Sunday, August 13, 2006

A Crack at Making Jeans That Stay Up

Matthew C. Wright
The Washington Post

Dickies may be retooling its work pants to fight slippage, but no cracks, please. Williamson-Dickie, the Fort Worth-based clothing maker, recently announced an updated version of its classic jeans, due out this spring. But one new feature is attracting attention the company would rather avoid.

The new design will offer a lower waist and a roomier seat -- designed, in part, to keep the jeans from slipping down the hips when wearers bend over or crouch down, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported last week. The change would help eliminate the appearance of backside cleavage, a phenomenon commonly known as "plumber's crack."

Company officials have since been declining interviews with reporters who want to discuss this particular feature. Dickies doesn't want to disrespect hardworking plumbers or make jokes at their expense, said Kristen Kauffman, a company spokeswoman.

Officials said there were several reasons for the new design, principally to produce a jean that could be worn casually and at work. Still, Jon Ragsdale, Dickies vice president of marketing, acknowledged to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "If there's anything we can do to beautify America, we're in favor of doing it."

2 comments:

  1. dickies, i recently read, are extremely popular with the hipster/skateboarder set. something about the comfort quotient. it would be sad to change out the formula to accompany the ass-cleave set at the expense of the electrician/skateboarder 'take my son to work day' demographic.

    i died (have you noticed how many times i have died?) when my niece referred to the ubiquitous 'sexy' plumber's crack. given the number of times I/we had to instruct her sister to 'pull up those pants: are you interested in mooning all of civilization?' the trendily derogative reference to all things crack seems rather ironic........

    but i digress. what were we talking about? because i swear we were talking about something.....

    oH! it was a really nice day, and i found myself missing the listless, flawless weekends i had spent with my son in the location of said prodigious exchange. soon, three kids, 11, 12 and whatever arrived, and i'm all: what has happened to us? why don't we get out anymore?

    but you're dead on: the trip cleared my head.

    i can't speak for sir psychosis, but my posture is more rational than it has been in a while.

    thanks ever for the comments. you seem to do it more briefly than I...

    p.s. why are you so smart?

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  2. 'Sexy' plumber's crack? Damn, I'm getting old. That doesn't sound appaealing at all.

    Crack is wack. I have been known to sport it occasionally when the loose jeans/bigger-than-it-needs-to-be-gut get together and force pants downward. As I've gotten older, I try to keep my mooning to a minimum, and go with stoimach cruches and better fiiting slacks.

    Dickies are the shit! I love their shorts and jeans, and I rock them all the time. They tend to be very stiff at first (not as rigid as Carhatt though) and get more comfortable with time. Their work shorts have a longer length wich is more comfortable for me to wear.

    B has hit his rebelious teenager stage about five years too early, so maybe, just maybe, he'll be done with it early too.

    I'm smart because I have a great muse :-)

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