I went shopping for clothes yesterday. It doesn’t happen very often, but I was in the mood and in need of some warmer weather things. These days, my primary concern when shopping for clothes is: does this make me look pregnant?
I once made the mistake of wearing this fabulous African print mu-mu. Jose and I went out wine-tasting one hot summer night and I slipped into it for comfort. A woman (albeit a very drunk one) took one look at me sipping on my fruity red and said, “Should you be drinking?” I was confused at first, until she helped me out by looking down at my belly (which, granted could have used a few hundred crunches) and saying, “You know, in your condition.” That was a truly awful moment in so many ways, and even though the woman was TOTALLY out of line (even if I was pregnant, it’s no business of hers if I chose to have a glass of wine) since then I’ve been very careful about what I wear.
There’s been a trend lately in those little baby doll tops that poof out from just below the bra line. What were those designers thinking? Who can actually wear those without looking pregnant? Not me, that’s for sure. So I picked out from pants, flat fronted, of course and a couple of tops with no gathers, frills, or bunches that could cause them to be mistaken for maternity wear. Because even though I have no problem answering, “No, I’m just fat!” if someone is tactless enough to ask, I don’t even want to crack open the door on that conversation.
I, too, wonder about women who wear those empire waist tops – Did you look in the mirror this morning? Especially when they don’t even fit.
Fashion is influenced by the economic climate – when times get bad (high unemployment/no jobs, etc.) women start wearing more feminine clothes (just look at the ’30’s and what was in style or the ’70’s remember Gunney Sak dresses?). Women turn to more frills/laces/colorful patterns and, unfortunately empire waist tops. All we can hope for is an upturn in the economy and the return of the ‘power suits’ of the eighties: I have my shoulder pads ready!
This is really interesting, although it apparently doesn’t apply to teen fashion, as that seems to be mainly about wearing cotton sacks right now (or is it just me getting old?) I am going to keep an eye out for this trend in feminine fashion. I love when someone teaches me something new. Thanks sewforward.