Slummin' It
 

Oh, you all know exactly what I mean by the title alone. Don't even play, people. I can see the baggy sweatpants and XL T-shirts from here.

Slummin' It

I know some of you do it all the time based on your clothing choices and lifestyle, thus it is the rule instead of the exception and nothing "Ooo-aaah!" exciting.

I also know some of you high class style-freak types do it occasionally in those rare "Awwh, fuck it!" moments of weakness when you're in a real funk.

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I just went out to the grocery store for a few impulse items on this fine Saturday night... dressed in holey faded jeans with no belt, unbuckled and very-ate-the-fuck-up "Jesus Cruiser" sandals, a patch-laden army jacket, a fuzz-covered karate T-shirt, and a black fleece cap. I haven't shaved since January 1st and I don't think comb has gone anywhere near my skull in 72 hours.

Disclaimer: I'm not dirty. There has been no skipping showers, the use of Old Spice stick, face and hand washing, my rigorous 4-part oral hygiene regimen or toilet paper, but outwardly I look a lot like a stereotypical homeless veteran except for the clean skin and lack of Boone's Farm breath and urine-stench cologne.

I think it's because I'm a single guy and not currently looking for a relationship, an older guy "balls deep" in college, formerly GI Joe, formerly ring-anchored, and have my life priorities pretty damn straight.

I'm not much of a pretty boy, either.

...

Note to self: There will be a lot of grooming in my near future, though. Got a lady to impress.

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Questions:

When do you "slum it" in your life? Times of the year, moods, relationship status, activities, etc.

To what degree do you go?

What do you think about the occasional neglect of superficial self-grooming / attention to style?

By posting this you show you care too much.

Might as well start spray tan and use 'product'.

Can you do my tooth whitening?

You bet, bring money.

The only way I'll leave the house in disarray is if I'm just goin' to my Mom's house to do laundry.


Oh and on Christmas Day my family usually wears pajamas all day.

Shit, everyday when I get home from work. Baggy sweats and a T-shirt man.

On occasion, the baggy sweats and T-shirt hit the grocery store with me, but more often than that, I'm going after work, so dirty jeans, something one step up from a T-shirt, and steel-toed work boots. Definitely not GQ, but I'd not say slobbish either.

I don't really ever dress up except for job interviews, holidays, funerals, and weddings. Oh, and when I'm taking the wife out for a nice dinner.

I never leave the house in sweats, but around the house, I'm pretty slovenly on days I haven't gone to work. And if I'm home feeling sick, don't come to the door-the sight of me would scare away cops....

I take off my jeans as soon as I get home for the evening. Trade 'em for just hanging out in my underwear or some pj pants. I do it primarily for comfort, but also because if I get started painting, things don't usually end well for my jeans.

As for going out.. sometimes if I feel crappy I'll go to class in sweatpants, but not often at all. Soccer shorts and a t-shirt is standard for class when it's warm, though.

I only really "let myself go" when I'm sick. I think that's understandable. But otherwise, I like to dress up and make some sort of attempt to look pretty. Especially if I have a man to impress.. then I make sure shave my legs every day, even if I'm not planning on wearing a skirt in the winter. ;)

I have a pet peeve about seeing girls/women out grocery shopping in their Care Bears or flannel pajama bottoms. Seriously, how hard is it to put on a pair of jeans before you walk out the door?

The only time I'll really slum it is at home when I know no one is going to be coming over. Like right now.

my normal everyday wardrobe (jeans and t-shirt or sweatshirt) would be considered "slumming it" by quite a few people.
about the only way i can dress down is to go out wearing sweatpants instead of jeans.
as far as the neglect of self-grooming, it doesnt bother me to miss a shower here and there. especially if i know i'm not going anywhere that day.

I slum it on weekends...

I really only stop shaving. I still keep showering and keeping um the hygene but I just let my testosterone prove itself a bit and turn me into a temporary bushman for a few days.


I never go out in a slummy state unless I'm going straight for a drive thru. But since I stopped doing that last october, it doesn't happen.

I'm too afraid I'll miss the chance to make a good impression on someone important to me (who I haven't met yet) if I'm lacking the confidence to just be myself if I'm all nasty and poorly dressed/groomed.

I "slum it" when I do yard work. Old, thick jeans, old boots, old torn t-shirts, old-ass hat. Same when I do anything like that. Mortar work, automotive work, woodwork, etc. If I'm doing a dirty job, I'm not sporting Kenneth Cole.

I always pictured you working on your car in a three piece suit...

If it's something simple like a plug/wire change, then sure. But if I'm slapping on new headers and a turbo, no way, Jose.

