Jessica Simpson an arrest the sympathy of women everywhere when less-than-flattering photos landed. Jessica Simpson on the cover of US Weekly, People and OK!, and even caught the president's attention.
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Granted, some folks didn't feel bad that she was being sacrificed at the gossip and tabloid altar for apparently gaining a few pounds. But we collectively cringed on her behalf when the tabloids leveled the m-word.
That's right. Simpson was caught wearing "mom jeans."
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Ill-fitting, high-waisted denim pants that manage to make your butt look wide and flat, "mom jeans" is also slang used in connection with a woman who's either given up — or been passed by.
The fact is, when you're a single-digit size like Gisele Bündchen, you can wear just about any jeans: low-slung, skinny-legged, mid-rise, boot cut, high-waisted, acid-washed, cropped, straight-legged, boy cut or even bell-bottomed. They'll all look good, creating just the right drape as they hang from chiseled hip bones.
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The rest of us settle. And that's how you end up in mom jeans, said Stacy London of TLC's "What Not to Wear." London is on a one-woman campaign to strip the world of mom jeans. And she wants to redefine that pejorative phrase as a badge of honor.
"Moms are superheroes. 'Mom jeans' should be a super cool . . . pair of jeans" that are ultra-flattering and can transition from running errands to carpool duty to dinner and a movie on date night, she said.
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The good news is that denim makers are finally realizing there's money to be made on denim for a wider audience. Citizens of Humanity, 7 for All Mankind and Abby Z. all have selections to fit a variety of sizes. London herself is giving Lee jeans a makeover: A new line for the curvier woman is slated to debut later this year.
Still, London said, jeans vary so widely that a woman must have the patience to try on sometimes upward of 20 pair of designer brands, cuts and styles before finding the one that best flatters her shape. (London's tip: You're first looking for a pair that fits the widest part of your body. Then let a tailor do the rest — that's how you get jeans that look like couture, as if they were made for your body.)