[Rag & Bone Justine cut off shorts + LNA ringer tee + Joie Banji suede wrap sandals.]
This is going to be brief, because I have a really long-winded post coming up about dressing for your body type, but I just have to stop and sing the praises of the newest, most unlikely of all heroes in my life: super high waisted, large-pocketed cut off shorts. What!? Yes.
Guys: I got some crotch-grabbin’, fanny-flattenin’, inner thigh-baring shorts I wouldn’t have ever even looked twice at before and they have changed my life. I feel like a WOMAN in these cut offs. It’s a REVELATION.
What prompted this? Well, I was watching this video Chad made of our weekend jaunt to Asheville, which you should watch anyway just because it’s awesome:
… but in one scene, downtown where I’m crossing the street holding my new vinyl records, I’m wearing cutoffs and I had to pause it for a second for a better look because they were so baggy from behind I looked like a had a diaper on. “Is this how my butt always looks?” I asked Chad in horror. Silence meant yes.
What a fun reminder that by only looking at your front side in a mirror, since that’s where my eyeballs are, I was walking around totally unaware I had a saggy butt.
It’s such an odd thing to be reprogramming your brain at this age, that admitting a tenet of your clothing philosophy was just completely, totally wrong. I always thought baggier, looser, well-draped clothing made you look smaller. In ways, it does hide flaws when done well, but holy shit: In buying shorts that were loose enough to hang off my hips, I was buying shorts that made me look like a had a dump in my pants.
I took to Shopbop right away and went looking for these shorts I had seen on Happily Grey (a brand’s repost led me to the pic, but no, can’t follow her, sorry, no, nope, not gonna do it, too flawless, and the abs and the travel and the skin, nope.) because they seemed so flattering on her in a—not sure how else to say this—average white girl way. Not a crazy tiny waist with a huge butt and ginormous boobs, just smaller hips and an athletic frame.I’ve eschewed high-waisted most of my life, regardless of that being exactly where my waist resides. Except for these fabulous pants from Joie I need to remember to wear. But still, I ordered these strange mom-looking shorts, and a full two sizes smaller than I normally wear. The whole thing felt like a huge risk from the minute I clicked the purchase button to the time I first zipped them up—only it’s one of the best buys I’ve ever made.
Praise! What are some ways you dress to suit your frame? Spread the knowledge.
-C.
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