress code is still strict. However, it is now permissible for a Marine in ulilities to pump off-base gasoline for his car and to enter the store to pay for it. Yep, he can get a bag of potato chips too.

It's the Army that has no dress code. Any uniform is suitable for any situation with the possible exception of an appearance on "Wheel of Fortune".

Marines are trained to take more pride in their appearance. It was probably the single largest reason I enlisted in the USMC when the draft board was breathing down my neck in 1965.

"Times" have changed, and some of the ones that have been a part of it now complain about it.
Take a look at old airport videos for instance. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE employed with the airlines had on a clean matching uniform. The tug operator, the baggage handlers, etc. Today, it is sometimes hard to tell who is who other than their ID badge if you can see it.

What!! I went to High School in the early 1950's and almost every male student there wore Blue Jeans.The Shop instructors wore Blue Jeans.Sure slacks were worn by some at different times but even my Dad wore his Denium Bib Overalls to go to town in.Slacks were worn to events, some dates with girls and Church but Blue Jeans were the order of the day back then as they are now.

The thing that really irritates me is that you hardly see any guys take off their headgear when entering a public building. I have a hard time restraining myself from walking up to them and slapping them longside the head.

Areo

When I was in the Army in 50's, I could go off base to home in my car, could not walk off in work clothes (fatigues). One morning I had KP duty and as I didn't have a car at that time, (I normally rode in with a friend) I got to the gate and they made me go back home and change to civies or Class A. Marines and Navy were both very tough in those days as brother was in Navy at that time. I was in Army, on an Air Force base overseas, you never saw two Air men walking down the street in the same uniform, they were much more lax.

Glad to hear my Corps hasn't relaxed the standards.

I worked with some young engineers that would dress in PJ's. Kinda surprised me, but I guess that's young folks. I've worn jeans all my life, only wear a coat and tie for weddings or funerals. I think I have 1 pair of dress slacks.

Once when a cousin and I had a sprint car, I had to chuckle when my cousin made the comment that when they played the national anthem before a race, any miscreants within 20 feet or so of yours truly who didn't remove their headgear were verbally and maybe physically reminded.

As I recall, he was right.

i had a young guy where I work show up wearing bedroom slippers....

That trend has just recently hit the small town where I live. At first I wasn't too sure of what to think. Seen a lot of young girls wearing PJ's in public places. Speaking strictly as a father of two (now grown) daughters, I would be rather upset if my daughters went out dressed like that. That said, my (our?) generation wore some rather "upsetting" fashions back in the 60's.

At least they're wearing something.....

ITs Because they are LAZY!!!!! C'mon seriously you mean to tell me not only they cant get up on time for work, but they cant get out of their pajamas???? Yea..times sure changed...

I am old enough to remember whan a young lad wore blue jeans to church one morning............There was no doubt in anyones mind that he was headed to eternal damnation, and should be asked to remove himself from the church.

Then about the same time, a certian church started with a gitar mass..........we were instructed to pray for them because the devil had taken over their church. You simply have to have a organ for God to hear your worship, simple as that. It was ok to pray for tham, but we were told not to mingle with them, and never marry them,......

Isn't it important and amusing how we think we should make other abide by our standards? We just know, that wearing pJ's has to be a bad thing.

I have been told that once men started shaving their faces, and even worse, they cut their hair short....Should they have been publicly horse whipped?

My ex-wife wore thing alot worse than PJ's out in public, I know our little town was not ready for that either, but somehow got over it, especialy the men who seemed to study the situation alot in detail.

It seems the more adults complain, the more determined the younger kids get to point out our stupidity.

As a child I recall also a family that did not place the salad fork in the proper place, and was considered a disrepectfull, carless family with no morals. As a child, I always asked --who made the rules?

I personaly wonder about the young galls with holes in their jeans in places that perhaps should be covered, or there is little need to wear tham at all.

Sounds like most of you old geezers live stuck in the past,clothes for this occasion,clothes for that.What utter BS.

Going to church was more like going to a fashion show,It was not out of respect for God,it was just to show of to each other.
I'm gad that that is mostly over and done with.

I wear what i feel comfortable in,not what somebody else wants me to wear.

