The tides have slowly, but surely been changing at the waistline. For years now, I have incessantly grumbled about the horrendousness of the low-rise pant – not so much the pant itself, but rather by the ‘confidence’ offered to its wearers. Hey, I’m all for the self esteem of our female population, but I draw the line when self-esteem becomes a right of passage to bare it all; it is kind of a “If you make it, they shall wear it” effect. And when we talk about America, “they” is usually as a size 12, Cheeto-loving, Ding-Dong-scarfing woman from Louisiana..
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Credit: Style.com. (From top, left) Karen Walker, Jeremy Laing, Luella Bartley, & Proenza Schouler
As such, designers have finally banded together to fight the war against the thongs, love handles, and plumber’s cracks that have permeated schools, shopping centres, and yes, the workplace with little mercy. Let’s face it, Anita from Accounting’s leopard print thong was shown, err, displayed, more than once on casual Fridays.
At the S/S ’07 shows, the natural-to-high-rise-waist, belted, and often, pleated pant came down like a racehorce charging through the gates. Everyone from Proenza Schouler to Alice Roi to Karen Walker showed a pant with more modesty than we have seen in years. The fact that the pants were usually accompanied by numerous pleats is likely a signal that not only is the low-rise gone, but rather, all that it stood for as a garment. And frankly, I never thought ‘skank’ was a good quality anyway.
