Off Season

The air outside today was like walking underwater...hot water. Lets talk about some flannel and wide wale corduroy, shall we? As though I didn't have enough pair of full bore, in your face, what's-this-guy's-problem pants, three more came along of late:
In the comments to a recent post, some of you put the screws to our man ADG. Most in question were his choices in trousers, the traffic stopping kind. I'm here to buck up for my friend, 'cause he sure as hell ain't alone. But honestly, I'm a complete sucker for heavy weight, soft to the touch, proper tartan wool flannel, in any men's garment, but as trews it's an extra bonus. As for the pink corduroy...c'mon, pink corduroy? When I brought this pair to the register at the local thrift, the following transpired:

cashier (older black woman in a wig, her voice husky with cigarettes): women's pants?

yours truly: no, men's pants.

cashier: jazzy.

Pair #1, from the internationally known Brothers, long time standard bearers in such realms.

Pair #2 from the geekier, if more esoteric and higher quality, Chipp.

Pair #3, from Johnny Appleseed's, a long gone local purveyor of such things. Massachusetts used to be full of these places (sigh). All three pair cost less than $25 together. Go ahead, who will be the first with the "get what you pay for" crack. I dare you.

It is by now well known that I enjoy dressing well, and I sometimes lament the absence of the requirement to do so. But the bright side of this is that I need not be bound by laws pertaining to navy suits and white shirts. Since I dress this way by choice, I can allow myself all the cockamamie cords and silly plaid pants I want, where if I were required to dress in jacket and tie, 90% of my wardrobe would be unacceptable.

I could go on about how men behave, and dress, like teenagers well into middle age, and I could complain about our collective loss of decorum in all social matters in general...and I could talk about the courage involved in wearing pink pants in an age when a blue shirt and striped tie with khakis will likely get you jokes and sidelong glances in many everyday situations. But truthfully, I'm more than a pinch of a peacock, and so ain't any guy who would wear this stuff, regardless of upbringing, circumstance or point in history. I like to wear pushy clothes, can't help it.

Forgive me this brief moment of introspection, bur wasn't "know thyself" some famous advice from some famous old guy?