I have a confession to make: I haven’t worn trousers in a year. I haven’t worn jeans in two years. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I wore anything
with buttons and or a zip. All the pants I wear now have an elasticated waist.
And it’s not just the trackies, but the nice linen ones, too. The dresses, if
they feature a waist at all, also contain elastic in them. I’ve even used
“elasticated waist” as a search term on a luxury fashion website.
Well, you might say, the elasticated waist is, after all, the uniform of three demographics, two of which I fall into: the freelance writer, (whose
elasticised pants are often pyjamas) and the mother of small children, (who also
wears pyjamas, but at the school gate).
The third demographic might be comprised of a people who have simply “let themselves go”, forfeiting launch parties and vodka tonics for lounge-dwelling
and bingeing on The Crown. And actually, I’m very much part of that group,
too.
But here’s the thing: elasticated waist-wearers, last seen tucking their reliable pants just above the ribs at local TAB’s and favouring comfort over
basic dignity at council meetings, are now officially cool. And not just in that
athleisure “leggings are my uniform” way, either.
We’re talking dresses, pants, shorts and skirts. The kind you make deliberate choices about and wear to nice places.
Part of it is due to the more democratic attitudes we have around fashion these days. We want function, as well as form – just look at our obsession with
pockets on dresses. But we also want to feel comfortable, too.
As fashion editor for the London Times Anna Murphy puts it: “These days, fashion — proper fashion — can be, among other user-friendly developments,
elasticated; we really don’t have to treat it like the enemy any more. Done
right — for which read: in a fabric that doesn’t add bulk, and with other
elements of styling that signal urbane contemporaneity — an elasticated waist
can be as flattering and fashion-forward as it is comfy.”
Murphy compares it to the sneaker trend, and the way a pair of chunky white trainers can give an otherwise prissy dress an edge.
She right, of course. The elastication of fashion began last winter, with dresses. I remember, because I bought some. Stores like Country Road were
stocking work frocks with “shirred waists” which is just a fancy sartorial term
for two or more rows of elastic. It provided a waist to those, like myself, who,
after two children and zero devotion to core strength, no longer really have
one. It was a trickle down from designers like Preen and Emilia Wickstead.
This summer, the shirred waist is all over Seed and Zimmermann and We Are Kindred. Big sleeves are in, too. And the only way to save a balloon shoulder on
a dress from veering into cult territory is to add a shirred waist, escaping
from Sister Wife to Disco Prairie Queen. From Utah to Studio 54.
In her memoir, Bossypants, Tina Fey wrote that turning 40 meant that she needed to take her pants off as soon as she got home. “I didn’t used to have to
do that. But now I do.” Back in 2011, I didn’t quite know why either. I hadn’t
yet had children and, as a size 8 waist, was unaware of my privilege. But we all
come of age, eventually, in the pants department. At least, those of us who
never took yoga seriously do.
Fast-forward eight years later and singer Billie Eilish, 17, who wears shorts and sweatpants almost exclusively from designers such as Gucci and Louis
Vuitton, is proof that the elasticated waist is no longer synonymous with
getting older and thicker around the middle. It means, instead, that you can
dance, and eat – in public! -- and still look fashionable.
Look at Kim Kardashian, who, when she’s not at church or award shows, struts around in bike pants, (which are still elasticated) and her husband Kanye West’s
designer sweatpants, for nights on the town. As one writer observed, “Tracksuit
bottoms and a vest would normally be considered a dressed-down look – one for a
supermarket dash or a hangover. But in the world of Kim Kardashian, it’s just
another chance to slay.”
Sitting here, typing this in my own (extremely) elasticated sweatpants, I would hesitate to say I was slaying anything. Still. It is nice when a desire
for personal comfort and designer trends can synchronise. Now, we just have to
outlaw Spanx.Read more at:
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