It is not uncommon for fashion trends to reflect the style of music a person listens to. One of these trends — males wearing female jeans — not only evinces the type of music these men listen to, but it is also a characteristic of an entire fashion scene.
“Fashioncore” is the term that describes those who wear girl jeans — at least that is what they call it.
“It’s just a scene thing,” said Brandon Sheridan, who is a self-proclaimed fashioncore scenester. “You’ve got the black hair over one eye, the white belt, the girl pants, the converse — it’s the ‘scene’ thing to do.”
“The scene” refers to the national hardcore music scene.
Hardcore, as defined by Travis Leblanc, an English freshman, is a type of music with a couple of distinctions from metal. There is a chugging beat, which you dance to, “crazy” tunings with many dissonant chords, and a screamer, a singer who can “growl and shout his head off.”
Bands such as Norma Jean, Through the Eyes of the Dead, and Reflux are considered hardcore.
Leblanc broke down the definition of fashioncore.
“There are two divisions of hardcore,” Leblanc said. “Fashioncore and tough-guy hardcore. Fashioncore is more image-oriented. Same music [as tough-guy hardcore], different look.”
The look he describes is common among students. Walking around the quad, it is easy to spot someone wearing girl jeans, a “super-tight hoodie,” and a bandana in their back pocket.
Also common among fashioncore style is a white belt to go with the female pants, although this is usually only popular among those who like grindcore.
“Grindcore is another style of music,” Leblanc said. “It’s really out there, spastic, crazy — people who like grind usually wear the belt.”
Most of the girl-pant wearing few claim how comfortable girl pants are as opposed to men’s jeans.
“They’re so comfortable and I feel so good in them,” said Danny Farber, a 20-year-old girl pants enthusiast at The Furnace music venue. “They show my figure off better. Guy pants just don’t do it for me.”
Sheridan agrees with Warden, although there is one stipulation.
“They’re actually more comfortable than guy pants — as long as you wear tighty-whities,” he said.
The reasoning behind guys wearing girl pants could be because of the feeling of belonging to a group, and recognizing those who share the same musical tastes.
“It’s predominately a hardcore thing,” Leblanc said. “Nine people out of 10, if you see them wearing girl pants, they like hardcore. You’re walking down the street, you see a guy wearing girl pants, you know what it’s all about. They’re into hardcore.”
Julie Reboul, a philosophy freshman, enjoys spotting guys wearing girl pants.
“Boys in girl pants make me blush,” she said. “I love it. I think it’s the hottest thing in the whole world.”
The main reason for girl pants, coincidentally, is the comfort factor.
“They’re a lot more comfortable,” Leblanc said. “Especially the stretch kind. It doesn’t make sense to me why they don’t make guy pants the same. They get a little tight in the crotch every now and then, but that’s to be expected.”