Make It Stop: Sweatpants in Public

There is nothing wrong with a man owning a pair of sweatpants, but there is something very wrong with a man wearing them in public. Which is what several fashion labels are advocating this fall. One, in fact, is proposing that you spend $405 to commit this affront to acceptable pants-wearing. As Valet magazine puts it: "It's Band of Outsiders that offers the most subversive (and luxe) take on the classic. Designer Scott Sternberg cut his sweats from French Terry-lined Shetland wool, and tailored them like a pair of chinos." Sternberg also equipped them with reinforced knees, a two-inch cuff—and a watch pocket.

Undoubtedly there are men who can pull off a tailored pair of sweats (though these men have not, apparently, caught up to the wristwatch craze of 1930). And splurging on an article of clothing isn't, in itself, necessarily worthy of reprimand. But where does all this lead? If it's considered fashion forward to wear sweatpants in public, how soon until we start wearing them to the office? To weddings? And what, exactly, do you change into when you get home if you've ... spent the day in sweatpants?