To Jean or not to Jean?

Obsessed with weather and fashion?
Me too!
 
Let’s be serious for minute.  Ninety degree weather is too hot to wear jeans.
 
On my walk this morning from Franklin Street through Upper Quad to the Pit, I saw probably a dozen Chapel Hill ladies wearing jeans. 
 
Cute? Yes.
Smart? Probably not.
 
In a recent article, Marie Claire’s resident dermatologist Dr. Amy Wechsler addressed the issue of wearing jeans in the summer. And yes, there are definitely some issues involved.
 
According to the September issue of Marie Claire, denim can make your legs sweat.  This, in turn can lead to clogged pores that form ingrown hairs.  That’s not a good thing, ladies. These ingrown hairs can develop on the thighs, bikini area and sometimes even on the calves, depending on how tight you wear your jeans. It’s all the worse with the tight fitting skinny jeans that are now in style. 
 
There are two sides to everything though, and sophomore Casey Jenkins defends wearing jeans in the summer.  In an email, Casey said, “One of the reasons I like to wear jeans during the summer months is because although it may be hot outside, usually inside buildings the AC is running on high.  Since I've been back at college, I have realized that it is freezing in most classrooms. . .  Instead of freezing in class and shaking half of the time because I'm so cold, I'd rather just put on more clothes.”
 
Casey also said that jeans are comfortable to her, and even walking outside in the heat doesn’t bother her too much.
 
Facebook pages like “Wearing Jeans in the Summer” exemplify this rising preoccupation of wearing jeans during increasingly hot weather.  On this page, people are encouraged to post pictures of themselves wearing jeans of all kinds—skinny, boyfriend, bell-bottom, colorful—during the summer. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wearing-Jeans-in-the-Summer/71163093234
 
It’s truly a personal choice of whether or not to wear jeans during the summer. However, with the health concerns involved in doing this, it makes me wonder, “Are you crazy?”
 
If you are one of those crazy people who do wear jeans when it’s hot, Dr. Amy Wechsler recommends “hydrating your legs with a non-comedogenic exfoliating moisturizer” and always wearing underwear.  In addition, Dr. Wechsler also says to “use a salicylic acid spot treatment on new ingrowns, and [to] see your doctor if they don’t heal in three days” because they might need to be drained.
 
So ladies (and gents), let’s just be safe and put the jeans away until the weather cools off a little.  Why not give shorts a chance until then.

One of Dr. Amy Wechsler’s recommendations for moisturizing.

A student walks to class in jeans.  Behind her, another student demonstrates a cooler style.