Proof of age gap….

Admiral Fubar: I finally found some jeans that were long enough, but get this? They didn’t even have a zipper – just these five stupid buttons! WTF?

Me: Uhm. Were they Levi 501s?

Admiral Fubar: Yeah! Just buttons!

Me: Yeeaaahhhh, that’s because it’s a button fly.

Admiral Fubar: So when did zippers go out of style?

I’ve been laughing about it ever since, even though it’s a shocking reminder of my age. I’m thirty-four and my brother is only six years younger and doesn’t know what a button fly is, nor does he have any frame of reference about the sexiness of the button-fly era.

Worse, since he’s my brother I couldn’t extol on the virtues and attractiveness of the button-fly and my long lament that the “zipper” jeans have taken over men’s fashions. For sure you can still get 501s, but if the era of the tight end, front bulge, quick release is over, truly over, as in the next generation doesn’t even know about it… then my heart is heavy.

When he asked about the fashion statement in denim from the 80’s, 90’s and first few years of 2K, I said, “Well, it was sort of an age definition thing back then. Boys wore pants with zippers and men wore jeans with buttons.”

I couldn’t tell Admiral Fubar, but the jeans were hot for a number of reasons, but primarily for the quick release. Which anyone who knows what I’m talking about, won’t need an explanation…. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then google a couple of the super-hot Levi button fly commercials from the 80s and 90s.

I wore men’s jeans through most of high school for the very fact that I loved the button fly so much, and also that the waist was lower (women’s jeans were cut higher and dug into my ribs), plus something about the button-fly cut fit my hips better and rode my pelvic without pinching when I was hiking . While denim fashion has come a long way in the last 20 years, one thing I am most grateful for is the shift in how women’s jeans fit my pelvis and hips.

Anywhoo… long story short – too late, I’m feeling my age. Some of my hottest memories involve the button fly and even as I typed that I sort of drifted off, smiling at the thought…
Today will likely be a totally wasted day as I drift about in nostalgic reminiscing – then I’ll need to go home and take a cold shower.

Do you remember the button fly? Do you miss it?

Tags: button fly, fashion, jeans, Levi, nostalgia

The highlight of the Tiki-themed birthday party was not the drinking of my first Jet Pilot, which took two hands to hold and was on FIRE. It wasn’t the whole pig roasting on a spit. It wasn’t the strange cast of characters dressed as mermaids, pirates or island explorers… No, the highlight of the party was being slightly more than tipsy, in fact downright inebriated whilst eating a warm plate of stringy, freshly pulled pork, as Jordy and the other two gentlemen at our table talked about their vasectomies and the long slippery tubing in their testicles. Mmm, delicious.

And yes , the pulled pork was fabulous, the drinks marvelous and the company was awesome! Good Times!