Whenever I don’t have time to post more than a lame-ass entry (like, well, now, when I have to leave for the airport in twenty minutes) there’s always Flickr, which has pictures up from recent Big Deal Things In My Life such as The Walk and The Book Party. (And there’s going to be another party, and if you’re in NYC, email me, because I think you can still RSVP.)
And you (well, the New York area you) really need to come see Jami Attenberg read tonight at the New York Public Library. And you (the Chicago area you) need to see her read on June 22nd at the Hideout. And then buy her book. (All of you everywhere.)
Now I have to run, but in the meantime, maybe you all can debate the gaucho. Offensive or not? Those skirty knit ones are sort of cute, but at what point do they get horrifying? And is it the same point at which they become knickers? I mean, are gauchos a gateway garment to something worse? Discuss!
Edited to add: Ahhh! Look at this! And this! Cinnamon rules!!!!
gauchos: wrong. comfortable, perhaps, but not to be trusted. I feel like it’s a short step from the gaucho to the skort. pants should look like pants. skirts should look like skirts. if you want your trousers to be so damn “flowy,” why don’t you just wear a skirt?
even worse than gauchos, however, is the ankle- or mid-calf black leggings with denim super-mini-skirts layered over. I don’t know if they’re doing that in chicago but it’s running rampant in nyc. speaking of, see you thurs night!
“Gaucho” is not my favorite Steely Dan album (that would be “Countdown to Ecstacy”), but it’s still pretty good. Certainly not offensive. No more so than any other Steely Dan album, anyway!
I appreciate the gaucho because I have very wide hips and they are the only pants that don’t look tapered on me.
That being said, while the jersey knit ones are really cute on other people, they look very bad on me. And here’s where I think it gets horrifying. You have to be fairly skinny (ie: no lumps, bumps or rolls) to get away with the jersey knit ones — they are unforgiving. Some people haven’t figured out that just because a garment comes in your size does not mean you should wear it.
I’ve really been wanting to discuss the very important gaucho issue with someone. They’re suddenly everywhere in Kansas City – probably a good deal later than NYC and Chicago.
I like the flirty, knitty ones that Wendy mentions, and REALLY WANT SOME – they look so pretty and comfy. But are they really for the plus-sized?
They seem like the ideal fat woman garment – thigh rub protection, cool but not too revealing. I think they’re probably tricky – they FEEL cute – and then you see a photo of yourself in them and discover too late that they’re actually horrifying.
I’ll be shopping with an honest friend.
I have to agree, I’m a little frightened of the gauchos (with “the” in front of it, it sounds like a horrible STD or something).
Great job on your walk!
I hope you will be coming to San Fran for a book reading, I would totally be there! Have fun in NYC.
I agree with Mary. They are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Unless you’re Cameron Diaz and you wear them with high boots and a jaunty newsboy. But mostly that’s because it’s Cameron Diaz and she’s just plain hot.
Also horrific, skin tight jeans that have about an extra 8 inches of length bunching at the bottom in a denim rendition of a leg warmer. Not attractive. Even on that cokewhore Kate Moss.
I hate the gauchos. They are all over San Francisco right now and I hatehatehate them with a passion. Apparently the ones carried in the plus-size stores and departments aren’t selling well (thankfully).
I find myself tricked into liking gauchos in catalogs sometimes. I’ll be admiring some cute little outfit that I would never have any reason to wear, and then it will dawn on me that the pants I’m looking at are gauchos. I usually have to quickly turn the page in shame. Only to find myself looking at a skort on the next page. Ack! Will it never end??
I own too many pairs. And none look good on me. The flowy knit ones make my ass look square, and the trouser ones look weird (is it a long skirt or super wide leg floods?). But, I keep buyin’ ’em because of the comfort factor, and seem to get annesia when I walk into a store.
I can’t stand them because they look like kulattes (sp?). I was forced to wear lime green double-knit polyester kulattes during my stint at Six Flags. I am scarred for life.
Gauchos just don’t work for most. Well, at least for me.
