Of course, the press has jumped all over the story of Charleston City Council considering a ban on low rise pants and baggy jeans throughout the city of Charleston.

And, OK, City Council isn’t really “considering” it. One Councilman, Mike Clowser (great guy, by the way), forwarded an email from some loon who wants to taser any kids who wear baggy jeans or low rise pants.

Silly.

Mike is probably kicking himself for forwarding the email to all the City Council members because of the press it has garnered.

This is a case of having too much time on your hands. The guy who sent it seems like a good, upstanding individual. But, what happens as we get older is that we forget what it was like to be young.

Baggy pants on boys looks completely idiotic. And, if you haven’t noticed, it’s actually a little better from a style standpoint now that it was a few years ago where boys wore their baggy jeans basically below their butts. But, of course, its stupid. Every generation goes through it. My generation was ridiculously high big hair and tight Jordache jeans that adults lamented.

To me the baggy pants trend seems absurd. And, if Iit was my kid, I’d make him wear those jeans over his head if I saw him in public with such a ridiculous display. But, to each his own.

And, every single generations’ 50-something crowd morphs into these old fogies who think that what the “youth” are doing at the time (i.e, Rock and Roll music, wearing your hair slicked back with leather jackets, wearing tight Jordache jeans, and now wearing absurdly baggy pants) will set the county back a century.

Let it go people.

And, remember when you were young. No matter what age group you are, you can most likely remember some 50-somethings of your time lamenting how your generation was going to sink America into the abyss. And, America seems to survive just fine.

Trends fade. Here’s hoping the baggy pants trend fades was well, but until then, let them be kids. See the Matthew Thompson article below.

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City Council considers fashion statment

Complaints from a constituent have some Charleston city council officials thinking about whether the city should ban people wearing saggy pants and, in the process, showing off their skivvies.
It’s a decree other cities — from Atlanta to tiny Delcambre, La. — have already handed down, and other city councils across the country are debating how low you can go when it comes to wearing pants.

Charleston councilman Mike Clowser just this week forwarded an e-mail he got from one resident, Dan Duncan, to other council members.

The 57-year-old Duncan said such low-rise pants, popular with people around the city are “repugnant,” and he’s pushing for the city to consider a ban similar to that of other cities.

“I see people’s pants below hips and underwear hanging out — it’s ugly and sickening,” Duncan said. “I find it offensive to people of character.”

Duncan is the owner of Mason & Barry, Inc., a St. Albans-based building automation sales firm.

Duncan wants city council to establish an ordinance that would fine people unspecified amounts of money for wearing saggy pants in public.

“There should be some punishment or at least community service,” Duncan said. “These people have to realize they need to clean things up and appreciate what lives they have.”

Bans on saggy pants in some other cities apply to both genders, including women whose low-slung jeans and trousers expose their underwear and men whose pants often rise no further than mid-thigh, leaving several inches of boxers hanging out.

But some opponents of such bans have said they unfairly target one group of people, as the low-rise styles frequently are popular among young, black males.

Some council members in Charleston said the city has bigger issues to deal with, and others said even if they wanted to, regulating boxer-, brief- or bikini-bearing bottoms would be difficult.

“I’ve been accused of having plumber’s crack before, and I certainly don’t want to go to jail for it,” Councilman Marc Weintraub said.

In one small Louisiana town, wearing baggy pants and exposing your underwear carries of fine $500 or six months in jail.

Other towns in that state have also passed similar ordinances.

And now, city councils in Trenton, NJ, and Atlanta are discussing issuing fines and community service work to people found exposing their underwear because their pants are too big.

Councilman John Miller said those cities should focus on more important issues.

“I’m sure Trenton and Atlanta and Louisiana have more important and pressing problems in their respective cities than worrying about baggy pants,” Miller said. “If that is their biggest problems — they are in excellent shape.”

Miller added that saggy pants are a “cultural thing” and a fad he thinks will eventually go away. He said it’s the parents who should be telling kids what to wear and not the city.

“Parental involvement is lacking, so is pride and respect,” Miller said. “However I would rather see these kids wearing baggy clothes than carrying a gun and shooting people.”

Councilman Harry Deitzler said he doesn’t see a way the city can impose such a dress code.

“Personally I think it reflects poorly on the person whose drawers are showing,” Deitzler said. “But there are some things we can regulate and some things we can’t. I think this falls in the ‘can’t’ category.”

Outside the Charleston Town Center mall on Tuesday, some people who wear baggy pants said city officials shouldn’t have a say in what they can wear.

“It’s the fashion,” said resident Mike Evans. “People should be allowed to wear want they want to wear. It’s their right.”

Evans, 19, said he has been wearing saggy clothes since he was kid. Although he has a 38-inch waist, Evans buys 40-inch waist pants to capture the look.

Charleston resident Gerod Lee said he feels the police unfairly target people that wear baggy clothing. He said police immediately think a person is involved with crime just because of your clothes.

“They think just because you’re wearing baggy pants, then you’re hiding something like a gun,” Lee said. “But they can’t do anything about it. They have no probable cause to search us for what we wear.”

The 16-year-old said he has a 32-inch waist, but wears 36-inch pants. He also wears 6X t-shirts, even though he has a medium build.

He said no matter what happens, city laws will not affect the way he dresses.

“I wear my clothes big, because that’s just my style that I wear,” Lee said. “That’s the style I like and the style I look good in.”

Contact writer Matthew Thompson at matthewthompson@dailymail.com or 348-4834.