Via Half the Sins of Mankind, apparently it's now fashionable in the fancy parts of New York to wear bedroom slippers in public. Unsurprisingly, this trend was started by boarding-schoolers, yet another reason why all boarding schools should be shut down and their inhabitants quarantined.
Attempted justification of said fad, from the New York Times:
Like flip-flops in January, slippers on the sidewalk flout logic. They blur lines. They catch the eye and jolt one into the subtle realization that boundaries between public space and private are permeable. The gesture is small but it reminds one that fashion is a monumental system built on coded details.
This paragraph only further cements in my mind the idea that fashion is created exclusively by habitual users of illicit drugs and/or people with way, way too much time on their hands.
Personally, I think that the boundaries between private and public are much too blurry as it is, and I would prefer not to see that go any further. On the other hand, if rampant public slipper-wearing means we're subjected to fewer flip-flop-clad feet, then I'd have to favor it.
(More of "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" after this commercial message.)
Posted by Mediocre Fred at January 4, 2007 02:05 PM | TrackBackI'd happily accept more physical blurring of public and private if it got me less mental/emotional blurring of public and private. The teenager in bedroom slippers hanging out near my building would be far less disturbing than the one who has screaming fights with her boyfriend via cellphone in the same location. I don't mind knowing what people look like in sleepwear, as long as it covers them up; I really don't want to know what went wrong between them in bed the night before.
Posted by: PG at January 5, 2007 12:48 AMI'm sure Bush does this in public all the time, so what's the big deal?
Hel-lo. Is this on?
Posted by: PapaShaft at January 5, 2007 11:45 AMPG, I agree with you. But alas, no such tradeoff is in the offing. Instead, we've got a generation that has no apparent ability to distinguish between public and private spaces in any area, resulting in a society that behaves as though it's at a never-ending pajama party.
Ladies and gentlemen, PapaShaft will be here all week! Don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses.
Posted by: Mediocre Fred at January 8, 2007 02:25 PM