Why must I remould my body to fit the latest women's fashions? An open letter to denim manufacturers
Dear Lee, Levis and other denim folks, it may interest you to know that I have been trying to buy a pair jeans this last one month. I visited your stores. Once. Then once again.
I have been told by your helpful sales staff that skinny is what is in this season. Therefore row upon row of skinny jeans grace your shelves. Skinny in every colour – and a few different waist sizes too. In fact, at one store, a salesperson even showed me a skinny and a super skinny, and suggested that I could perhaps squeeze myself into the regular skinny, even if I couldn’t quite manage super skinny.
Unfortunately, my body has become decidedly un-skinny ever since I crossed 30. I know you must have a bevy of fashion analysts, trend forecasters and whatnots who decide what each season’s ‘hottest trend’ should be. Maybe they even look at the runways in Paris, Milan and New York and get those happening, fashionable trends down for the benefit of us humble folk
I know that’s how the fashion magazines tell us that this summer, fuchsia, cyan, primrose and scarlet are in, while in winter, nothing will do but for all of us to be covered in azure, cerulean, khaki and indigo. But you see, bodies don’t yo-yo like that.
I mean, even with all the dieting that us virtuous women are expected to do, I don’t quite see how I could shave enough off my well-constructed thighs to ever fit into your skinny jeans. My body continues its own ‘out-of-fashion’ journey, and really, is it so hard to continue making stuff for me while selling your skinny to whoever wants it?
It’s not just me either. Talk to every other Indian woman, especially those of us who are past our twenties, and you will hear us crib about jeans that don’t accommodate our bodies. And lest you think it is our bodies that are the problem, no, not really. Our bodies are fantastic as they are, thank you.
So, if the customer is king (or queen in this case), could you start making stuff we could use comfortably rather than having to think how our bodies might be remolded to fit your fashionable skinny?
Thank you.
Pic credit: Santiago Alvarez (Used under a Creative Commons license)
Founder & Chief Editor of Women's Web, Aparna believes in the power of ideas and conversations to create change. She has been writing since read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, indivisual posts do not necessarily represent the platofrom's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Somewhere in the endless quest for perfect skin, glossy hair, six pack abs, fitting in with the current fashion trends and presenting a flawless self to the world, we lose ourselves.
Truth is beauty and beauty is truth. Penned beautifully by the great John Keats, eons ago. Cut to modern times: beauty is as far from truth as possible.
In her book 'Devil's Daughter', Vidhie Mukerjea writes about the arrest of her mother Indrani Mukerjea for alleged murder of sister Sheena Bora which gripped the entire nation & created havoc in her life!
In her book ‘Devil’s Daughter’, Vidhie Mukerjea writes about the arrest of her mother Indrani Mukerjea for alleged murder of sister Sheena Bora which gripped the entire nation & created havoc in her life!
On the eve of her 18th birthday Vidhie Mukerjea returned from school excited to celebrate with her family and friends. Instead, she walked into a house full of cops and watched as her mother Indrani Mukerjea was arrested for a crime she couldn’t ever fathom.
The Indian fashion industry too is pursuing the same stereotypes of beauty in the form of painfully thin bodies.
Do we need to take a stand against insecurity about our bodies and the way they look? Are we being manipulated by the fashion industry and by visuals of thin perfect bodies? Do you feel a dip in your self esteem after you turn on FTV or flick through the pages of Vogue? You’re not the only one.
It’s necessary to fight these stereotypical images of beauty, achieved at great cost to the models who starve themselves for more work, as health and looks are tossed by the wayside. Some of them even lose their lives – a couple of years ago an international model died after a series of meals consisting only of salad leaves and diet Pepsi. Perhaps she convinced herself that she was getting some greens which qualified her diet as healthy. What of the models who eat cotton balls to feel full? Doubt that there’s any food value in a cotton ball. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. (more…)
A very famous designer store in Mumbai, fat shamed a woman who went to buy a dress in their store.
Fat shaming is a common feature in our society. Neighbours, shopkeepers and sometimes even friends don’t hesitate to pass rude comments about the body. Recently, Mona Joshi, a woman in Mumbai went shopping for a ghagra for her friend’s wedding and ended up being told to go the gym. There was an outpouring of support for her on social media after her friend who accompanied her to the store wrote an angry email calling out the behaviour of the salesperson. The shop owner and manager reportedly have taken action against the salesperson for his behaviour and apologised for the incident. This incident also sparked a much needed debate on body shaming. But are we missing a few points?