Althouse: “On menswear, she says she would sooner see a man approach her with a grenade than wearing a pair of shorts.”

January 25, 2021

“On menswear, she says she would sooner see a man approach her with a grenade than wearing a pair of shorts.”

From "'Come for the quips but stay for the coats': the enduring style of Fran Lebowitz/Pretend It’s a City, the Netflix series about the writer and socialite, is a love letter to her sartorial triumphs" (The Guardian).

33 comments:

FullMoon said...: Violent testicular euphemism.; 1/25/21, 5:48 PM
YoungHegelian said...: I suspect that Ms Liebowitz has survived many more encounters with men in shorts at Coney Island than she has with fragmentation grenades.; 1/25/21, 5:55 PM
Ken B said...: I wear shorts all the time. But never with less than a 10” inseam.; 1/25/21, 6:01 PM
Big Mike said...: Ignorant woman has never seen what happens to people when a fragmentation grenade goes off near them.; 1/25/21, 6:08 PM
LordSomber said...: Our esteemed hostess's head would explode if she ever won a vacation to Bermuda.

But I would still recommend it (the vacation).; 1/25/21, 6:12 PM
Narayanan said...: what about kilts?; 1/25/21, 6:22 PM
Iman said...: “On menswear, she says she would sooner see a man approach her with a grenade than wearing a pair of shorts.”

She’d probably run a sub 5 second 40 yard dash away from a budgie smuggler...; 1/25/21, 6:24 PM
pacwest said...: Kindred spirits.; 1/25/21, 6:26 PM
Narr said...: I'ma post some pix of my gorgeous gams in shorts before long.

Narr
Brace yourselves, ladies; 1/25/21, 6:29 PM
Sebastian said...: Some women really don't have a clue about men, do they. Amusing, though not in the manner of "women doing humor."

By the way, she is still a woman, right? Or does she use they all by xerself?; 1/25/21, 6:30 PM
Howard said...: I watched her and Scorsese's Netflix show. She's an old school curmudgeon, you people might like her. At least those who recognize hyperbolic humor.

I was surprised how handsome she was at 19. She wears a lifetime of smoking in her ancient face, hunched shuffle and tar throat growl. The sad after picture from an anti-smoking advertisement.; 1/25/21, 6:40 PM
mezzrow said...: ...unlike Fawn Leibowitz, whose passion for pottery proved her undoing.

If she'd only been into tailored suits, she might still be with us. Wisdom presents itself in mysterious ways.; 1/25/21, 6:42 PM
David53 said...: How about kilts?; 1/25/21, 7:00 PM
rhhardin said...: My trail shorts have a 5" inseam but I'm unlikely to approach Fran Leibowitz.; 1/25/21, 7:02 PM
Temujin said...: I'll be sure to pass that on to my neighbors and friends down here in Florida. They'll be destroyed by this news.

PS- it was 78° degrees today and yes- I'm wearing shorts. Wanna see?; 1/25/21, 7:06 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Here’s a politician in shorts that you can’t unwatchable.; 1/25/21, 7:11 PM
n.n said...: Males tend to have utilitarian bodies. Women are clearly the fairer sex, the curves, the softness, the colorful "peacocks" of the human species and society. Equal in rights and complementary in Nature/nature.; 1/25/21, 7:22 PM
Humperdink said...: Women complain about men in shorts? Are these the same people who are stone silent regarding women in yoga pants, you know the ones with a BMI of 30+.; 1/25/21, 8:32 PM
jaydub said...: Fran, pick me, pick me. I'll find a grenade. Already have the shorts.; 1/25/21, 8:51 PM
Narr said...: Hey Fran, look! I got a grenade in my shorts!

