In some ways, I’m an ideal fashion consumer - young, with some disposable income and I actually give a damn about what I look like when I leave the house. In other ways, I’m terrible, because I fritter over details, compare prices and specs endlessly and, honestly, I hate to shop.

This makes me a perfect target for Bonobos, a men’s pants company that’s been around for about two years. In fact, I’ve been a pretty loyal Bonobos shopper for much of that time and have filled my closet with their pants. Take a look at the site, this is no small expense, but it’s a price I’m happy to pay for a wardrobe that, quite literally, makes my ass look good.

That changed this morning when the Bonobos founders were featured on The Today Show. Suddenly, my Dark and Stormys and Marlinspikes have lost one of their most important features: cachet. Now that Bonobos is a trending topic, they’ve instantly lost their cool.

This is, of course, a common kvetch. Everyone hates it when their favorite indie band sells out. I’m charting a very predictible course correction because, you know, I wore those pants back when they were underground, man. And while selling out is very much a part of capitalism, quite possibly the point, it’s an anathema to those of us who pay a premium to be, or at least think, that we’re a little bit different – ask anyone who’s used a Mac for more than the past five years.

I have no doubt that Brian and Andy ran the numbers and figured that the benefits of selling their pants to bored housewives looking to spice up their husbands’ wardrobes outweighed the costs of damaging their brand in the eyes of long time customers like me. They are businessmen, after all, and, best I can tell, far savvier than I. I’m fully prepared to be completely wrong about this – maybe the added exposure will enable them to continue to grow into the best clothing company on the planet. Maybe the Oprah book club effect of a Today Show spot won’t happen, that those legions of housewives will be turned off by $200 pants (“I can buy four trousers at JC Penny for that!”).

Or maybe the Bonobos brand died at the hands of Tiki Barber, the loyal customers who built them up turned off by an association with Meredith Vieira and a douchey business guy talking about strategizing your startup diary. Maybe the influx of new customers will be a great short term shot but not sustainable in these “times of economic uncertainty”. I know I’d be happier if the monkey guys had taken a cue from the lawnmower guy.