When Fashion Gets Ridiculous

I'm going to be totally shallow here, and do some uncharacteristic ranting about fashion. Some friends of mine have heard my take on this matter, and since they're sick of hearing me talk about it, I had to find another place to vent.

A few months ago, all the women's magazines and fashion experts announced that the new trend that was going to take the world by storm was skinny pants, and leggings. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. LEGGINGS! SKINNY PANTS! Suddenly, I was barraged by images from fashions past- visions of supertight stretch "baston" jeans with side zippers, as well as women in leggings outlining each and every sordid detail of their saddlebag thighs (mine included). There's a VERY good reason those went out of style years and years ago. They make women look short! They're unflattering! They're downright UGLY. Next to oversized shoulder pads, these were fashion mistakes that never should have been committed again.

Sure, Hollywood stars can carry them well. Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Mischa Barton, all look fabulous in them. Then again, they all probably weigh 80 pounds apiece, and they'd probably look good EVEN in oversized shoulder pads. The point is, skinny jeans (and leggings) are only meant to be worn by SKINNY people. Which means, only about twelve people in the whole world can pull them off with panache.

Call me envious, call me bitter. I just hate how fashion experts are saying that bootleg jeans (which are universally flattering) are OUT, and these silly skinny pants and leggings are in. Of course, I also know they're trying to make more money since women have been hanging on to their figure-flattering bootlegs for dear life, and haven't done as much shopping in the past few years as they usually have. But come ON! Women finally find something that looks good on almost everyone, and there you are trying to convince them they'd be better off wearing something that makes their legs look like sausages.

On the plus side, this trend has been around for a few months now, and I'm glad to report that women have not embraced it blindly. I've only seen a few trend followers actually wearing these things, and thankfully, it's usually because they're one of the twelve people who actually look good in them. It's nice to see that women are no longer total slaves to fashion, and that some of us have actually realized that some trends are just not for everyone. I for one will wear my bootleg pants till kingdom come.