On the heels of turning 40 this past Friday, I got all the classic ‘old dude’ gifts, complete with an ‘Over the Hill’ coffee mug and a 6-pack of handkerchiefs (for me to cry into) from wife’s grandparents. But then I also had a few people tell me that ’40 is the new 30′ and that I shouldn’t really get blasted for my age until I’m 50 – so I guess I have that to look forward to. You know what? I’ll take it.
The truth is, a few months ago, I began to notice the subtle signs of aging – without thinking twice, I was wearing shirts with holes in them, forgetting where I put stuff, my back hurt every night after 7pm and I’d let my stomach go to the point where I couldn’t see myself take a leak. So I did something about it. I made a commitment to get in shape and since November, I’ve lost over 20 pounds, my lumbar is dialed in and I even got myself a few new shirts. I also hooked up with my friends (for the past few years now) at Lee and Life of Dad in a suite at Dad Summit 2.0, here in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago.
They asked me to hang out, talk March Madness and check out their new line of X-Treme comfort pants.
Normally I’m a jeans guy, have been for years – I even switched over completely from some boutique-y brand to Lee back when I first connected with them at a different summit in Houston in 2013. But pants? Pants designed to have the casual look of khaki’s, but with the comfort of athletic pants and an elastic waistband??
In that moment, as they were described to me, I began to flashback to high school. Without mentioning any names, I had two teachers that were a tad overweight. Every day they wore these pants with an elastic waistband and every fifteen minutes or so, as they walked around the room past my desk, they would grab the front elastic with both hands and haul their pants back up over their bellies like they were hoisting grocery bags into the back of a station wagon and I’ve had PTSD ever since.
But alas, the ladies (including the designer) in the Lee suite laughed as I told them this story and then asked me to hop behind the curtain and try a pair on… so I did.
Here’s the thing.
I looked like I was going to church, yet, felt like I was wearing sweatpants. COMPLETE. MIND. BLOW.
I lobbed out high-fives with a smile on my face. Just because I’m getting older, doesn’t mean that I need to completely let myself go. I felt dapper, comfortable, yet confident – confident enough to tell them that Kansas was going to win it all, to which I was greeted with several boo’s and punches to the groin.
I grabbed a few pair, thinking that these could be a wardrobe game-changer. You don’t think I’m gonna turn some heads in the neighborhood after people drive by and see me wearing something other than denim – lookin’ like I’m heading to a board meeting, yet playing street hockey with my kids?
We even had some fun and shot a little spot with the folks from Lee and even though Ryan, Beau, Art and Patrick hog the entire video with their witty retorts, charm and ruggedly handsome good looks – if you pause the video around 1:15, you’ll see me jumping off of a planter in front of our hotel…see….
I told you!
Here’s the full clip and I’m serious, check these pants out, they’re killer for WORK or PLAY.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I partnered with Life of Dad and Lee for this promotion.
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