I never use pajama's tho,i dive in bed as i was born

Your comment about your wife reminds me of the Led Zepplin song,
"Hey hey what can I do"
I think the line was something like, "On Sunday morning when we go down to church - see the men-folk standin' in line
They say they come to pray to the Lord, but when my little girl looks so fine"

When I was a kid and in the Boy Scouts in the early 70s, our troop was required to wear the regulation uniform in every detail. We"d have inspections and there were consequences for those who did not comply and wanted to go by their own rules. We were able to take pride in our presentation. However, we"d go to jamborees and other events and most of the other scouts in other troops looked like a bunch of rag-tag misfits because of no uniform standards. If a troop had 20 scouts, you would see 20 different combinations of pants, shirts, socks, hats, etc. It probably wasn"t a matter of money, as the Boy Scouts had plenty of ways to raise funds to help kids get uniforms. It boiled down to the scoutmasters taking pride in their troop, or not. It was usually those leaders who served in the military who had sharp-looking boys. The scout uniform situation is probably a lot worse now in 2011, but I still have a lot of respect for the program.

I agree about the respectfulness of removing a hat or cap in a building. A lot of folks today just don"t know. The significance just isn"t there anymore. I"ve seen seniors get quite upset about it. At the same time, I see lots of WWII and Korea vets in stores wearing baseball caps with the picture of the ship they served on. This doesn"t bother me as I have a lot of respect for these guys.

When I was a kid, most boys wore baseball caps. But nobody ever wore them backwards. The only kids who would wear a baseball cap backwards were the catchers on the baseball teams. If non-catcher kid would wear a cap backwards, he"d probably get beat up, and would be considered a dorky moron. Now backwards is the fashion. Lots of newer cars and SUVs have a visor-looking thing over the back window, and it makes the vehicle look like a kid wearing a cap backwards.

Most of us kids in 60s and 70s wore blue jeans, but our parents preferred to send us to school in nicer slacks.

Remember when all athletes in all sports wore white socks? Now black socks are in. It used to be that black socks were worn only with business suits and going to church. It does look strange to see men playing basketball wearing what appears to be their black dress socks.

Yes, times are a changing.

I was at first real uncomfortable, but she was lots younger, and a mind of her own as far as what should be acceptable. I just assumed I was old fasioned, and out of touch. When I was younger and saw that much of a lady, I would have been forced to marry her.

I do recal alot of men that probably sat in the front row of church, that weren't even discreet about what they were trying to see. I must admit after a while I got used to it, and it wasn't that big of a deal.

A few of the larger ladies I know did not appreciate it what so ever, but the wife said it should help them do their exercises if they are that concerned.

I had lots of men stopping by the house to talk to me about things that could have been discussed over the phone.

Now if we are talking stupid and all, any one ever seen the bueaty contests where all the ladies wear white wings? Now that is real fasion, taking a nice attractive lady, and placing wings on her......hummmmmmmmmmmm. The idiot part of it is the guy that came up with that idea probably isn't real interested in ladies at all, and made a couple million for designing the costumes.

Now when we put that into perspective with the PJ thing, ,,,,well I don't think the PJ thing is so bad after all.

We got used to the baggy shorts, flip flops, and the two piece swim wear, so again PJ's will take the market for a while.

I am 36. I am one of the few people in church not wearing jeans. No suit and tie for me, just not jeans.

Summer comes and it gets way worse. Men look the same but the women look like they just came from the beach and need to get right back.

Did you see on TV recently where the first lady was getting off Air Force 1 wearing something worse than pajama pants?

What do you think it'll look like in 50 years?

Do you think the talking heads will be railing against people going out in public NAKED? "Why can't they put on a nice pair of pajama bottoms?"

Then some old timer will pipe up, "I remember back in the day when pajama bottoms were unacceptable public attire. We wore blue jeans!"

They are probably too fat to get into their blue
jeans anymore!

pajama pants in college are common

Over 20 years ago, we had a young tandem driver who showed up to work every day wearing pajamas. He was a jobsite driver on a city street job, hauling broken concrete to a nearby dumpsite. He was a good driver, even when he was hungover. We all just stayed way back from him when he got out to clean his gate pins.

