Jonas Doerr – Opinion Columnist

I had some strict rules at my high school, long ago as it seemed. Believe it or not, we had to wear pants with belts every day to school. Once in a while, we would have a special event – Sweatpants Thursday! Of course, this luxury wasn’t free. We had to donate a couple dollars to a fundraising organization to get a sweatpants pass.
Imagine my shock when I got to college and people could wear sweatpants every day!

There were sweatpants for studying, sweatpants in the Caf, and sweatpants in class. I hadn’t seen such wild dressing at school since my homeschool days when I wore pajamas to school. Everywhere I looked, I saw someone wearing sweatpants.

It’s clear Gusties take their rights seriously: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of wearing whatever dang pants you want. They have plenty of good reasons to, too.
Sweatpants are comfortable. The loose, soft cotton sometimes feels like a cloud has enveloped the lower half of your body. Nobody ever said, “Time to relax! Let me put on my tightest pair of jeans!” If you want to be comfortable, you wear sweatpants.
Sweatpants are also easy to put on. There’s no belt, they’re loose, and they’re often sitting on the top of your drawer. It doesn’t take much thought to put on sweatpants in the morning. In fact, if you’re so inclined, you can wear them to bed so that you don’t have to change in the morning.
Unlike other pants, you can move around easily in sweatpants, especially if the urge to do yoga randomly strikes.

If Gus the Lion ever turns feral, it would be a lot easier to run in sweatpants than in dress pants.

Even with all these benefits, I think sweatpants are not the best option. There’s some significant downsides to all that comfort.

Just like eating ice cream too much can make you physically sick, wearing sweatpants too much can make you socially sick.
First of all, you don’t look as good when you wear sweatpants. Even if you haven’t skipped leg day in three years, jeans, khakis, or chinos will do you some good. Other people will notice the effort you put into wearing some fancy pants, and that reflects well on your appearance.
Cultural conventions right now dictate that people wear pants to important events. While things may be changing thanks to virtual meetings, most people would give me a funny look if I went to an interview in sweats. In fact, many workplaces nowadays do not permit their workers to wear casual pants. Since you will eventually have to adjust anyways, it makes sense to get used to dressing up now. While business attire at school might be strange for most college students, forgoing sweatpants now will make it easier to live without them later.

If you treat sweatpants like a special treat, then you will enjoy the moments you spend with them even more. When we wear sweatpants every day, we stop appreciating how amazing they feel.

Wearing them becomes something to look forward to. It could even become a coping mechanism for stress – instead of thinking about the Mt. Everest of homework piling up, think about the next precious time you’ll spend with your sweatpants.

Sweatpants also affect the vibe on campus. It’s normal to see sweatpants in the Lund Center; that’s why they’re named sweatpants, after all. On the other hand, seeing sweatpants in my classes makes it feel like a sofa away from being my neighbor’s living room. I don’t want to be in my neighbor’s living room; it is neither conducive to learning nor a place I am comfortable in. I can only conclude that other people know their neighbors a lot better than I do since they appear so comfortable with it.
It actually has been shown that dressing for success is a real thing. Wearing nicer pants will help Gusties do better in their classes and in their social lives. On a smaller scale, it could help convince the Caf workers to toss another scoop on your plate. Looking better causes everyone else to have a better first impression of you, which has countless benefits.
While there’s nothing wrong with wearing sweatpants, there are plenty of reasons why it might be time for a trouser upgrade. Putting on some nicer pants will help you to become accustomed to a future work environment, help you look better, and maybe even make you less stressed. Don’t sweat it if you’re not ready to make the change, but you’ll miss out on all the benefits participants will get. If we work together, we can look forward to a better future at Gustavus with fancy pants for all.