I am a mom of two so you’d think I would like mom jeans. But it’s the opposite.
High-rise jeans or “mom jeans” — made infamous by the namesake Saturday Night Live skit — came back in style right around the time I was pregnant with my second child. Before I got pregnant, skinny jeans were all the rage. Although I didn’t think they were that comfortable, I thought I looked decent in them.
After staying at home for three months with my second child, it was time to go back to work. I went shopping to hype myself up for this otherwise grim moment and to update my wardrobe. The maternity leggings I had been wearing for the past few months would no longer pass in the real world, and all of the clothes I used to wear before I got pregnant were decidedly out of fashion and no longer fit now that my hips had expanded a good few inches.
High-rise jeans were the only kind on the shelves at my favorite store at the time. I stuffed myself into a larger size than what I used to wear and scrutinized my figure in the mirror. Every flaw appeared illuminated.
Was this really what I looked like now? I looked, well, middle-aged. The mom jeans hit my stomach on its most protruding, least flattering part, as if there was a sign on me that said “Hello, I have carried two children in my stomach for a combined eighteen months.” The zipper felt like an arrow, tracing my lumps and bumps.
I resigned myself to buying them, praying the store’s harsh lighting had exacerbated my flaws. I proceeded to wear the jeans for the next few months without giving them much thought, as I was too busy juggling work, a toddler and a baby.
A few months later, I was in my company’s “wellness room” (aka pumping room) going about my business as one does with an infant at home, when I caught a glimpse of my body in the mirror. My stomach was ballooning over the aforementioned jeans; every roll seemed to be magnified.
Was it the mom jeans or was it me? I like to think it was the mom jeans.
Confession: I still wear those damn jeans but am counting down until they are out of style. The verdict is still out on skinny jeans.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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