Conversation:

1. Vintage Levi 501s

I bought my first pair of 501s when I was maybe 15 or 16. Since then I've lost count of the number of pairs I've gone through, not that I ever bothered to count them anyway. I doubt I've ever had a pair that have lasted more than three or four years, so when someone tells me they have a pair of Levis that are 30, 40, 50 or more years old I don't believe it.

I have a pair that I bought in 1991 or so. However, I haven't worn them since about 1999 because after Gruesome #2 my hips are too wide (that's my excuse)

But... if I can ever get back in them, I will be wearing them and calling them vintage.

I rather suspect that the vintage ones people claim were possibly bought 30/40/50 years ago but they haven't been out of the bag they came in until now.

I need new jeans, maybe it's time I went back to 501s. I miss that button fly.

A lot of the 'vintage' stuff, is unsold items, that have just sat in the back of a warehouse for decades and only reemerged when 'vintage' gathered a price tag and market to make it worth people hunting down such things... I guess...

Ah, I can see I left out an important word there. Vintage *used* 501s.

Ahhh... that makes a bit more sense I rarely get more than two or three years use out of a pair of jeans... mainly as my waist has been shrinking down recently Mind, of course, if I'd kept soem of my jeans from way back when, I'd be just fitting back into them now!

Most of mine are becoming increasingly difficult to button up

my 34 inch waist ones are getting too loose on me now It doesn't seem that many years ago I was over a 40 inch waist If I drop to 32 I'll be back the same size waist I was when 16 Mind.... I probably didn't have quite such a beer belly above* my waist when I was 16 Its my new sexercise routeen...

I am just constantly confused that people find jeans comfortable. Strange. Totally impractical garments, especially when they get wet. I've not worn them in years.

TRiG.

They're very comfortable when worn in. And very durable. And unlike very many trousers, they have vertical, not diagonal, pockets. This means you can sit down without everything falling out if them. The impracticality when wet is the only real downside that strikes me. So I wouldn't wear them hiking, but I would on most other occasions.

You have to find the right shape, especially in womens'. Every jean style feels a but different. I've only found a couple that have fitted, ever, so last time I bought five pairs.

I've always found jeans the most comfetable trousers to wear, even when newe, especially now, they don't seem to require any wearing in really
Arn't most trousers a it uncomfetable to wear wehn wet?; I believe you can buy special pants to wear underneath though, to prevent this type of problem...
I never quite get the right fit, probably as I'm a man and just don't spend the time in the shops tryign on differnt makes/brand/styles of jeans; I always find they're too spacious in the vacinity of my derrier and don't have a deep enough err... 'drop', as it were, between teh waist band and the botom of the err groin area but that is probably just because I go into the shop, find a pair in my size, try them on then buy them... almost irrelivent of what they're like, so long as they're not overly expensive

In the Texas summer (ie May to October) jeans are very uncomfortable and just about out of the question, especially in those 80°, 90° and 100° temperatures, and I don't like to wear shorts (I have skinny Wednesday legs... when's dey gonna break? ) so chinos/Dockers are really the only alternative, but it's almost impossible these days to get a pair of regular fit where I buy mine - the thrift store. They seem to all be... what do they call it? Oh yeah, relaxed fit. Baggy, in other words

I do like the button fly on a pair of jeans though, but not the pockets. Too tight and awkward.

I've always worn jeans, so I don't find them uncomfortable. Occasionally restrictive, maybe, but not uncomfortable. Of course, I've found a brand and size that I like (I get mine at Academy stores).

That said, I bought a special pair of jeans last month from an online/mail order retailer called Duluth Trading. They're called "Firehose pants". They're made from "firehose" material but also have a thin fleece liner. Durable as hell and nearly waterproof. Unfortunately, I had to compromise on the size. I have an odd body shape. I have a long torso and short legs. So, with my added weight, I'm an odd combination of inseam length and waist. So, I had to pick a waist size a bit smaller than I normally feel comfortable with. I have lost a bit of weight lately, and I'm expecting to lose more through the year. So, it was a wise choice. They fit... and they're almost comfortable while I ride my bike. Especially on cold mornings. And I quite hope that they'll be too big soon.

But the point is, they're still jeans and even when just a bit too small, I find them comfortable.


Well, until I put on my Utilikilt. Nothing is more comfortable than that.

TMI! TMI!

One of my pots on the back burner is to make myself a kilt, but I haven't got around to it yet...

I love jeans. Vip is right. You have to get the right ones for your body type for them to be comfortable. I've had jeans last up to 10 years, but then I cycle up and down in size so much that I never wear any for 10 years straight.

2. Modern British TV chefs who can do anything without using the word 'just'. Case in point:

"I'm just going to cook some sweet potatoes. Grab a piece of foil, put a little bit of thyme inside the potato, bit of nutmeg, little bit of olive oil, little bit of salt, then just wrap it up. I'm going to actually just put these inside the coals and they'll bake really nicely, but obviously just put them in a hot oven, they'll take about 40 minutes. If you just put some hot coals on top of the sweet potato then they seem to just cook really fast."

Floyd never used to do that.

It's a Jamie Oliver by-product, I think. His crusade for easy, quick, healthy food led to a school of TV cooking which just tries to tell the viewer how easy it is. All you have to do is, just bring a pan of water to the boil, just slice an onion or two, just put it in the oven, just leave it there until...etc.

To someone who knows one end of a saucepan from the other and knows how easy it can be to cook great food, it can get grating, yes.

you want to try watching one of those shows with a

just the same as my mum used to moan about having to watch war films (modern or historical) with me and my dad

If it's the Jamie effect he must be influencing some upmarket chefs too. In recent weeks I've been watching the Hairy Bikers Food Tour of Britain. In each episode they challenge a local chef who operates a very expensive restaurant to a cook-off involving local ingredients - who can best put the county on a plate. These other chefs are also doing it - even the chefs with a Michelin star, even the chefs who have been trained by Heston (Heston ). The same thing's happening with the two non-River Cottage chefs I've seen so far in Hugh's 3 Good Things, so I think there must be something more to it than Jamie.

Sho - you couldn't watch anything in house, especially films, without my Mum saying 'He's dead'. 'Ooh, she's dead'