In praise of elastic-waist pants—the one good thing about 2020
It took a pandemic for me to be able to admit it, but elastic-waist pants rule.
2020 has meant a lot of things to a lot of people, most of them bad, but there’s one thing I will always appreciate about this swirling diaper pail of a year once it’s finally over: 2020 gave me elastic-waist pants.
See, when it comes to certain style-related rules and hangups, I am a little bit (okay, a lot) old-school. White jeans after Labor Day? Mmmm, nah. Open-toed sandals (or heaven forfend, flip-flops) in the office? My mother raised me better than that. (Thanks, mom.) And leggings as pants? Until this year, that was a firm no for me. Leggings are not pants. By definition, they are not pants. We’re just talking facts here. That athleisure bandwagon everybody else happily snuggled up to did not stop for this lady.
But for me as for so many other women, 2020 has been a year of adjusting expectations—about everything. Including, as it turns out, basic closet staples. I’m far from the only person seeing elastic-waist pants in a new light these days. In 2020, button-up pants just seem like an unnecessary flex, especially for a workday full of Zooms. Even stretch jeans feel like a step too far. Why are we still zipping ourselves into things in a pandemic? Which dumpster-fire dominatrix are we trying to impress, exactly?
My daughter, of course, was way ahead of me on embracing the soft-pants lifestyle. Ever since she was a toddler, you couldn’t get a pair of cords or jeans on that kid—and now that she’s in elementary school, it’s joggers or nothing at all on those skinny pins of hers. All I needed to do was follow her lead: Velour lounge pants, soft stretchy knit pants, wide-legged chambray pull-ons. We even have a little song we sing about them: “Soooooooffffft paaaaaaaaahnts…” (We’re those kind of weirdos.)
Yes, it took the rock bottom year of our Lord 2020 for me to be able to admit it, but elastic-waisted soft pants are, um, awesome. Because of course they are. And there’s no need to confine ourselves to leggings. Let’s be inclusive. There’s a whole elastic-waist family! Bring me your joggers, your stretch pants, your drapey wide-leg pull-ons longing to be free!
Ready to embrace the soft pants lifestyle with elastic-waist pants that are stylish and comfortable? Of course you are. Step right this way…
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