I Have Nothing to Wear: Pants Department, or How about that elastic waist?

By Laura G. of Rebellious Thoughts of a Woman

Perhaps the most serious flaw or failure to appear in my closet is pants. This may be news to the clothing companies, but women have thighs and for some horribly upsetting reason, they get bigger as we get older. As the breadth of our experience widens, so do our thighs. It is truly a horrible part of life. I suggest the companies that make pants take note of this, and not just those who specialize in “designing” elastic-waisted pants.

I refuse to buy elastic-waisted pants. It is yet another peculiarity of mine; I fear that wearing elastic-waisted pants will make me feel my age or older, and my weight or more, and I am not ready for that. No, I still need a button and a zipper. But for goodness sakes, can’t they just use a little more fabric when they say “comfortable fit” so that more than my ankles are comfortable. It’s a horrible feeling to not be able to pull up a pair of pants that are ostensibly your size over your thighs. We hourglass and pear ladies do not want stretch fabrics, we just want fabric. Maybe the fabric that is saved from the pants of size 0 girls can be used instead on the 12+ women.

I’ve been butt-looking lately, and I have noticed that there really are many women with “junk in the trunk,” as they say. So why do I leave store after store with nary a pant in a bag? There are clothing stores where I can find tops that fit me, but not bottoms. What’s the deal? Hello, we are not all Heidi Klum. Maybe we don’t make the duds look as beautiful as she does, but I’m pretty sure there are more women with butt and thigh issues than who look like Mrs. Klum. And besides, I thought people liked a challenge (design that is), it is supposed to make them better, stronger, wiser, and reveal that they have talent.

I have one pair of black Lee jeans that make me smile every time I put them on because they fit. They do not make me feel that I am about to split the seams or break the zipper or pop a button. But, alas, I only have one pair, and on the days when I must give them a rest, I suffer. Things with other pants are always going somewhere, generally up the crotch because they don’t fit well. Or, they are clinging to my thighs so tightly, that when I stand up, they don’t resume the position, they stay clinging to me as if I was still sitting. It’s really not a fun way to spend one’s day: with pants going up up up all the time, or stay stay staying where they should not be. Oh, it’s a terrible thing, to have to constantly try to conceal pants tugging.

I think that the solution is for the pajama companies to start designing pants. Wouldn’t that be wonderful, clothes that are as comfy as flannel pajamas? Now we just need to work with them on the patterns, I don’t know about you, but I do not want to wear snowflake-patterned pastel pants to work.

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  • http://www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com Laura

    Thanks Julie, for the suggestions. But it would still be nice if the designers realized that the pear shape does exist and not make us go out and spend more money, and feel bad that nothing fits. I mean isn’t it in their self interest to make us feel good?

  • http://www.julielara.com Julie Lara

    Hi Ladies, I’m so pleased to have found this website. I’m an Image Consultant and help by clients put the LIFE back in their midlife by showing them how to choose clothes that help them look vibrant, sophisticated and attractive. We create a wardrobe for their “new” midlife body and I show them how to use current fashion trends in age appropriate ways. As mature women we can still look trendy and fabulous regardless of our size, shape, age or budget.

    I too have problems finding pant to fit properly. I have a pear shaped body. My waist is more than 2 inches smaller than the widest part of my hips. I’ve had this problem since I was a teenager. My recommendation is to buy pants that fit in the hips and thigh and find a good tailor to take up the waist so it fits. Some dry cleaners have tailors on staff that can make the alteration for you. Additionally, the pants in JC Penney’s Worthington line of clothing seems to fit me much better in the waist and hips. I can usually buy an 18 (my size) and have it fit without alteration. Their Trouser Jeans are especially great with a dark wash (very slimming) and wider leg to balance my lower half with my narrow upper body.

    I’ve found a very comfortable thigh shaper at Dillard’s that sells for $32. It’s like wearing a soft biker short and feels nothing like other “demon” shapers I’ve purchased for $50 or more. It is a brand called “Modern Movement” and I find that the XL fits me very well (remember my pants size is 18).

    That’s my 2 cents worth. I hope it’s helpful to someone.
    Julie Lara

  • http://www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com Laura

    Cecilia, oh, so you haven’t read my post about my underwear issues. I sometimes where those suck-it-in from the mid-thigh to upper stomach undies, but they diminish the lovely essence of a summer dress. You know, feeling light and breezy.

  • http://www.sasstown.com Cecilia

    When I wear sundresses or skirts in the summer I pull on a pair of bike shorts instead of undies.It keeps the thighs from rubbing together. They were inexpensive, I think Columbia is the brand and they are from Target.
    Doesn’t help your pants dilemma, sorry.

  • http://midlifebloggers.com byjane

    Cindy L: I try to keep up on which fashion mags are geared toward us, and there are some–but not the one’s you’d think. Harper’s Bazaar has a feature on what to wear at any age that is pretty good. The fit thing–that’s a whole other issue. Tailoring is the key. I have a number of blouses that fit in the bust but are too big in the shoulders. I want to have them taken in, but so far haven’t found a tailor who will do it.

    • http://www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com Laura G.

      Byjane, I do the whimpy thing with button-down blouses, I wear a tee shirt under and then unbutton three buttons. But I have found that the arms, yes, the arms, are too tight for me in most blouses. With the fleshy thighs have come the fleshy arms. I am so glad it’s winter and I can wear sweaters.

  • http://www.laferle.com Cindy L.

    I hear you! While this problem gets worse with middle age, I’ve always complained that designers don’t consider the bodies of real women, of any age. Most of us have hips, and we’re not 6-feet tall. I have started buying pants a size larger in the petite department so that the length in right. It’s always a battle … Along these lines, I’ve pretty much lost interest in women’s fashion magazines. Even the few that are geared to middle-aged women need a serious reality check!

    • http://www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com Laura G.

      I wish clothing designers would stop fantasizing about 6ft tall women who look more like men than women. Fashion magazines, they’re just an opportunity for me to feel bad about how I look, how my home looks, my job, and my eating habits. Can you tell that I don’t read them? A whole industry devoted to making women feel bad about themselves.

      • http://www.laferle.com Cindy L.

        I’m right there with you. I just read yet another media report stating that newspapers and magazines are going down the tubes and might disappear by 2009. A decline in advertising is cited as the reason, mainly. On the one hand, as a journalist, I find this worrisome. And yet… I can’t help but wonder if publications are failing because they are failing their readerships. There are vast numbers of Boomer women out there who stopped buying magazines for the very reasons we’ve discussed here.

        • http://www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com Laura G.

          Cindy, I am one of those Boomer women. At some point in my twenties I was buying Vogue because it gave a look into how the other 1/1000000th lives, but that got pretty grating since I really didn’t aspire to be like any of those women. And the cheery stories doen”t always ring true. Now I have what to read online, but none of us is getting paid for it, which is a shame.

          Hmmm, I wonder if this blog’s impetus came from that very dilemma of wanting to read something applicable and entertaining and intelligent that really does appeal to us Boomers.

  • http://everydaygoddess.typepad.com lizriz

    I am so glad that I am not the only one with a closet full of pants that don’t fit – even though I just bought them.

    I end up buying pants that fit in the thighs and length, but then the waist band is inches too big. So I cinch it with a belt. It’s just stupid.

    And yeah, the number of stores that I can’t buy pants in is astounding.

    • http://www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com Laura G.

      I tried to skirt the issue (pun intended) by wearing skirts, but if I’m not wearing stockings (which I hate), then I feel my thighs rubbing against each other as I walk, which just defeats the purpose of wearing the dress altogether. Luckily I am at home now in my pink floral flannel pj bottoms.

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