Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Popular mom blogger Rachel of Grasping for Objectivity recently wrote a lengthy and detailed blog post about the “inconvenient truth” of Mom Jeans, which seems to have turned into a bit of an Internet sensation.
In the post, called "An inconvenient gap of truth," she extensively discusses and illustrates how Gap and Old Navy jeans are gateway Mom Jeans. I must admit I was quite surprised at the difference jeans can have, as shown on her blog. In the post she tries on jeans from Gap and Old Navy and compares them with other name-brand jeans, showing evidence that jeans from these stores are much less flattering than other brands.
After reading Rachel's post I had to worry — are the jeans I bought totally frumpy and I just don’t know it? ... Am I so up to my elbows in macaroni and cheese and wiping endless goopy handprints off windows and doors that I missed my decline into Mom Jeans territory?
After happening upon this blog and reading the post I was dying a little because I bought a pair of Gap jeans a couple weeks ago. They were skinnies and on sale. I thought they were cute and that I was buying something in style.
But after reading Rachel's post I had to worry — are the jeans I bought totally frumpy and I just don’t know it? Do they make my butt look big and/or saggy? Have I lost all fashion sense completely? Am I so up to my elbows in macaroni and cheese and wiping endless goopy handprints off windows and doors that I missed my decline into Mom Jeans territory? Am I wearing Mom Jeans?
Come to think of it, I bought the jeans while shopping with my mom, and she bought the same ones!
What I really should do is get up off the couch, go take a picture of myself wearing the jeans, and post it to my blog or Facebook page and ask for a true and honest opinion. But would that even help? Even if the pants do look bad, people aren’t going to tell me; they are too nice. I would just end up with a bunch of “likes,” still ultimately unsure what I think.
#poll
Plus I already took the tags off the jeans, I've worn them a few times and, let's be honest, once I’ve gone this far I’ve got to wear them, Mom Jeans or not.
The point is, this blogger went to a lot of lengths to put together that post to help all of us moms out there avoid the Mom Jeans syndrome. And if you take a look at what she has to say and show, you’ll have to admit she's got a point. Actually, a lot of points.
Gap and Old Navy jeans are just not getting a good rap here, which is too bad because they really do have cute stuff and can have some good bargains — especially if you hit the outlets in Park City.
I guess us moms need to be aware that the line between “cool” or even just plain flattering jeans and Mom Jeans is apparently closer than we think. And maybe some of us (please not me!) are already there.
Lindsay Ferguson is a communication graduate from University of Utah. She is a wife and mother of two young children. She writes from home and keeps up a blog at www.lifeasamomuncut.blogspot.com.