Hear, hear. I truly don't understand the phenomenon of going out in your pajamas. Or sweats. If I'm just running to the store, I at least put on some jeans. I may not have makeup on, but damn it, I have clothes on. I think the last time I ran out in my pajamas was 7 years ago when my cockatiel injured her eye and I had to get some saline solution from the store.

I have a home/office and I live in my jammies. Slumming it only starts when I get dressed.

you mean when ure at your moms and your mom does the laundry?

There is no such thing as "slumming it" in Iceland. I mean, ktspktsp and I do our best to hang out half-naked or in our PJ's on most weekend days when we're at home, but the second we leave the front door, we have to be decently dressed. NO ONE goes to the store in PJ pants or sweats (I don't think Icelanders even own sweats, lol). I don't know if it's a European thing or what, but whenever I am in Iceland I feel a lot more pressure to dress nicely for even short trips to the store.

I had the same issue in Lebanon, actually. It was over 70 degs F and I was SO excited about the idea of wearing khaki capri pants and flip flops (for the first time in over a year) down to the corner grocery store... but no, that idea got nixed by ktspktsp's female family. "In case we meet someone we know," they said. I didn't think capri pants and flip flops were exactly slumming it, but apparently in high-society Beirut they are. :P Apparently I'm a slovenly American in any other country but my own.

Mostly at home in cleaning clothes or lounging around in flannel PJs and wool socks. For me, slumming it means going out to the store with only a coat of mascara for make-up.

The flip-side of that is the hyper-grooming I do when I am dressing to impress. I'll start with the bathing, shampooing, conditioning, exfoliating, epilating, shaving, lotioning, hair-drying, straightening, teeth whitening, make-up, eyebrow shaping, perfume on all 13 pulse-points...and that's before I've even put on a stitch of clothing.

Now ask me how long I go in between shaves when a man is not involved. :orly:

Does going to the grocery store in my boots and breeches/jeans from the barn count as slumming it?

It usually gets me some interesting looks.

Who are you trying to impress?

Can't say I care what the check out girl thinks or the guy at Best Buy.

There are times when 'looking nice' applies, but as long as the hygiene is good I really don't see the point of worrying what some random person thinks.

I don't shave on weekends. My "dress code" at work can include cargo shorts, sandals, and Hawaiian shirts. You can imagine what goes on weekends.

If I'm going to a store, I don't care what I wear. It's a store. It's a place for getting crap. I usually clean up a bit if I'm meeting someone for coffee or a meal, but Ustwo's right: Who cares what the Best Buy cashier thinks? Look at what they're wearing.

I don't wear nice clothes to work--I work with small children, and we get dirty. Nice clothes are best left at home. So I have been known to show up at work in yoga pants.

I only go to the store in my PJs if I'm sick. I will go into the store in my yoga pants on my way to and from work or to and from, well, yoga. But my yoga pants are pretty nice. As for hairy situations, I grow back my eyebrows twice a year and repluck their shape. Usually what makes me look as if I were slumming it is my twice-yearly unibrow and my wild hair. If I've gone a while without a haircut, I turn into Hermione Granger. No joke.

I don't think I'm able to slum it. It's not in my genes or something. I do lay around the apartment in pj pants and a tank in the evening, but rarely all day. There is no way I could walk out the door in sweats to go somewhere, unless it's the gym. I even had trouble with pajama days at school. So going out in sweats has been a problem with me since my teenage years.

It's different in Arizona than it was in Chicago. I do wear more of my t-shirts out here. In Chicago, there was rarely a time I went out in jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers (and that's not really slumming it :lol:). It was quite a shock to move out here. I'd wear my everyday clothes and realize that I was *very* overdressed. I miss the catwalk of Chicago. I do believe I verged on strutting, but that's fun for me. I'm a slave to fashion. But as Abaya pointed out, you kind of have to go with the flow sometimes.

Years ago, I was working in my garden during the summer. Old t-shirt, raggy shorts, barefoot, not a lick of make-up. I needed something from the local 7-11, so I just threw on some flipflops and headed over....and ran into a woman I worked with. It was a weekend and she was immaculate as usual and I was covered in soil in those ratty clothes. Never again. I don't dress for the check-out people, I dress in case I run into someone I know.
Aww, sweetie, you're not an old ass-hat!

Ok maybe its a woman thing there, but why would a guy care?

We are suppose to get dirty now and then.

I take pride in the way I present myself. I'm comfortable in nice clothes, and I recognize that in addition to that fact we live in a society that places at least some importance on dress. All "metrosexual" razzing aside, I dress the way I dress and present the image I present because I want to. My normal state of being and comfort isn't in old sweats and a hockey jersey. This isn't a judgment of how poorly you may or may not dress, it's simply who I am.

