Blue Jeans and a T-shirt

For guys, the casual fashion has been the same for ages. Bootcut blue jeans and a tee-shirt. Dress that look up with a button down shirt, and you have office apparel in a lot of places. Even suits barely change and only the most fashion conscious of men bother replacing one that still fits because it’s an older style.

For women it is different. Long gone are the days of wearing 2″ heels and a dress while doing housework. And after last year, I don’t think I care about official fashion anymore, especially when it comes to uncomfortable clothes.

When I was a girl, fashion told us to wear jeans so tight that some bought a size too small and had to lay on the bed to zip them up. (Bad idea – never do this at home.) Then they added elastic to the denim fiber and even big girls could wear the stretchy jeans.

But it wasn’t very flattering for most. Anything larger than a size 2 showed off all your rolls. And despite the well-marketed lie that blue jeans are more comfortable than almost anything else, we wedged ourselves into increasingly skinny versions until the industry itself couldn’t tell if they were pants or leggings. They gave up and called them “jeggins”. (sigh)

Skinny jeans have been around long enough that this style is almost all you find in shops today. But I’ve stopped seeing them ubiquitously on TV – modern protagonist women are wearing looser jeans, including what we used to call the elephant flare, except they are worn at the ankle today. In the 70’s pants that short were called high-water or floods.

And, to answer Christina’s question about kick pleats – these are fabric inserts in pants or skirts that flare open when you move. In the late 60’s this was a do-it-yourself add-on to the outside seam of jeans you’d already embroidered with flowers, hearts, and peace signs – the kick pleat usually involving paisley fabric or left over denim from your most recent pair of cut-off shorts.

Lately, I’ve given up on style trends – gone back to comfort with basic bootcut jeans and a tee shirt. Maybe a button up over the tee. The jeans work nicely with my latest flashback to 70’s fashion – that never really went out of style, either – a pair of good cowboy boots.

Big Thanks to Christina for asking this style question, and to Simple Serendipities for the kick-pleat advice! The great Nocona boots photo came from Fashion Arrow. Y’all rock!