Do you think trends dictate what we are self conscious about?

[LittleWhiteMoth]

I was thinking about this after browsing for some new trousers online, all of the low cut/wider bottoms and cropped tight fitting tops. Reminded me of being 16 and everyone was insanely self conscious about their belly or hips. I recall this style working well for pear shapes with the longer torso and shorter legs, whilst hourglasses often felt 'fat'.

Since then we've had the skinny bottoms trend with baggier, longer tops, which shifted our attention a bit to something else (thighs! ankles!).

There's been a huge acceptance of all bodyshapes in the past 20 years, and I wonder if this return to bare midfiffs will spark any self consciousness again. Maybe not? I was always slim but felt huge in those styles because I have longer legs and a short torso, so my hips aren't all that far from my boobs. I didnt like the skinny jeans trend and am glad it's lost some power, but the new styles seem to rely upon very tight or cropped tops to balance out well. I suppose I will be staying somewhere in the middle (slim cuts, mid rise), and am not arsed about trends these days, but it does bring back memories!

I do think that changing fashions emphasise some body parts over others, and it's the luck of the draw if it suits us.

Bumping this - hope it isnt innapropriate in some way??

Of course - I’ve been reading the biography of Agatha Christie where she spent her Edwardian teenage years longing for a bosom, and when she had one in the 1920s the fashion was to be flat-chested and she never ended up fitting into the fashion of either era!

Absolutely. Body shapes should not be in or out of fashion at all IMHO.

Of course. In my 20's (late 90s, early 00s) I agonised over my 'large' bum & thighs because it wasn't a 'fashionable' body shape and didn't 'suit' low rise jeans and little floppy skirt. Nowadays people have implants to have bigger bottoms.
Utter, utter lunacy.

*flippy skirts

I agree, and shout out to another short waisted person! It’s such an annoying body shape proble to deal with!

Yes.

It's such a load of shite. All those low rise trousers from the early 00s made me think I had a fat waist. I didn't realise I was hourglass and my waist was actually far higher up and pretty slim. I had no understanding of dressing for my shape.

Of course. That's why you read ridiculous things like 'curves are back in fashion/out of fashion' or why suddenly all the celebs are having their buccal fat removed and having jaw filler.

Trends.

"Nowadays people have implants to have bigger bottoms."

Not the same type of big bum though.

"I wonder if this return to bare midfiffs will spark any self consciousness again."

If you remember them from last time around you're probably not the age that should be wearing them.

This pic is def the look im seeing around for baggy bottoms, all over the internet. It's a youth thing primarily but the silhouette still stands. I do think it drags major attention to the waist and upper body like we are not used to nowadays. I also think this will make people feel they are fat when they never used to!

odd comment, i dont think like you do, but then again i am very comfortable with my body:)

Yes, I'll be called ageist or whatever, but the truth is that for many women, we do adapt our styles a bit as we get older.

Yes, in my youth I had an arse you could rest a pint on. It was such a source of embarrassment. You couldn't admit to having a bum in the 90s. I constantly tied things round my waist. The feminine ideal was skinny with flat bums.

I'd be so much happier as a teen in 2023!

Eyebrows for me. Whoever thought we'd give do much attention to the shape/thickness/colour of our brows?
In the 90s they tended to be thinner but you plucked them and that was it! Now there are pencils and glued and cream fillers etc.
Microblading and the perfect filled arch make's perimenopausal me (with my thinning brows) feel quite aware of my own.

Where is this all over the internet? I didn't reply because I didn't understand your question. I still don't understand it.

What age group/ demographic do you have in mind that would look at those pictures and be influenced by them?

Golly, you sound angry, I think most of us have noticed a silhouette change in the past 12-24 months. Perhaps less time on MN will help you, since you do volley in to most threads with a certain antagonistic attitude.

Yes, eyebrows becoming a billion dollar industry is a good example.

Again what age or demographic do you think is going to be influenced by the pictures you posted?

I don't understand why it's impossible to look at a style and think it's not for me.

Someone mentioned low rise jeans - they looked ridiculous first time round. I doubt they will look any less ridiculous if they are back.

As for time on MN- you're the one seeing this look "all over the internet"

I think it’s just fashion. If you follow the popular trends quite religiously then you’ll find some of them simply won’t flatter or suit you. I try to dress in what I like and think suits me, I think if you dress for trends you’re much less likely to actually be wearing what suits you. I mean imagine Marilyn Monroe trying to dress in the type of fashion you see on Marissa from The O.C. Both very popular fashion inspirations in their time but swap their outfits and they both look daft.