A Review of My Own Pandemic Fashion
Take COVID away, but please leave my comfy fashion confidence
I would say my overarching mission in writing is to make people feel less alone. When I have struggled with something or felt confused about something, it has always helped me to read about someone else’s experiences and think ah, so that’s how they handled it or great, I’m not the only one. Often, when I decide to write something, it’s because it’s something that I really struggled with at some point. Once I feel like I’m on the other side of it, I write about it in hopes that someone else can read it and have those same feelings of reassurance.
But one nice side effect of writing stuff down is that sometimes you learn stuff along the way. (This is why journaling has been a cornerstone of my mental health routine for a minute now.) I get to the end of a post and the whole process of writing has taught me a few more things about myself that I didn’t know when I first sat down.
So I thought, why not start a blog post with the intention of learning something, huh? Come on this journey with me.
The thing I want to learn about (and thus, must write about) is pandemic fashion. Specifically, my own pandemic fashion.
There is so much that this past year has taken away from so many people. But I count myself as extremely lucky that there are a few blessings this catastrophic upside-down time has brought me. For starters, I get to spend a lot of time at home with my partner and my pets, which is where I would prefer to be most of the time. I sleep better and eat better than I probably have in my entire life. I have finally achieved a level of mindfulness that I thought I would need to pay thousands of dollars in meditation retreats for, simply because there is just not that much else going on in my life.
And another big blessing? The ability to be more selective with my wardrobe.
Because I am almost constantly at home, I refuse to wear anything that is less than 90% comfortable. I would say my pre-pandemic comfort barometer was probably 70% comfortable. Which is still pretty comfy, but that 20% makes a big difference! (Related: Do you think men ever wear anything that is less than 100% comfortable?) I refuse to find a synonym for “comfort” here because it is how I feel in my clothes all the time and it feels like a revelation to be so comfortable so often. Getting to wear stuff that makes me feel good all the time is a pretty new feeling for me. It’s got a lighten-ing effect to it.
When I am working and it’s warm out I am usually wearing comfy shorts and a breathable t-shirt and usually some kind of top layer. When I am working and it’s cold out I am usually wearing joggers and a comfy turtleneck and a sweater. (Tan France mentioned the power of layers ONCE on Queer Eye and that was all I needed to go all in.)
I don’t wear make-up most days. I’ve gone back and forth on make-up in pre-pandemic times as well, usually taking a break from it over the summer when I feel all tan and healthy. I really hate taking mascara off at the end of the day. I would like to find a way to avoid that for the most part in post-pandemic life. At times when I do choose to wear it, it feels more fun because it seems more like a choice and less like a societal obligation.
Regardless of the season, I am pretty perpetually rocking some kind of big earring, usually hoops. Big earrings make me feel like myself. :)
I spend a majority of my non-work time in leggings and a crop top, kind of like this:
Maybe you, dear reader, don’t need to be wearing a crop top at most times around your home. But I feel so cute in them and they are fun! And I have built up quite a collection over the years. So it is crop top time all the time around these parts for me.
It helps that I am dressing for an audience of two: me and Aaron, who thinks I look great in everything and nothing. (Heh.) I feel myself wearing things that I think both of us will like instead of things that are meant for any other purpose.
Even though I didn't consciously feel like I was dressing for the approval of others in pre-pandemic times, I know I must have been all the time. On the few rare pandemic occasions where I’ve worn dresses or business-y clothes I don’t really love (once for a funeral and once for a Zoom job interview), I felt like a cat in a costume. It made me feel self-conscious and awkward to feel dressed as less than my authentic self.
For me, being comfortable = feeling confident = feeling like a more badass, fashionable person.
As someone who has always had major thighs and truly ginormous feet (my sister is the only woman I know whose are bigger, sorry Lala), fashion sometimes feels like it is not intended for me. Fashion is for tiny people with cute, tiny feet. (Please see TikTok’s “Skinny or Fashionable?” meme for receipts. Also all of the 90s/early 2000s woman’s ideal body culture.) I know this is untrue and yet I have felt so awkward and uncomfortable in so many outfit/shoe combos over the years that I’ve sort of thought that feeling awesome about what I wore most days was maybe not for me. Better to resign myself to being one of those Big Tech robot people who just wear the same thing every day to minimize the amount of brainpower they spend thinking about clothes. *sigh*
Can we talk about shoes for another minute? I think perhaps the height of my confidence during the pandemic has come from not having to wear them.
Shoes are awful for me. It is extremely hard to find a size 10 shoe for a woman with wide feet and thick calves that do not look ugly or cause me pain. After recently trying to force a pair of stylish Blundstones that were a half-size up from my normal size, I was left with some calloused bruises and giant blisters that are STILL healing a month later. Shoes are a code I have not cracked, and not having to think about them too much has been a major stress reliever for me. This is so petty but also SO REAL. I have no idea what a post-pandemic solution is here. Can I work from home full-time forever just so I don’t have to wear shoes on a regular basis again, please?