Paul

Just wondering when it was UNACCEPTABLE to be seen wearing blue jeans in public because it was a **** of a lot longer than 50 years ago. 50 years ago the G** D*** hippies were wearing frocks, Mao tunics and Jesus shoes all over the place.

I'd say even the pajama pants are better than what those old buzzards wore in public.

Next time I see a 70 year old with a bald head and pony tail I might give him the haircut he's been begging for the last 50 years.

Id much rather see them in PJs than with their pants hanging half was down their butts!

It don't matter because most don't wear cuts/ styles that flatter them but rather make them look like circus clowns. Regardless of the fabric I choose to wear things that have a simple look and generally follow the contour of the body.
Most people around here even years ago wore jeans or work clothes for most places so I don't see this big cultural change people are hollering about. I do have a problem with people that wear stuff that is intentionally beat to the point where they look like a slob (stains, hanging threads, holes.) When I'm at the supermarket or restaurant I don't want to see a shred of someone's sleeve in my food or realize that stain is from cow chit while I am chewing.
For a minute I thought you were talking about those pajama jeans that had been advertised on TV. I think they are for those that have just given up on getting their bodies into shape.
By the way this would not have been Bob Lonnsberry doing this rant. Sounds like something he would go off about.

Sounds like one of my nephews who graduated from high school last year on the five year plan.Didn't understand that one either.
Asked my brother,his father, about it and he just shrugged and said they are all into being comfortable.Slippers,pj's and low rider pants.I asked if he still wet nursed the boy.
I guess I look at things a little differently.

Vito

(quoted from post at 13:59:13 01/31/11) What do you think it'll look like in 50 years?

Do you think the talking heads will be railing against people going out in public NAKED? "Why can't they put on a nice pair of pajama bottoms?"

Then some old timer will pipe up, "I remember back in the day when pajama bottoms were unacceptable public attire. We wore blue jeans!"

Click to expand...

Thats too funny, its probably headed that way. Ever see the younger guys that wear the tight girls pants? Now thats bad.

Now I'm a younger guy, a mechanic, (26) and always wear jeans or dickies work pants. Thats pretty much all I wear. On date night they are clean jeans. If someones getting married/buried, I have nicer dress pants. I wear a baseball hat all the time, except when sleeping, in a church, or wearing a helmet. Never backwards though.

Now if I cared what someone thought of me I'd better:
Dress nice, find a cleaner job.
Get rid of my old rusty beater vehicles, get something "green".
Get a socially acceptable hobby like golf, or watching football. Who would want to play with old rusty machines older than themselves anyways?

Just sayin'...

I can accept most of all that but seeing a now elderly 60 something gentleman my age wearing sweats with a pony tail with a grizzley Adams beard and buttcrack showing with no socks and house slippers at the local Walmart will get a smirk from me. Yew!!! No self esteem at all!! That's just as bad as a young buck pulling up his britches about every step he takes!

"wasn't that long ago that it was UNACCEPTABLE to be seen wearing blue jeans in public"

Huh? Where did you go to school? Yale, Dartmouth or Harvard?

To be sure, jeans are now worn in business situations that a few years ago would have dictated a suit, or at least dress slacks and a tie. But it's hardly a recent trend. There were quite a few companies with a casual dress code when I entered the work force over thirty years ago.

It wasn't that long ago that it was UNACCEPTABLE to be seen wearing blue jeans in public. Only backwoods hillbillies wore blue jeans in public. You only wore blue jeans to work on the farm. When you went to town you put on a pair of slacks.[/quote]

I do not know where you are or were from, but it must not have been the real world. We wore blue jeans all the time. Still do.

USArmy's dress code still there, just nobody enforces it.
Some of the "vital" training isn't enforced, either.
Then when they need it, they're screwed.
They all need to pay attention to detail.
Nothin made me madder when I was in.
Yeah, its a Government check but it ain't a welfare check,
you're in the military. Act like it.

I went to school in the 40s and 50s. A few kids wore slacks and a white shirt and tie but most wore blue jeans and a flannel shirt.I wear over alls most of the time.My 38 fits just right in my bib pocket.