As a fat woman and former fat youth, the cancelation of skinny jeans by Generation Z has been weighing heavily on my brain (and no, that was not supposed to be a fat joke).
If you haven’t heard, Gen Z has been roasting millennials on Tik Tok about their sense of fashion and style, attacking our beloved side parts in our hair and telling us to burn our skinny jeans. One Tik Toker said in a video that gaucho pants were making its way back to stores (for the love of God, let’s not bring those back).
My plea to keep the skinny jean around is more than just me having a hard time parting with my favorite pair of jeans, it’s about body positivity. While skinny jeans were never meant to be body inclusive in the first place, trying on my first pair when I was a freshman in high school in 2007 allowed me to finally feel good about my curves.
According to The Guardian, skinny jeans became more popular in 2005 after being featured in the Dior Homme autumn/winter collection, led by creative director Hedi Slimane. The jeans were made for people who were thin, hence the name “skinny” jeans.
“Slimane’s skinny jeans were significant for their cut, but also for the bodies he showed them on – incredibly skinny bodies, both of male and female models,” Emma McClendon, the author of Denim: Fashion’s Frontier, told the publication.
I’m 5’1” and have always been overweight. Like most former fat children and teens, I never really knew how to dress myself. I would throw on baggy, modest and unflattering clothing my parents purchased for me. If you grew up fat, you were taught to wear only dark colors and baggy clothes that would cover up your curves so you wouldn’t stand out or be seen.
Most women, no matter what size they are, understand the stress of trying on a new pair of jeans and the feeling of defeat when it doesn’t fit. When I tried on that pair of skinny jeans in American Eagle at an age when fitting in meant everything, I was able to finally see my curves in a flattering way. The parts of my body that I was taught by society to not like, like my butt and stomach, were on display and I liked what I saw.
I felt confident in my skin. In that moment, I finally embraced my curves in a place. It happened in the place I feared the most, while trying on a pair of jeans as the thoughts of self-doubt circled in my mind. Looking back on it, it was a pretty powerful moment for my teenage self.
More plus size women are speaking out on the skinny jean debacle. In an article on Refinery 29, writer and body positive advocate Marie Southard Ospina wrote about her experience trying on her first pair of skinny jeans and what the jeans represent to fat women who like wearing them.
“To Zoomers, skinny jeans may not be as cool as mom denim or ‘70s-style flares, but, to many of us, they will forever remain precious, as a tool through which we embraced our figures like never before,” Ospina wrote.
While I continue to stan the skinny jean, I have gone outside my comfort zone and tried on new cuts of jeans that I love. (If I’m being 100 percent honest, I really do like the mom jeans trend and have purchased several pairs). Influencers and plus size models like Jazzmyne, Nadia Aboulhoson, Javiera, Tess Holliday, Lizzo and so many other plus size baddies have taught me to embrace fashion, wear what you love and what makes you feel good.
I’m not afraid of trying new trends or getting rid of some old ones, but what worries me is that the fashion industry continues to forget that plus size women come in all different shapes and sizes. Tik Tok star Remi Bader, who gives honest reviews about clothes for curvy women, recently told Refinery 29 that she has had trouble fitting into jeans made for plus size women because not all “curvy” jeans cater to every curvy woman.
“Curvy denim brands need to be more aware of ALL body shapes, or the sizing will never fit enough people,” Bader told the publication.
She’s right. The average size for a woman in the U.S. is a size 16. If plus sized women are expected to follow the latest trends or even find clothes that can fit properly, we need to continue to speak out about body positivity and stop ignoring the fashion needs of plus size women.