Jeans
29/02/12 04:35
We wore jeans as kids. In those days there were three brands sold in our town: Farah, Lee and Levis. I don’t remember having anything to say about what brand of jeans I wore until I was a high school student. It was absolutely clear in our home that jeans were not suitable for church. On Sundays we wore our dress pants, except for Rodeo Sunday, when we were allowed to wear a brand-new pair of jeans to church. We had multiple pairs of jeans. The newest pair was reserved for school. These were supposed to not have holes in the knees, but a little hole would be tolerated as long as they were our best pair of jeans. We were supposed to change our jeans after school, and we usually did.
After we completely wore the knees out of our jeans, they gained a new life as a pair of cutoff shorts. We wore cutoffs all summer long. Sometimes in the spring and sometimes in the fall we were allowed to wear cutoffs after school in the afternoon, but springs were relatively cool in our home town, so the season for wearing cutoffs after school was always short.
We got one pair of new jeans for Rodeo weekend. Usually there also was a new shirt with snaps instead of buttons. We often got a couple of pairs of jeans for back to school and some years we’d get a new pair of jeans at Christmas as well. I was the oldest boy and so I didn’t wear hand-me-downs as much as my brothers, but they rarely had to wear hand-me-down jeans because the jeans were thoroughly worn out before they could be handed down.
Somewhere along the line, I learned to enjoy getting dressed up. When I went away to college I owned several pairs of jeans, but I didn’t wear jeans for everyday. I often wore slacks to class. Jeans were saved for weekends and for summer time, when I often had a job that required clothing that could take a beating.
Four years of college plus four years of graduate school convinced me that I was a “professional,” whatever that might mean. I started to wear dress slacks and dress shirts to work as I began my career. But my career began in rural North Dakota, where even school teachers and lawyers who wore shirts and ties to work every day switched to jeans as soon as they got off of work. Youth work, Vacation Bible School, camp and other activities were times when jeans were the appropriate apparel.
When we moved to Boise, I went to work in a tie and a jacket most days. Jeans and t-shirts were reserved for youth group, camp and days off. I often rode my bicycle to work in those days, so I learned to put band around the legs of my pants to keep them from getting grease from the chain.
I continued the white shirt and tie routine for the first five years that I served our current congregation in Rapid City. Along the way, I began to wear colored shirts with ties from time to time and then more often. After a few more years passed, I reserved white shirts and ties for Sundays. I didn’t wear a tie to work every day any more. Around me the dress of other professionals was also becoming more casual. I noticed that my colleagues didn’t dress up as often as before. I found myself at meetings where I was the only pastor wearing a tie.
Along the way, I found myself occasionally wearing a sports coat without a tie. I would even wear a blue blazer with a new pair of jeans occasionally. My wardrobe continued to evolve.
In the autumn of 2010, I came home from a visit to England with a beautiful Harris Tweed jacket. It is warm and comfortable and wonderful. And I found myself wearing it over a long-sleeved t-shirt.
These days I often wear jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a sport coat to work. I am not the only one who has changed my manner of dress. Like the days when I was a kid, I sometimes have two pairs of new jeans at the same time.
The manner of my dress isn’t the only thing that has changed. My Levis have changed as well. Since the closure of the last US Levis plant in 1990, all Levis brand jeans are made overseas. In the mid 1990’s the company took on multi-billion dollar debt. In 2002, the company entered into a contract with Wal-Mart that called for a special line of “Signature” jeans. Those jeans are produced in huge volume at very low prices by Chinese laborers. Although Levis are available at other retailers, the percentage of the jeans that go to Wal-Mart is significant and the methods of production for the signature line are not different than those sold at other outlets.
Being a person with an inseam that is an odd number, I have enjoyed wearing Levis because I can purchase ones that fit. However, I began to notice that jeans with odd inseams were getting harder and harder to find. I can still find them, but these days the difference between odd- and even- length inseams is more in the label than the measurement of the inseam.
In 1920, Homer Campbell of Constellation, Arizona, returned a pair of Jeans to the Levi Strauss Company with a letter. His letter explained that he has purchased the jeans in 1917. He went on to say, “I have worn them every day except Sunday since that time and for some reason which I wish you would explain they have gone to pieces.” Having worn Levi brand jeans for 30 years, Mr. Campbell was disappointed with the decrease in quality that produced a pair of jeans that would last for only three years of every day wear.
