The Skinny Address

Written by Chandler Simpson

Graphics by Amya Bhalla

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In the haunting ages of middle school, on Friday nights I would be faced with fear; the terror of picking out an outfit for the school dance. Why? I had to look amazing and I also had to look skinny. Or at least thought I did. When I looked down at my flimsy paper wristband, granting me access to an unlimited supply of goldfish and fluorescent paper cups, I wasn't thinking about being skinny. But those agonizing hours before, I was. Trading out tube tops and bargaining with my girls for shorter jean shorts. I was intoxicated with insecurities. Now, I have advanced. As a generation, we have advanced. A step for gender-neutral clothing has become a march. Quite recently, I have noticed a shift in high streetwear fashion that has taken the liking of a majority of generation z for good reasons. Girls aren't dressing to be skinny. 

Dating back to the 2000s, where the beauty standard for women was tall, blonde, rich, and most notably skinny. Pioneers like Paris Hilton, crusaded through this pop culture chaos with a wand and a crown, granting many girls the “I wish I was her” mentality. Through the devotees of social media, celebrities have cultivated a special taste of envy from the youth, displaying impractical body types that seem incomprehensible mutative. As we are exposed to these weaponizing bodies of beauty, we find ourselves enslaved with low self-esteem. Eventually and unsurprisingly, we are torn away from loving our natural body.

With the rise of Billie Eilish, her oversized baggy boyish style received some backlash from the press. People were so concerned with what was concealed. Why doesn’t she want to show her body? As if it wasn't her choice! Billie spoke out to the press stating that the reason she dresses in baggy clothing is because she does not want to give people the power to judge her based on her figure, redefining celebrity divinity. This statement of streetwear was human. Eilish made us as viewers feel safe in her presence, more connected to her talent rather than her glamour. This is insanely significant to how young women view their bodies. 12-year-old young ladies are taught at such a young age that beauty is all that there is to them. “What a great figure you have? So skinny. So beautiful”. It’s never, “wow she is so smart”, “she is so independent”. It’s always about our appearance. This is rooted inside us, suffocates us with body image issues and insecurities. Just recently I watched an interview with Miley Cyrus, speaking out about her body. She stated that during one of her shows, Cyrus was dressed very modestly in a head-to-toe coverage Marc Jacobs shoot. And as one journalist wrote, “MILEY IS BORING! WON'T GET NAKED ANYMORE!”. To this Miley replied, “it's either I’m boring or I’m a slut.”

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Dressing in baggy clothes is so comfortable, unlike any other style. This past weekend, I blessed myself with a thrift trip, in hopes of finding the perfect pair of baggy boy shorts. I came along a gem, a diamond in the rough. Salmon pink Ralph Lauren boy shorts. Fitted in the waist and long. I was no longer wrenched by my denim short short wedgies. I also felt so confident with the length of the shorts, unconcerned with the judgment of, “is this too masculine?” or “oh my god, I look like such a boy''. The following day, I went to school in the shorts and felt like doing backflips. They were so versatile, so flexible. I began to wonder why it seems like almost all supposedly feminine clothes are tight fitting and so intensely uncomfortable. And at what cost does looking good need to be defined by how much you are showing off your body. Boys have it easy, getting dressed. Throw on some shorts and a T-shirt and boom you look amazing. While us women are drowning in self-degrading talk because our XS mini skirt shows our belly rolls. Ever since those shorts, I have struggled to fit my body in skirts, in form fitting dresses that only amplify a facade of functionality. 

Now, onto the topic of jorts. Baggy preferably. They look great on everyone. Every child, senior, man, woman, any skin tone, any body type. Jorts are quite literally for everyone. You may look like a white suburban dad vacationing to California with his midwife and eleven children, but boy do you look stunning doing it. You can do any combo from the big shirt big shorts look, or little shirt big shorts look, but never little shirt little shorts. You may need to call back 2016 and mustache finger tattoos at this point. These shorts of choice are also very mobile. Any imaginable parkour trick you can think of, done in a second with jean shorts. Adam Sandler outfits are here to stay ladies and gentlemen. I am advocating for baggy. Embrace being smothered by your clothes. 

Now to put an end to my advocacy for baggy, oversized garments, I want everyone to take into account that the clothes on our body play no role in signifying who you are. Clothes are only the expression but not the true representation. As someone who has struggled with low self-esteem and body image issues, I understand how tiring it is to always look good. Or at least to always feel like you have to. When I don't look my best, I find myself struggling to finish the day. I feel disgusting and I wish this mentality was something I could overcome but I composite through clothes. In the confidence of looking good and dressing up, I forget all about the harm I have caused to myself. Oversized clothing saved me. Made me forget about proving that I’m skinny, made me forget about having to live up to society’s binary confinement of femininity only having one sole definition. 

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