If it is going to be an introverted day (studying, TV, programming, music, laundry, groceries, no expectations of hanging out with friends, etc), then I leave it at sweats (possible ratty jeans) and flip-flops- I still shower and do the normal routine... I just don't care if I run into anyone I know. I usually present myself in a manner more appropriate... however, I just need my off days.

I totally disagree. Apparently none of you people have lived in college towns. When midterms and finals roll around I tend to wear nothing but sweat pants and shirts and have my hair in a crappy bun with a baseball hat on while I'm slaving away in the studio or the library. If I'm paying a couple grand to go to school...I'm not going to care what people think of my attire while I'm studying for tests. Also you reach a point where you just don't care anymore about how your classmates see you as long as you make the grades.

I slum it at my 8:00 am classes..yes I wear my PJs and have been known to go barefoot with my t-shirt on. Then I promptly go back to bed.

Whenever I wash my care or do yard work for my parents I don't care how I look.
I also tend to be lazy when it comes to going to the store or getting gas. I just don't see the reason to dress up for strangers. I've already met my wonderful man, not looking for anyone else.

I suppose it's a college thing. I do however maintain the hygiene. 4-Cycle teeth-cleaning and showers. I wear my makeup also. I just don't like going out without it on. So if anything else I'll spend my time on my face.

I slum it a lot. I base my clothing on comfort, not looks. Some days I REALLY slum it though. Went to the store the other day to grab some sodas in my jeans, slippers, and no shirt on under my coat. Right now I'm still in that "just got out of the navy and can do whatever the fuck I want" phase though, so I'm a bit worse then I normally am.

It's an undergrad thing, to be honest. Yes, I lived in a college town, big time... but as a grad student/TA, we had to dress semi-professionally every day. So I noticed the undergrads dressing in PJ's and sweats a lot more, and remembered nostalgically back to my days on the undergrad rowing team (waking up at 4:30am, you can bet I was going to 8am class in my sweats!!!). But yeah, can't really get away with slumming that much as a grad student.

I don't actually wear anything but boxers unless I have to go somewhere (rare) and then I just wear a plain black T-shirt and jeans along with my boots. So I guess I'm always slumming it?

You didn't really just say that.

Since when do they let squids out of the Uncle Sam tank? :D

Shit, i guess i've been slumming for most of the last 5 or 6 years. I shower about once a week or two, haven't shaved in several and wear the same clothes (aside from the undies) for usually a week.

I know there's people i need to dress to impress, but i haven't really met them yet. I guess that's a perk of college?

I think for many college students, the reason to look like shit is to they can tell everyone how hard they are studying.

I was lucky to have clean clothes in college and for the life of me I can't recall if anything was ever ironed, but that was because I was lazy.

The college thing is a cop out in my opinion. It's an 'image' like ustwo said. I partied/studied soooo hard, I couldn't even get dressed. That's my observation anyway.

I always found my clothes when I was in college. The slummiest I got were jeans and t-shirts. I had a full load, got a 3.0, and worked 30-40 hours a week. I had every excuse not to prepare myself for the outside world between studying, working, and partying, but it's against my nature.

It's a matter of personal taste for me. Tomato, tomahto.

Since its winter and I do my grocery shopping around 6 am....I go in my sweats....its warmer than jeans and I really dont care if people like it or not, I got to shop not impress whomever may be there at that time of the morning

I don't really slum it other than not shaving occasionally. That doesn't say too much because I dress neatly but in an all purpose manner. My work clothes and home clothes are mostly the same.

That's the result of my wife's influence but also basic practicality and trying to set an example for my kids. Watching "What Not To Wear" on TLC has also scared me straight.

I love to stay clean and have ironed shirts. like Willravel said, I also get "slummin" if I need to work on something or do some sweating.

Every other time I get ready and put myself in my attire that I work with whenever I am out and about.

the reason? Because I have the time, and I feel comfortable in my "out" attire. Also I do it for me! not for the strangers on the street, or the people that I know that I may run into. just for ME.

also I am a full time college student and I have finals and still work full time, and do my part National Guard time, and see my mother every week.

I never understood why college kids felt the need to just go to college and then be lazy everywhere else in their lives.


I keep busy, busy, busy.

Well, maybe if you slinked around in some skuzzy sweatpants and fuzzy bunny slippers like a piece of trailer trash lost on campus (as your peers did)... just maybe you would have achieved that better grade! YA THINK ABOUT THAT ONE!? :D