Jonalysis

Bassist Scott Owen from The Living End in an interview:

No matter how flairy or flowery the pants that you are actually wearing are, if you feel like you are in leather pants while you’re playing that riff, it is damn good.

Actor Peter Facinelli in an interview:

After Fastlane I got typecast as the “slick, cool dude”. I don’t consider myself slick at all. Sometimes I’m like, “How the hell did I run around in those leather pants?”

In April 2006, Jeremy N. Leonard smashed the front window of Vogue Furriers in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and stole a pair of leather pants. The police caught Jeremy and the court sentenced him to two months in jail.

In April 2008, the main glass door of Vogue Furriers was smashed in with a large rock and a pair of leather pants stolen. Jeremy was charged with this offense, too.

In May 2008, the police responded to an alarm at Vogue Furriers. I bet you cannot guess who they met at the crime scene…

It might be cheaper for the proprietor of Vogue Furriers to just give Jeremy a pair of leather pants for free.

Dainese’s advertizing campaign for the year 2008 features Valentino Rossi, an Italian road racer and a multiple MotoGP world champion. In one of the photographs for the campaign, Valentino is wearing a racing suit, boots and gloves.

While playing a video game in a living room.

The photograph looks contrived and unintentionally silly, does it not? Well okay, we can of course imagine that Valentino and his female friend are just killing time while waiting for a buddy who is still gearing up and they will soon go out for a motorcycle ride. But still…

The photograph is one of the four photographs that are part of the campaign. The marketing blather of the campaign states:

“Dainese. Stile di vita” (Dainese. Lifestyle) is the title of the new concept: the shots portray Valentino and Alessia in four moments of everyday life, in which however they are nonchalantly wearing racing suits, leather jackets with a high technological content and protections.

In another photograph, Valentino and Alessia are examining a map. In the remaining two photographs, Alessia is just simply posing to the camera. Apparently posing to the camera is part of everyday life for Italians.

The silliness of the video game photograph would have been an advantage if the campaign was supposed to be silly in the first place. Think of the possibilities: Valentino shaving his beard in a racing suit, Valentino preparing a dinner in a racing suit, Valentino changing the diapers of a baby in a racing suit.

Valentino would have been the perfect choice for such a humoristic campaign, because he is known for his numerous antics. For example, he has driven victory laps with an inflatable sex doll and hired fake policemen to show up track-side to issue him with speeding tickets.

You can find more photographs of Valentino in Dainese gear in the D-Club Backstage section of the Dainese web site.

Rodney Atkins is a country-singer from the United States. In one photograph, Rodney sits on the floor. He is wearing black leather pants and a black t-shirt. He has boots on his feet. I think Rodney is not a bad-looking man and I like to watch him in that gear.

Rodney does not wear leather pants any more and that is a good thing. You may be wondering why a confirmed leather fetishist like me thinks so. The reason is simple: Rodney does not feel that he is being himself in leather pants and I believe that it is not good to wear clothes in which one does not feel comfortable.

On the other hand, I believe that it is good to wear clothes that one likes. If you like leather pants, wear them in situations for which they are suitable. Do not let the taste of others define your taste.

Nowadays, Rodney performs in old jeans, a flannel shirt and a beat-up cap. The outfit does not appeal to me but it is not supposed to: Rodney describes his audience as “intelligent rednecks” and I do not think I belong to that group. I wonder whether it is even possible to be intelligent and a redneck at the same time.