Objects #2
Objects #2
From Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday Life by Josee Johnston, Kate Cairns, Shyon Baumann (New York: Routledge, 2017), pp. 9:
The sociological imagination doesn’t deny the existence of individual choice, but pushes us to look at how outside forces contribute to our situation and life outcomes. This is precisely why we emphasise the term imagination – because it takes some creative effort to connect the dots between our personal experiences and the institutional forces like culture, education, mass media, and economy that envelop our daily lives.
My love for denim started in my mid-teens. Prior to that, I mostly wore chinos and dress pants. They were my uniform for school and what I wore to church. Denim became my way of expressing that I was no longer the soft-fabric-wearing kid my parents and extended family knew. It was an attempt to use clothing as a means of getting my family members to treat me differently—a small act of rebellion. Jeans were not considered conservative attire, at least not when I was growing up. People mostly wore them over the weekend. If you wore them during the weekdays, it was an indication that you didn't have a job, because most workplaces didn't allow their employees to wear denim. If your employer allowed you to wear jeans, it was probably a very low-paying manual job. Children didn't often wear them because our clothes were either tailor-made or ready-made. The items that a tailor couldn't make or that you couldn't find ready-made were searched for in thrift markets. I don't think Nigerians were truly brand-conscious until the later part of the 90s and early 00s when Nigerian youths began to identify with the aesthetics of hip hop culture. I think that’s when denim really took off. I had a cousin who was quite fashionable. He was the first person I saw wearing a red ripped denim short. I was amazed, and in my heart, I prayed that one day I would have the courage to pull off something like that. He was handsome, hardworking, and troublesome to boot. He was much older than me, probably by 15 years. He had blue eyes and I often wondered why I too didn’t have his blue eyes, since we were related. Silly me! He, however, passed away in '03, but one memory I will forever cherish was watching The Matrix (1999) with him and enjoying every single minute of it. We watched it so many times. It was our ritual. I always looked forward to his visits because I knew he would rock some weird-coloured ripped jeans. For some strange reason, he and my mother would always have falling outs every three months or so. Even to this day, I don't know what it was about him that annoyed my mother all the time, but to my young mind, he was my hero. 🏎️
So I knew that to indirectly convey to my mother that I was no longer interested in the things that pleased her, the first thing I could buy with my pocket money was a pair of jeans. I knew that if I made a bold statement with a pair of jeans that wasn't the standard blue, she would confiscate it. So I used my pocket money, went to a secondhand market, and bought a blue pair of jeans. I bought a plain blue Levi's jeans that wasn't ripped or overly washed. I just couldn't wait until I had enough pocket money to buy a brand-new pair. I could have simply told her that I wasn't interested in certain things any longer, but in my young mind, I couldn't find the words to convey that without breaking her heart. She understood clothes, and I thought clothes were also the way I could communicate with her. This story only makes sense in hindsight because at that time, I didn’t think I knew what my motivations were. I simply wasn’t interested in religion or preaching anymore, and I just wanted to be myself. But how do you tell a God-loving mother that you no longer want to go in that direction? I don’t think any son would want to see their mother's heart ache. Denim became a breakaway tool. A freedom that came with a cost. My mother didn’t express her displeasure and I know in her heart of hearts, she hopes I will find my way towards what she thinks is my calling. Since then I have only taken a year off from denim. I gave out all my jeans and reverted back to dress pants and chinos. My excuse: the material is too hard. Fast forward a day out thrift shopping with friends, I find this beautiful pair of DSQUARED jeans that fit so good, you’d think they had me in mind when they made it. 🐼
Having lived in Johannesburg for so long, unfortunately for me, the jeans I find in thrift shops are either dated or not the right cut for me. I know that some people shame others for buying pre-owned items, which is why many people hesitate to go thrifting. But as I always say, don’t dismiss the things that bring you joy. If you can afford new items, good for you. However, many people want to look and feel good in high-quality pre-owned items. It's such a shame that fast fashion items are now creeping into vintage shops. This frustrates me because I'm searching for excellent tailoring and quality materials. Who knows, maybe one day I might just mess around and open a thrift store filled with quality items, not things that fall apart after a couple of washes. And yes, jeans can be dated. Now that I think about it, military clothes (camo) do not get dated. You can keep a pair of camo pants in your closet for twenty years, take them out, put them on, and they will still look stylish. Anyway, you might own a zillion pairs of jeans but there’s probably two or three that you like so much that if they were to go missing you’d lose your shit. Finding the right pair of jeans is a challenge. For instance: the jeans you wear with a t-shirt is different from the ones you wear with a shirt. The pair you wear with sneakers is different from the one you wear with leather slippers. How does it sit on your thigh and/or leg? Is it the right length, or do you need to fold or alter it? Is the pair that fits within your budget? TMI: I have been searching for a white pair of jeans that fits my preferred style and length. But I am also hesitant to buy it online because I can’t get to try it out. Men (me specifically) don’t really have a track record of returning things that don’t fit. Why that is the case I don’t know. But wait, why don’t men return things? or is it just me? 🤷🏾
Thanks for reading. If there's anything you'd like to chat about, or if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you. :)