I stand firmly in the anti-gauchos camp. But in the interest of full disclosure, I initially reisited capris/crops and have since become a convert. I remember thinking, “Is it possible for a pair of pants to make my calves look any BIGGER than they already are?” But then a friend thought their message was, “My legs are so long that I can’t possibly find trousers to cover them.” Gauchos, however, communicate, “My legs have the girth of redwoods and nothing but these 2 circus tents sewn together in my crotch can hope to contain them.” Leave them for the Cameron Diazes and Kate Mosses who could wear quilted down-horizontal stripe-high waist hot pants and get away with it.
I like gauchos: they remind me of when I was in sixth grade and the high school girls broke the uneven parallel bars. So, we had to do a disco dance–The Hustle–for our gym show instead. We danced to “Turn the Beat Around” (original, not Gloria Estefan version) and we all wore gauchos. It was 1976. Thus, I have a fondness for gauchos–may they rest in peace, however. I am not wearing them at 40, no matter how much nostalgia they evoke.
Also–I wonder what effect your book has had on the sale of canned mackerel. I bet it’s measureable!
Gauchos? NOOOO! The gaucho is a proud South American cowboy, not a wide leg, stretchy knit flood pant. ALWAYS a mistake. My friends and I point and laugh at gauchos (the pants!) in public; never flattering, never good. Maybe if you’re Kate Moss, but like others have said, the imperfect of us should stick with something a little more structured.
OK, now that the gaucho rant is over, love the book and love the site 🙂
Gauchos look like a skirt that has become hopelessly entangled in your nether-region.
Gauchos make skinny people look big and make us big gals look humongous. (Is that how you spell humongous?) A garment shouldn’t be worn simply to avoid the painful reality of chafed inner thighs. They have undergarments for that, ladies.
I thought that gauchos were hideous in the 1976 and they are even more offensive now because we should have learned our lesson in the 70’s and let gauchos go the way of the men’s platform shoe.
I realize that they say if you wore something the first time around you probably shouldn’t do it when the fashion repeats, but damnit! I like gauchos! And they look GOOD on me for my frame. I’m not platform shoeing it with them, but every time I wear them I get compliments (from women, of course. why would men comment?) and if my ass looks good in something then, by God, I’m sticking with it.
I didn’t mean to bring God into it, but it worked. You know?
I had my fair share of gauchos in elementary school, but did anyone else have the elastic belt (with interlocking silver rings that fastened in front) that said GAUCHO GAUCHO GAUCHO GAUCH GAUCHO GAUCHO all the way around your waist? Oh, you didn’t? Huh. That’s too bad. I must’ve been the only lucky one to sport that accessory.
Wow, I’m in the minority here – I love me some gauchos. And I’m not ashamed! They looked hot in the winter with tall boots and a sleek little turtleneck… now that it’s warming up I like them with a cami and some strappy sandals. I should qualify this by admitting that I am 5’8″ and a size 12… NOT a cadaverous “00” waif.
I am totally in agreement on the jersey knit kind, though. Looks like pajamas, feels like pajamas? Should be worn only as pajamas, people. You don’t wear your bathrobe to the office; don’t take these outdoors either.
You know, I work at Torrid. The gauchos have taken over. One would be hard pressed to find a capri length pant in our store that isn’t gauchoesque. That said, I own several pairs. None of those knit ones, even though I don’t really have a lumpy arse problem, it’s just not attractive. I do, however, find the slightly less gaucho-y dress ones to be quite nice and flattering on me. I do cheat and have my grandma take them in a little though sometimes, otherwise I feel like a friggen idiot.
Gauchos are a gateway to perpetual camel toes and wedgies. ‘Nuff Said.
I am not old enough to remember them “the first time around”, but I do think they look good with boots in the winter and sandals in the summer. I like the kind that look like pants, not the jersey knit ones. Capris look terrible on me (big calves), but the gouchos look good.
I have to be one of the few people who are in favour of the gaucho. I own 2 pairs and I love them. I’ve also gotten more compliments wearing them than anything else in my wardrobe. Viva los Gauchos!
I am 53, 5foot 41/2 inches, 185 #.
I have a pair of dark brown gauchos, flowy, comfy, and think I look pretty good in them. What do you think?