are white jeans actually "european" or just vaguely "unamerican"?

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Teacher

As for fashion/style, "European" tends to mean French and Italian in the US. Nobody here has a clue what the Polish or the Portuguese are wearing.

I doubt most Americans have even a clue where Portugal is located.

 

[imac76]

A colleague of mine once left work with the phrase "I'm out like white jeans." That's where I stand on the issue.

 

[nioh]

However representative Sweden might be in your eyes, white jeans are fairly common during the brighter months i.e. Apr-Sept.

 

[GBR]

Probably European but our Amercian cousins have liftd it. However some can be quite backward in clothing terms - especially in the Christian hinterland

 

[Philip1978]

White jeans just remind me of Guns and roses, white snake etc..... (not good) lol

 

[DGP]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

my point exactly. Why/how did it come to pass that white jeans are regarded as quintessentially european?

Since when are Mexicans Europeans?

 

[Garage/Surf Rock]

White jeans are okay if you're the right person and you know how to wear them. I have been seeing this a lot lately in the city.

 

[zacharydschroeder]

It's always been my understanding that white jeans were something that gay men wore in the early 1990's, but ever since then they haven't really been a fashion staple for any particular group. I recall seeing some sort of special on television about white jeans, in fact. Maybe it was a 60 minutes spot?

 

[Jill]

White jeans were somewhat popular (in the US anyway) in the 80s, just after the white-ish painters pants went out (late 70s).

The European/patrician affinity for the white jean is probably derived from the fact that all polo players, worldwide, have always worn white jeans or white jodhpurs throughout history. It is the required "uniform" of polo players. (We would actually get fined in our club for wearing anything other than white!)

In many circles, polo is associated with wealth and exclusivity. While I just think of them as part of the "uniform", there are some folks who associate them with the image. Just my 2 cents.

 

[lakewolf]

Here too , you can see many white trousers during the summer, but more of the linen or cotton/linen kind....

I do have 1 pairs of white 501's and one off-white... but I don't wear them much... when is really hot the jeans are too thick to wear them... I go with white linen trousers...

 

[Joel_Cairo]

my theory, when starting this thread, was that its essentially a class thing. Jeans, historically, are workwear, and the taste in America (a "class-less society" I'll remind you) for wearing them casually is rooted in this: its about hangin' dirty, not bein' prissy, ridin' rough, gettin 'er done, etc. Now in Europe, where there is, in fat, a history of social classes, with an aristocracy, a bourgeoisie, a distinction between high and low culture, etc., white jeans are a amrk of a different kind of liesure. Due to their whiteness, you couldn't possible do the kinds of things americans do for fun in them (things which smack of manual labor). White jeans are, essentially, white gloves.

 

[lakewolf]

An about QG don't believe too much what they say...

I think they have an objective to push white jeans this season and they want to make americans think they would be more chic if they do "like the europeans do" so they try to push this image into their readers...

 

[Joel_Cairo]

Originally Posted by lakewolf

I think they have an objective to push white jeans this season and they want to make americans think they would be more chic if they do "like the europeans do" so they try to push this image into their readers...
I think their incentive to push white jeans is simply this: it's an item that their advertizers sell, which the majority of their readship has not purchased... yet.

 

[modsquad]

I do not know if white jeans are eurotrash or euro cool or elitist or something else. I do know that they look great, work with all kinds of shirts and shoes and make one stand out in a good way. David Hemmings wore them in Blow Up, which was made in 1966, and they have been sexy and cool at least since then.

 

[lakewolf]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

I think their incentive to push white jeans is simply this: it's an item that their advertizers sell, which the majority of their readship has not purchased... yet.

The deep universal truth about the fashion magazines business !