If I could get a pair of jeans to last three years, I think I would be satisfied.
I still own dress slacks. I still wear them on Sundays and during the week when I have an important meeting or a reason to look a bit more professional. More and more, however, I find myself wearing jeans in settings where I wouldn’t previously have considered such clothes.
Perhaps it is appropriate for a servant of God to wear the clothes of a servant when heading to work.
After we completely wore the knees out of our jeans, they gained a new life as a pair of cutoff shorts. We wore cutoffs all summer long. Sometimes in the spring and sometimes in the fall we were allowed to wear cutoffs after school in the afternoon, but springs were relatively cool in our home town, so the season for wearing cutoffs after school was always short.
We got one pair of new jeans for Rodeo weekend. Usually there also was a new shirt with snaps instead of buttons. We often got a couple of pairs of jeans for back to school and some years we’d get a new pair of jeans at Christmas as well. I was the oldest boy and so I didn’t wear hand-me-downs as much as my brothers, but they rarely had to wear hand-me-down jeans because the jeans were thoroughly worn out before they could be handed down.
Four years of college plus four years of graduate school convinced me that I was a “professional,” whatever that might mean. I started to wear dress slacks and dress shirts to work as I began my career. But my career began in rural North Dakota, where even school teachers and lawyers who wore shirts and ties to work every day switched to jeans as soon as they got off of work. Youth work, Vacation Bible School, camp and other activities were times when jeans were the appropriate apparel.
When we moved to Boise, I went to work in a tie and a jacket most days. Jeans and t-shirts were reserved for youth group, camp and days off. I often rode my bicycle to work in those days, so I learned to put band around the legs of my pants to keep them from getting grease from the chain.
I continued the white shirt and tie routine for the first five years that I served our current congregation in Rapid City. Along the way, I began to wear colored shirts with ties from time to time and then more often. After a few more years passed, I reserved white shirts and ties for Sundays. I didn’t wear a tie to work every day any more. Around me the dress of other professionals was also becoming more casual. I noticed that my colleagues didn’t dress up as often as before. I found myself at meetings where I was the only pastor wearing a tie.
Along the way, I found myself occasionally wearing a sports coat without a tie. I would even wear a blue blazer with a new pair of jeans occasionally. My wardrobe continued to evolve.
In the autumn of 2010, I came home from a visit to England with a beautiful Harris Tweed jacket. It is warm and comfortable and wonderful. And I found myself wearing it over a long-sleeved t-shirt.
These days I often wear jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a sport coat to work. I am not the only one who has changed my manner of dress. Like the days when I was a kid, I sometimes have two pairs of new jeans at the same time.
The manner of my dress isn’t the only thing that has changed. My Levis have changed as well. Since the closure of the last US Levis plant in 1990, all Levis brand jeans are made overseas. In the mid 1990’s the company took on multi-billion dollar debt. In 2002, the company entered into a contract with Wal-Mart that called for a special line of “Signature” jeans. Those jeans are produced in huge volume at very low prices by Chinese laborers. Although Levis are available at other retailers, the percentage of the jeans that go to Wal-Mart is significant and the methods of production for the signature line are not different than those sold at other outlets.
Being a person with an inseam that is an odd number, I have enjoyed wearing Levis because I can purchase ones that fit. However, I began to notice that jeans with odd inseams were getting harder and harder to find. I can still find them, but these days the difference between odd- and even- length inseams is more in the label than the measurement of the inseam.
In 1920, Homer Campbell of Constellation, Arizona, returned a pair of Jeans to the Levi Strauss Company with a letter. His letter explained that he has purchased the jeans in 1917. He went on to say, “I have worn them every day except Sunday since that time and for some reason which I wish you would explain they have gone to pieces.” Having worn Levi brand jeans for 30 years, Mr. Campbell was disappointed with the decrease in quality that produced a pair of jeans that would last for only three years of every day wear.
If I could get a pair of jeans to last three years, I think I would be satisfied.
Perhaps it is appropriate for a servant of God to wear the clothes of a servant when heading to work.