One size does not fit all

yes, but are they for everyone?
There is no denying that a pair of skinny jeans on a woman who wears size six, eight and even 10 tends to look very nice.
Coupled with a clingy top that follows the contours of one’s body and even another woman is filled with admiration for a fellow sister.
But change the scenario and put skinny jeans, jeggings or whatever else is on the market which is tight onto a size 14, 16, 18 and beyond and you will have a horror show walking down the streets.
I do not write today to be mean but to make a point that good dressing is about knowing what to wear on a certain type of body.
With love handles and multiple tummies and sagging busts and other unmentionable unsightly body parts, it is not a good idea to expose our silhouettes even if it is a free world.
Instead of tucking in everything and leaving us with a nice slim look as normal pants which are high waisted and which have a waistband would do, the tight stuff like skinny jeans and jeggings will actually draw attention to the problem areas which we would rather avoid.
While we can certainly dress anyway we please, let us spare a thought for the colleagues, mates, friends and strangers who have to endure the ridiculous figures that we cut while diplomatically holding in the laughter.
So why then are so many of our ladies moving around in these tight pants which at times tie up their bodies into sections which you can clearly see if you are walking behind them?
I know skinnies and other such tight apparel are in fashion but I am sure the fashion experts will tell us that good dress sense is about choosing the best clothes for one’s body type.
I have read somewhere and also caught enough of Tyra, Oprah and the Fashion Police shows where they discuss fashion to note that dressing well is about studying trends and settling on those things which enhance your looks and make up.
There are so many ladies who are slightly on the bigger side who dress so well. They know how to pick and settle on clothes that play on their strong areas.
They do not wear tight little things which only serve to bring out all the undesirables which would rather remain covered.
They also do not wear flowery and printed stuff which makes them look even bigger.
I also know of slim people who do not necessarily wear tight or skimpy clothes but other well-tailored clothes that accentuate their body types.
One size does not fit all in fashion, ladies.
I do not know who to blame for this fashion nightmare which is on the streets.
Maybe it is the Chinese products and lots of fakes which flood our shop shelves with this “one size fits all” model which makes people think everyone must wear the same thing because it happens to be in fashion.
I love the South African soapie Generations (SABC1) and I am going to pick on two different characters from the soap that look very hot. We have Dineo, who is petite and quite slim. We also have Queen, who is quite voluptuous. There is no denying that both women are very attractive despite the differences in their body types.
Have you noticed that Dineo likes to wear clothes that are tight and short? She also likes skinny jeans and can get away with wearing them with a tight or straight top. She manages to pull that look off with dignity because of her frame.
She does not spend time pulling down her tops so that we do not see the top of her backside as some of our women do when they wear these things?
Yes, we have all seen some women pulling down their tops as they walk. When they get on a kombi, they continue to pull down their tops. Some even in church continue to pull down their tops. This kind of thing makes one look clumsy and makes one lose confidence fast if they get a bad comment from even one person.
They know that the low cut jeans expose not only their underwear but the top side of their backs, including all the stretch marks.
This will not make me any friends ladies I know, but the fact is some of us do this and the truth is it is so uncool.
Then we move to the character Queen in Generations. Queen loves dresses. She loves to show off her cleavage.
She is not a fan of tights or skinny jeans but actually wears bootleg jeans (bootleg or what others call hipster jeans) when she has to go denim. She loves outfits (skirts and tops/jackets) and looks hot in them.
She likes her heels and never goes wrong in the type she wears.
What I am trying to do here is to show that we have two women (yes there are actresses but then so what?) with two different body types who both look hot.
I know we all do not have dressers to choose outfits for us as these two do but we should draw some lessons from them in that people of different body types will look good in different clothes.
So the tight and low cut stuff cannot be for all Zimbabwean women.
What is happening on the streets right now that we see people hugging their flesh so tight and some flipping and flopping as they walk (when you squash your body so tight the loose bits tend to shake around as you move and none of us would want that surely?) is not cool.
Some young lady was telling me the other day that Zimbabweans are getting it so wrong. She was saying tights were never meant to replace jeans or normal trousers. I then asked why she was saying this and she said it was disgusting that some women and girls were now wearing tights with small tops that did not cover their backsides.
Tights, unless one is at gym, should be worn with a long top surely, one that covers the backside as well as most of the thigh area. Unless, of course, you are toned and no bags of meat move in a manner quite independent of your control!
So ladies let us police our fashion. There is no one who is going to do it for us for we are not Hollywood superstars who have wardrobe managers telling them they look bad.
One benchmark is if it makes you feel uncomfortable then you probably should not be in it. If you put on something and you find yourself doubting yourself before you walk out, chances are you have picked the wrong thing.
Let us be comfortable in our own skin. Big, small, tall or short we are all beautiful women created in His image. However, we have the potential to make ourselves look nasty by not choosing the best thing for the differences amongst us. Happy wearing!
l [email protected]