I'm Ready for the Skinny/Slim Jeans Thing To Be Over. Who's With Me?
I don't have anything really profound to say here other than I miss the days when baggy pants were in fashion. I'm about over this skinny/slim pants and shirts thing.
Is anyone else with me?
I've been waiting for this skinny jeans/slim fit pants fad to move through and make way for times when the average, everyday body is hip and awesome. I am super happy for those who are blessed with lean, slight frames. Really, I am. But for those of us with a little more meat on our bones, the meat that is muscle and the meat that isn't, I just want to say that the 90s rocked for us from a fashion perspective. Just sayin'.
It's profound how much of an impact fashion trends can have on our self-image and self-esteem.
It's more of a challenge than it used to be to shop for clothing since the onset of the slim fit fad. Whilst browsing online for clothes, I have to scroll past row after row of peeps in contra-posto pose and clad in pants that fit and look flattering on a small percentage of the population.
Folks may disagree with me and think that anyone can wear anything. You know what, I agree. They totally can. But they won't look the same and fashion is all about how things look, last time I checked, right? Or is it about something else?
It's just true that I won't look the same in skinny jeans as my buddy who has femurs as long as narrow as a telephone pole. And I don't feel comfortable walking around in slim-fitting clothing. But, when that's the fashion, what's a thicker-bodied person to do? What do you do?
I'll be honest. It's a little battle each day to not succumb to self-doubt or feeling bummed because I've got more junk in my trunk and don't have this tiny, little perfectly-sculpted butt and thin legs. I never really have had that type of body, even when I dropped 60 pounds during the worst phase of my eating disorder in high school. I've always been dense, adding muscle easily with hardly any effort. I also gain weight just from looking at certain foods (that's an exaggeration) so if I don't exercise enough, eat too late at night too often or eat too much sugar (all of which I've been doing lately), I gain weight with the snap of my fingers.
I consider myself the beefy Mark Wahlberg to the lanky Leonardo DiCaprio in Basketball Diaries.
There are so many different body types and they are all perfect, as is. My issue with the slim/skinny fit clothes is the message it sends to the masses about what is trendy, hip, cool and preferable appearance-wise. If you can't fit into these clothes, the message might be that there's something "wrong with you". Maybe other people don't feel that way at all. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe I speak a truth that resonates with others.
Maybe it's all of the above.
I haven't gotten a memo that skinny pants are going anywhere anytime soon so in the meantime, I'm just biding my time and waiting for MC Hammer pants to make the rounds once more.
Wait. I didn't actually mean that. But can I at least not feel like a fashion victim if I'm sporting some loose fitting khakis? Sometimes I walk out the front door feeling convinced the fashion police will roll up on me.
But they haven't yet, so I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing. If you're like me and feel like I do, I suggest you do the same. I'll keep accepting my body the way it is and not put it through hell to fit into those damn skinny pants. I will dress in ways that are comfortable and work for me. Can I recommend you do, too?
I do like certain fashion trends and adopt the ones that make me feel really good. I just don't dig this one, and I refuse to mess with my body the way it's built (especially given all the intense changes of late, some of which are still settling) just so I can fit into these pants and feel like I conform to the latest trend.
But maybe you're INTO these pants. Maybe you rock them, no matter your body type or relationship to it. And I salute you. That freakin' ROCKS!
You can just bet I will throw one hell of a party when fashion trends shift in my favor.
Photos courtesy of gap.com and this person's tumblr.