Please excuse me while I go start a new body positivity subculture that is purely focused on women with big feet and our need for dramatically more comfy/cute shoe options.
Because I never feel forced to dress up, when I do dress up it is PURE JOY. I find myself finding excuses to put on different clothes I haven’t worn in a while that feel fun to me just because. Excellent jumpsuits. My high-heeled combat boots (super cute + almost big enough for my feet, but I’m kinda forcing it). My cheetah-print pants. My chain necklace. A cool skirt I really like but sometimes wonder if it is maybe too short for me with thighs like mine because one time my high school chemistry teacher told me that I shouldn’t wear short skirts with thighs like mine (#WILDLYINAPPROPRIATEALERT).
I feel more confident in wearing stuff that might feel kind of weird or uncomfortable because I AM ALWAYS HOME and can change out of it whenever I want.
I like taking what feel like fashion risks to me. And I also like being able to immediately back out of those risks whenever I feel uncomfortable. (You may laugh at the things that qualify as my fashion “risks” but sorry I am just a silly Midwesterner who grew up on clothes from Kohl’s and Meijer so I am still gaining true fashion bravado.)
I loved jumpsuits pre-pandemic, and I love them even more now. Say what you will about being basically naked when you go pee. Jumpsuits sit at the exact intersection of fashionable and comfy for me. I keep adding more and more to my collection and I never regret it. It’s good to learn what clothes make you feel most like you and really lean into them.
I am grateful that we are in a day and age of high rise jeans (would rather be here than low rise) but the truth for me is that those fuckers hurt my tummy if I’ve had a big meal or have been sitting for a while (which is like, every day at work lol). Jumpsuits make me feel put together but don’t cause me pain.
(Why is it so hard for women to feel put together and not in pain? Is this all women? Is it just me?)
While we are on the subject of jeans, I can attest that when I do put them on for 2–4 hour stretches, I feel like an absolute goddess. Short spurts of jeans-wearing and heavy photo documentation of how good you look in them is the way of the future.
I have also invested more heavily in things that are extra comfy and a little stylish. I understand that this is clothing brands marketing to me with unnecessary Cozy at Home collections when I could really just wear the same pair of leggings and Aaron’s old sweatshirt that I sleep in most nights. But goddamnit I feel like a queen in my Free People jumpsuit + sweater combo and feel very cute and sassy in my fuzzy millennial pink Uniqlo zip up. Also please bury me in this Hideout sweatshirt bc I adore it.
I guess the learning here is that even though you don’t need to invest in stuff that makes you feel awesome around the house, because truly no one is looking, it can feel good to get a few pieces that make you feel like royalty in your own home.
Final shout out to one specific retailer: MANNERS London.
I got hit with an IG ad for the dress in the top left below and signed up for the waitlist for it immediately. I have worn none of these items outside of my own home but oh my god the fabric feels so good and nice and I feel like their pieces make my bod look awesome. Their existence is a win for pear-shaped women everywhere.
So, let me re-read what I have incessantly waxed about above and see what I’ve learned.
Some fashion do’s for me:
- Big, fun earrings
- Layers
- Pants that aren’t too tight around my thighs or belly
- Taking fashion risks for small batches of time; adding fun stuff that I can take off/change out of if I want
- Jumpsuits! More jumpsuits!
- Crop tops! More crop tops! Even just to wear at home!
- The occasional investment in something that feels a little over-the-top but makes me feel awesome at home
- Clothes of all kinds that are designed to work well for curvy bods like mine (bring on the supple fabrics, plz)
Some areas of my own fashion that I’d like to evolve:
- I don’t love makeup (especially mascara) unless I am really feeling it. Since writing this post, I’ve started exploring clear mascara and some different make-up removers to see if this pivot helps! I’m not wearing make-up often enough to have an opinion, but perhaps I will report back at a later date.
- I don’t really want to wear jeans for more than 4 hours at a time if I know I have to sit a lot. This feels like a tall order but perhaps I can figure it out with the right investment in some cool pants that are not jeans that I can wear to work. As a result of this reflection, I did a quick Google search of “pants for women with big thighs” and ended up trying this Athleta pant and this other Athleta pant because were both on sale. Both appear to have comfy stretchy fabric but also seem like they could be work-appropriate for a future in-office Bridgey to wear. Again, haven’t worn ’em that much but may report back later!
- Shoes feel like the toughest problem to solve here! I think the issue specifically is shoes that I will feel cute wearing to work or going out in that don’t hurt my feet. I also need some new snow boots. So, fellow ladies with big ol’ feet: send me your recc’s!
I guess I have some marching orders in terms of the things that I should keep doing with my own fashion in a post-pandemic world, and a clearer sense of the things that I don’t love that I want to do differently.
Future me: hope this helps you!
