Dan Jackson: Humble trackie suits all occasions

Dan Jackson ... track pants rule!

HANDS up who wears track pants everywhere else but at the gym.

Since I discovered the cheaper chain stores stock blue and black generic trackpants for $10 to $15 a pair, I haven't been out of them.

They're just so comfortable.

They are my "go-to" pants first thing in the morning, work pants during the day and my slouch around pants in the evening.

"Aha," you say, "but what about in the summer when it's too hot for trackies?"

Simple, I cut the legs off and they become trackie shorts.

They really are that versatile.

I have gotten to the point where I have different categories of trackies - old ones for round the house, almost ruined ones for work and near new ones for going to town.

Sure, they're not that fireproof and many is the time I've been welding or gas cutting and felt that uncomfortable sensation of them melting against my leg, but it's the sort of pain that you put up with for the ease of the expandable waistband with adjustable drawstring. Too much beer and pizza? Just let them out a bit - no one will notice.

I've tried to wear them out to dinner a few times but my fiancee frowns upon it. And by "frowns" I mean sends me back inside to put on some other pants.

By the way, my "other" pants are a pair of extremely faded Levis I've had since the late 90s and they truly are poked - but, apparently, they are preferable to my trackies with holes burned through them. Go figure.

Track pants were supposedly invented for the gym and doing exercise in - not for wearing to the supermarket or dropping the kids off at school. But I see people walking around in sports jerseys and running shoes all the time and they're not playing rugby league or sprinting.

Why the discrimination against trackies? Is it because they're priced so reasonably ... ie, cheap? Is it because sometimes in the queue at the bank you can't help but notice the person in front of you has holes in their trackies in unfortunate places?

One real drawback that I'll concede they do have is that they are easy to pull down. When the kids were smaller and I used to drop them at kindy, they would grab my legs as I was walking out the door.

I can tell you it is quite a nervous feeling fending off a toddler while trying to pull your pants up in a preschool ...

But, overall, trackies get a bad rap and I believe someone should invent "formal" trackies.

Imagine a world where people could wear trackies to a funeral or wedding and not be frowned upon, but instead praised for their common sense and practicality. A world where uncomfy dress pants and ridiculously tight jeans were relegated to the back of drawers and people were free to choose track pants that celebrate an ever-expanding middle-aged waistline.

Repeat after me: "Yes, we can ... wear trackies whenever we feel like." That's the world I want to live in.