Rejuveniles
A pair of recent columns from the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Akst and veteran bow-tie wearing buzz-killer George Will bemoan the destructive cultural ubiquity of . . . wait for it . . . denim fabric.
Akst kicked off the sartorial smackdown with his column “Down with Denim,” damning our Levis and Wranglers as,
“(A)n essential co-conspirator in the modern trend toward undifferentiated dressing, in which we all strive to look equally shabby no matter what the occasion. Despite its air of innocence, no fabric has ever been so insidiously effective at undermining national discipline.”
Akst goes on to condemn denim’s essential “hypocrisy,” as it requires fussy tailoring, pre-washing, and acid treatments to achieve an un-earned sense of fashion authenticity that the writer considers a “sad disguise.”
Not to be outdone, the eternally disgruntled Will piggybacked Akst’s piece with an even more hysterical column of his own, headlined “Demon Denim.” For Will, denim represents a “plague . . . which is symptomatic of deep disorders in the national psyche.”
Both columnists point to denim as a symptom of American adults unwillingness to let go of the trappings of childhood, with Will diagnosing it as,
“(T)he infantile uniform of a nation in which entertainment frequently features childlike adults (”Seinfeld,” “Two and a Half Men”) and cartoons for adults (”King of the Hill”) . . . . In their undifferentiated dress, children and their childish parents become undifferentiated audiences for juvenilized movies (the six — so far — “Batman” adventures and “Indiana Jones and the Credit-Default Swaps,” coming soon to a cineplex near you).”
Not surprisingly, these columns proved to be low-hanging comedic fruit for the likes of Stephen Colbert. The underlying theme of not-leaving-behind-childish-things is also discussed in Christopher Noxon’s examination of adults indulging their inner children: Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up.
Rejuvenile describes otherwise responsible adults, like the author himself, who enjoy Spongebob, Harry Potter, video games, and defiantly wearing denim in almost any occasion. Noxon also studies the value of play, not just as pure escapism but as a vital component of a healthy, balanced life.
The book describes a redefinition of adulthood that is sure to put a knot in George Will’s triple-pleat herringbone trousers. Noxon does worry that rejuveniles may “morph from fun and free-spirited to just plain pathetic,” but his book puts this trend in such interesting psychological and historical context that adult readers may indeed feel empowered to bust into the lineup and take a few swings at the neighborhood kickball field.
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It’s good to keep that creative kid inside of us alive, and maybe we’re doing a better job of it in this day and age. At the same time I worry, like a lot of people, that there are too many “adults” walking around who have not matured enough emotionally to wear that title.
And surely an argument could be made about denim being the great liberator and equalizer of American fashion.
–Rejuvenile Reggie in Jeans