Narr
The love grenadier; 1/25/21, 9:01 PM
todd galle said...: Well, what a conundrum. I've worn shorts, a kilt, and have carried grenades - of course not all at the same time necessarily. A question though, what the heck would Fran do if I approached her wearing my kilt, with shorts (horrific I know) underneath, with a brace of loaded grenade pouches on some LBE. Don't forget the sporran, might have a grenade there. Two grenades don't fit, I've tried.; 1/25/21, 9:56 PM
Joe Smith said...: AA; quit trying to make Fran 'a thing.'

If you want to post about an actually interesting lezbo, try Paglia.; 1/25/21, 11:29 PM
Clyde said...: Floridian here. Shorts about 350 days a year, jeans when it’s cold (below 50 degrees in the morning). Don’t give a rip what anyone else thinks. I dress for comfort at work.; 1/26/21, 5:02 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Once I learned she was a political reactionary, and not a thinker, I was done with her:

Fuck Fran Leibowitz.; 1/26/21, 5:36 AM
stevew said...: What is the idea behind this aversion to men in shorts? I think our hostess objects on fashion grounds, the wearing of shorts is for boys not men and so is juvenile when men wear them. Personally I don't spend a lot of time assessing what other people are wearing so it's difficult to imagine why shorts are a problem.

Anyway, I wear shorts in the summer, though not usually when I'm golfing; full length pants act as a more effective sunscreen for my pasty white legs, though this means I set myself up for ridicule from my friends: "you aren't a good enough golfer to play in long pants". I wear a kilt on special occasions. All my "short" bottom attire are knee length. Capris are not in my wardrobe.; 1/26/21, 6:54 AM
CapitalistRoader said...: Turnabout's fair play:

On womenswear, he says she would sooner see a woman approach him with a grenade than wearing a pair of shorts.
Walmart shopper; 1/26/21, 7:33 AM
henge2243 said...: Rei Kueakubo and Thom Browne would disagree with Ms. Lebowitz but what do they know about fashion.; 1/26/21, 7:54 AM
Narr said...: My wife loooves her some kilt, but so far I've resisted letting my inner Highlander out; a nephew of hers and his groomsmen all wore kilts at the nephew's wedding about eight years ago--a big Catholic do with K of Cers and the whole schmear. (One of those disappointing affairs where the groomsmen are better looking than the bridesmaids.)

Narr
Marriage didn't last long, but I don't blame the kilts.; 1/26/21, 9:17 AM
todd galle said...: Narr:
I've worn kilts most of my life for special occasions, though I didn't insist on it for our wedding, a Lutheran service, where my father (a piper) declaimed the sanctuary as too 'catholic' (this was on a Lutheran college campus mind you). He said the same of our current church in suburban Harrisburg, PA. "My goodness, those are icons" regarding the images of 4 saints (Peter, Paul, Luke and Mark) behind the alter was his initial take. I kind of agree, though I'm descended from the lowland Scots religious Independents. I give the stink eye to Presbyterians, though no offense intended. An additional proof might be that I saw my grandmother smile once, for a staged photo shoot, and I only saw the smile in the photo (which I still do have), never in person. Barr's are hard folks.; 1/26/21, 12:09 PM
Narr said...: Kilted Lutheran bagpipers! Is this a great country, or what?

Wonderful stories, todd.

Narr
Oma was a "Lut'run" who hung out with the Presbyterians; 1/26/21, 1:49 PM
KLH said...: I think t shirts are a little juvenile looking over a certain age. But shorts are essential in hot weather, and it’s foolish not to wear them. I agree with the other commenter about yoga pants. If women of all ages and sizes can wear those, then any man can wear shorts.; 1/26/21, 2:36 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: I used to be in a band called, "Men In Shorts". We were a cover band of "Men at Work". We only knew that one song, but it was a really good performance because we would make a lewd gesture involving our shorts we always wore, when it got to the "I come from the land down under" refrain of the song.; 1/26/21, 7:09 PM
Anonymous said...: I wear shorts all the time. You should see my glorious calves. Women melt at the sight.
The blinding whiteness of my legs mesmerize.

43rd Idaho Militia

(Never be afraid of your Government); 1/26/21, 8:02 PM