Daniel Akst wrote this article in the Journal a few months ago about how denim “… is an essential co-conspirator in the modern trend toward undifferentiated dressing, in which we all strive to look equally shabby no matter what the occasion.” He goes on to say that Obama should “impose a federal levy on Levi’s” solving two problems in America: federal deficit and the slovenly wardrobe of almost all our citizens. George Will picks up along this vein in this piece he wrote for the Washington Post. He makes the point that jeans, which started out as the work pant of the miner (hence the copper rivets and heavy stitching), then became the symbol of rebellion on the legs of James Dean and Marlon Brando, have now taken over the closets of those seeking to blend in and symbolizes the “infantile uniform” of a generation of “childlike adults.”

I wear jeans as much as the next guy, and it would be easy to regard the above points as frumpy or out of touch, but think about it for a minute. How many men do you know that wear any kind of pants other than jeans? Guys think that wearing jeans shows that you don’t care about how you look, you’re just going with whats easy and convenient. And it does express that. But why is that the societal norm? There is nothing wrong with thinking about how you present yourself to the world and being conscious of your image, because despite how altriustic it is to think that you shouldn’t judge people by how they look, it’s silly to think that people don’t judge. So take that for what it’s worth, and get some corduroys or kahkis. Stand out a little bit. You won’t regret it.