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PUNCHING DAY

Punching Day: Kicking Jeans šŸŒ­

Folks: the time has come. Thereā€™s been discussion of these on the podcast, and on the Discord, and in the martial arts pit Seanbaby lords over on weekends and alternate Fridays. Itā€™s time for an article-shaped look at a real garment calledā€¦ Kicking Jeans.

Behold that description. And behold this hyperlink! You can visit that web store right now! You can purchase your own pair*, and experience them firsthand**, and toss this blog in a friggin trash can***!

*As of this writing, Kicking Jeans are only available in adult menā€™s sizes.

**As of this writing, Kicking Jeans are unavailable in every waist size above 29. I wanted to buy a pair and test them in real life and write about that. But I am too big.

***Your computer or phone is dirty now! Ha ha ha. Ha ha!

ā€œKicking Jeansā€ are jeans designed for doing regular stuff and doing martial arts. Which martial arts, you ask? ā€œMultipleā€, they reply, because they havenā€™t finished googling ā€œmartial arts style namesā€ and need to stall for time.

Kicking Jeans are the Model T of pants. Theyā€™re from decades ago (the 1970s), theyā€™re proudly sold in one color (blue), and they make a statement (such as ā€œhi-yaaaā€). But maybe itā€™s more accurate to call Kicking Jeans the impractical, over-optimistic convertible of pants. From their debut in August 1977, ā€œKickinā€™ Jeansā€ sold themselves as more than clothing. They sold themselves as the gateway to a dream lifestyle.

Special thanks to Shawn Robare and the now-defunct website Branded In The ’80s for preserving screencaps of these vintage ads.

ā€œFinally, blue jeans you can kick in.ā€ Finally. Finally! Finally thereā€™s a product that lets you toggle between walking (boo) and kicking (FINALLY). Do you own a bright red sports car? If you did, you could toggle between obligatory errands and a breezy babe-magnetizing joyride. Kickinā€™ Jeans make that same promise, in a legs sense. Theyā€™re not a unique sales pitch. They are a unique modeling task, challenging clotheshorses to achieve ā€œdisco casualā€ and ā€œIā€™m dressed optimally for this pummelingā€ within the same magazine spread.

Hey computer: enhance! Because that advertisement features the most squicky word Iā€™ve learned in a long time.

Thatā€™s right: ā€œgusset.ā€ The word ā€œgussetā€ is the central pillar of Kicking Jeans descriptions. Various ads trumpet a ā€œslim gussetā€, ā€œexclusive gussetā€, ā€œhidden gussetā€, and other flashy synonyms for ā€œwe let the crotch out by adding a humongous fabric quadrilateral.ā€

Iā€™ve read the word ā€œgussetā€ a dozen times now. Iā€™ve learned itā€™s a pants thing. I still feel like it means ā€œturkey genitalia.ā€

Also, ā€œgussetā€ might be the only consistent word in these ads. Even the jeansā€™ name went through a few rebrands. As you saw above, they changed names when Literally Chuck Norris became their spokesman. Norris repped ā€œAction Jeansā€, and also repped the same product as ā€œKarate Jeansā€. In those ads, Chuck demonstrates the pantsā€™ ability to encompass the entire adult male yin and yang of ā€œKarate Masterā€ and ā€œA Second Guy Incapable Of Relaxing.ā€

The company also turned to an array of spokeskickers beyond Norris. They hired not one but two Ernie Reyeses.

I know that ad feels dated now. Back in the day, America didnā€™t have Big Government telling Job Creators they couldnā€™t sell Violence Pants to School Children.

Kicking Jeans also hired somebody called ā€œBill ā€˜Superfootā€™ Wallaceā€ to spokesleg.

I wish Iā€™d learned about this person sooner. He combines DB Cooper’s face with Braveheart‘s main character’s name. For all I know he is immortal and is all three men. Please: let me have that headcanon. I like it. Itā€™s fun to imagine him kicking open the door of a hijacked plane, shouting a Scottish ā€œhi-yaa.ā€ Also, I need any distraction I can get right now. Whenever my brain idles, it goes full Amadeus on new alt meanings for ā€œgusset.ā€

Today, Kicking Jeans apparently lack the juice to keep the Celeb Train rolling. But I want to celebrate their modern models (ā€œmod-delsā€?). The new no-names are no less striking. Such as this guy, whoā€™s trying to strike you with his fists even though heā€™s already kicking you.

If an action photo of ā€œMr. Clean Trying To Aneurysmā€ didnā€™t sell you on these pants, nothing will. This blog is over. And if youā€™ll excuse me, Iā€™ve got a date in Seanbabyā€™s martial arts pit. I sure hope they start offering Kicking Jeans in my size before the big fight!

Alex Schmidt is a Kickin’ Brained writer, Jeopardy! champion, and creator of the Secretly Incredibly Fascinating podcast. 

9 replies on “Punching Day: Kicking Jeans šŸŒ­”

I love every single thing about the image of Roller Rink Gary kicking Sweaterfro into low orbit. Either Sweaterfro actively leapt tummy first onto his opponentā€™s foot or Garyā€™s leg hits with the force of a trebuchet. And yer boy still had the wherewithal to change out of his original sweater, now soaked with digestive fluid from his ruptured abdomen, in order to strike that dreamy come hither pose in the next photo. Thatā€™s a professional, folks.

I don’t see nearly so much moustache on the airborne fella; I’m not sure that’s the same dude. I think that’s his cousin JumperPuff, here to demonstrate that he too has discovered the secret of gussetjutsu and and is prepared to take his revenge.

No way, THE Ernie Reyes Jr? Of TMNT 2 and Surf Ninjas fame? I’ll take 2 pairs for myself (one for formal events, the other for every day use), and 1 each for every member of my immediate family. This’ll be the best Christmas ever.

So, the two UFC podcasts were to get us ready for the appearance of Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace in a jeans ad, right? Because that’s the only reason I didn’t say ‘Who the fuck is ‘superfoot?’ when I read this.

Genki Sudo vs 13 escaping butterflies should have been the main card. The beauty of that spectacle would unite nations.

I dont have the time to look for this… but maybe someone else can…

Somewhere out there is a movie credits role that has a special thank for Kickin’ Jeans.

Was anyone else surprised that Alex isnā€™t a size 29? Lol, I guess Iā€™m bad at sizing, and to be fair, in my mind when I think of Schmitty the Clam, I always picture him as ā€œThe New Guyā€, so maybe heā€™sā€¦matured? Since then?

Love ya Alex, and I learned a lot about Water Towers in my morning commute!

When your advertising copy says:

“…the secret? It’s in the crotch.”

That’s everything I need to know about your product. Here is my money.

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