Mom jeans

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Then-Second Lady of the United States Tipper Gore (center) wears a pair of "mom jeans" at the Million Mom March protest Tipper Gore 03.March.MMM.WDC.14May2000 (24854052361) (cropped).jpg
Then-Second Lady of the United States Tipper Gore (center) wears a pair of "mom jeans" at the Million Mom March protest

Mom jeans is an informal term for high-waisted women's jeans that were first fashionable in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and 2000s they were mainly worn by adult American women and considered "old" by younger women. [1] [2] High rise, ankle length "mom jeans" have since become fashionable again in the 2010s and into the 2020s with younger women from tween and teen aged girls, on up through college aged women and beyond.

Contents

Many women wear their t-shirt, sweatshirt, sweater or other top tucked into the jeans with a belt to complete the look.

Once considered a pejorative term, mom jeans gained prominence from a May 2003 Saturday Night Live skit written by Tina Fey for a fake brand of jeans called Mom Jeans, which used the tagline: "For this Mother's Day, don't give Mom that bottle of perfume. Give her something that says, 'I'm not a woman anymore... I'm a mom.'" [3]

Characteristics

This style of mom jeans usually consists of a high waist rising above the navel, making the buttocks appear disproportionately longer, larger, and flatter. Mom jeans have excess space in the zipper, crotch, and leg areas.

Other attributes of the style often seen are pleats, tapered legs, ankle length legs, and elastic waistbands. The style is often accompanied by a blouse, t-shirt, sweatshirt, sweater or other shirt that is tucked into the jeans. Often a belt is worn.

Dad jeans

Barack Obama practices pitching wearing "dad jeans" in advance of throwing the ceremonial first pitch at the 2009 MLB All-Star Game Barack Obama practises baseball (cropped).jpg
Barack Obama practices pitching wearing "dad jeans" in advance of throwing the ceremonial first pitch at the 2009 MLB All-Star Game

A corresponding term, dad jeans, has been coined in popular media to refer to high-waisted jeans often worn by middle-aged American men. The term gained popularity in 2009 when President Barack Obama wore dad jeans during the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. [4] [5] [6] [7] In March 2015, Obama appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the "Mean Tweets" segment, in which he read a tweet mocking him over the jeans. Jimmy Kimmel then appeared on stage wearing high-waisted jeans, and jokingly attempted to defend them. [8]

However, the term dad jeans gained less media attention than the corresponding feminine term. The term is also used to refer to both high-waisted and mid-waisted jeans worn by men, as high-waisted trousers lost popularity amongst men as early as the mid to late 1960s.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1840s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion of the 1840s

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980s in fashion</span> Costume and fashion in the 1980s

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Fashion in the years following World War II is characterized by the resurgence of haute couture after the austerity of the war years. Square shoulders and short skirts were replaced by the soft femininity of Christian Dior's "New Look" silhouette, with its sweeping longer skirts, fitted waist, and rounded shoulders, which in turn gave way to an unfitted, structural look in the later 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970s in fashion</span> Costume and fashion in the 1970s

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion in the decade 1900–1909

Fashion in the period 1900–1909 in the Western world continued the severe, long and elegant lines of the late 1890s. Tall, stiff collars characterize the period, as do women's broad hats and full "Gibson Girl" hairstyles. A new, columnar silhouette introduced by the couturiers of Paris late in the decade signaled the approaching abandonment of the corset as an indispensable garment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trousers</span> Clothing for the legs and lower body

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-rise (fashion)</span> 20th century and 21st century fashion phenonemon

A high-rise or high-waisted garment is one designed to sit high on, or above, the wearer's hips, usually at least 8 centimetres (3 inches) higher than the navel. In western cultures, high-rise jeans were especially common in the 1970s, late 1980s through the late 1990s, derided as mom jeans in the 2000s, and popular again in the mid-to-late 2010s and continues to be popular into the present in competition with low-rise pants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stirrup pants</span>

Stirrup pants or stirrup leggings are a type of close-fitting women's pants that taper at the ankle, similar to leggings, except that the material extends to a band, or strap, that is worn under the arch of the foot to hold the pant leg in place. The band of material is often elasticized to prevent the material around the foot from tearing. Stirrup pants were originally sportswear for women, and remain sportswear for horse riding and skiing. However, they have come in and out of fashion during the 20th and early 21st centuries, peaking in popularity as street fashion during the 1980s to the mid 1990s.

References

  1. "mom jeans | Definition of mom jeans in English". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on September 29, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  2. "mom jeans Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  3. Hudson Neal, Jill (September 26, 2006), "Mom Jeans Flatter No Body", Washingtonpost.com , retrieved October 3, 2007
  4. Associated Press, AP (July 21, 2009), "Obama: No apologies for 'dad jeans'", Chicago Sun Times , archived from the original on March 2, 2010, retrieved February 5, 2013
  5. "Obama: Health care shouldn't be political". Today.msnbc.msn.com. NBC News. July 21, 2009. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2014. Finally, the president responded good-naturedly to criticism of the bleached and baggy 'Dad jeans' or 'nerd jeans' that he wore to throw out the first pitch at last week's All-Star Game in St. Louis.
    'You are married to one of the most fashionable women in the world,' Vieira observed. 'Do you want to defend the pants?"
    'Michelle, she looks fabulous,' he laughed. 'I am a little frumpy. Up until a few years ago, I only had four suits. She used to tease me because they would get really shiny. I hate to shop. Those jeans are comfortable, and for those of you who want your president to look great in his tight jeans, I'm sorry — I'm not the guy. It just doesn't fit me. I'm not 20.'
  6. "Obama wants people to quit bashing his jeans". CNN Political Ticker. CNN. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  7. Simpson, Connor. "Obama's Mom Jeans: A Wire Investigation". The Wire. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  8. Vokes-Dudgeon, Sophie (March 13, 2015). "President Obama Reads Mean Tweets, Jimmy Kimmel Wears Obama's Jeans!". US Weekly. Retrieved April 16, 2015.