the blog of bad pants

there is a plague that is sweeping the city of cusco, and that plague is bad pants.  bad bad pants.  now, don't get me wrong blog readers, it's not los peruanos that are wearing the bad pants.  in fact, i feel that the people of peru are a very nicely dressed people: nothing too flashy, keeping it respectable.  sometimes you'll see women in traditional peruvian costume, typically while holding a baby llama and asking you if you want to pay to have your picture taken with them, but it is the gringos who are wearing the bad pants, and the gringos alone.

i have made it my mission to capture these pants on film whenever i encounter them.  for you, dear blog readers, for you.  because i am that devoted.

the pants in question are a multi-colored sort of hippie granola-crunching pajama pant mash-up.  this has lead the bolshevik and i to ask the question, "why do people who supposedly love nature and the outdoors choose to dress so poorly?"

now, we have "hiking clothes," which are useful clothes made out of breathable quick dry materials for use while hiking in the mountains.  they aren't the most fashionable things: khaki colored pants with many pockets, solid colored sporty looking tops, but there is a functionality there.  however, these bad pants seem to serve no purpose.  maybe they are comfortable?  i mean, they look comfortable to sleep in. but i wouldn't be caught dead wearing them in public.  i'd rather be wearing my gym clothes in public, at least people would think that i am a motivated active person, as opposed to a slovenly bum.

(please note that in the photo at left, these two guys were traveling together, wearing identical bad pants.  this is a double faux pas.  one time in the same area i saw a guy in the bad pants with a matching shirt.  he looked like he had escaped from some sort of hippie prison/commune.  sadly i didn't have my camera to capture that one)

now, these pants are for sale at many of the little tourist shops in peru.  i've seen miles and miles of boldly colored pants for sale.  this leads me to a "chicken vs. egg" type question.  do gringos wear the pants because peruvians are selling them, and the gringos think it is traditional peruvian garb?  OR, have gringos brought their own ugly pants to peru, thinking that in mountain towns you must dress like a fool.  and then the peruvians caught on, seeing a potential tourist market, and began selling them here, along with the typical trinkets and jewelry?

either way i hope the peruvians are having a good laugh, (and making some good money) selling ugly pants to gringos, that they themselves would never wear.