Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Are Yummy
The lovely Shawn sends along this article on the important subject of the muffin top. You know, the phenomenon of poochy overflowing fat that results from the fact that you can't buy non-low-rise jeans anymore unless you resort to tapered Mom jeans?
"Yes, there are plenty of young women who can confidently say that they are happy with their less-than-svelte shapes — and that is to be applauded. But there are many others who in the rush to be fashionable are unable to admit that they are larger than they wish to be, or that their bodies just don't look good in the clothes they are choosing. Instead of reveling in their big, beautiful bodies, many girls instead are deep in denial, pouring themselves into clothes that are putting them in a python squeeze."
I'm sure my own Muffin Top has offended its fair share of people, but I've learned to embrace things like the Muffin Top and the Flappy and the Arm Flab Situation. This is why I work out in a tight tank top. Because if my fat offends you... well, I don't care. But is it a flattering look, the muffin top? Should young girls be covering up their fat instead? Do these girls strike you as being in denial? What do you think?
"Yes, there are plenty of young women who can confidently say that they are happy with their less-than-svelte shapes — and that is to be applauded. But there are many others who in the rush to be fashionable are unable to admit that they are larger than they wish to be, or that their bodies just don't look good in the clothes they are choosing. Instead of reveling in their big, beautiful bodies, many girls instead are deep in denial, pouring themselves into clothes that are putting them in a python squeeze."
I'm sure my own Muffin Top has offended its fair share of people, but I've learned to embrace things like the Muffin Top and the Flappy and the Arm Flab Situation. This is why I work out in a tight tank top. Because if my fat offends you... well, I don't care. But is it a flattering look, the muffin top? Should young girls be covering up their fat instead? Do these girls strike you as being in denial? What do you think?
posted by mo pie at 8:09 PM
12 Comments:
Okay,while I think wearing clothes that are too small for you is not a good idea, I am totally upset that this article used pictures of girls who were not wearing tight clothes.
Yeah, I don't know. The article does drip with contempt for the very existence of fat, and equates it with unattractiveness, which bugs the hell out of me. On the other hand -- I do see youngish women wearing clothes that are tight and clingy enough to actually emphasize fat rolls, where if they had been wearing something one or maybe two sizes up, or just not such clingy fabric, it would never have occurred to me to even notice their stomachs. And I do sort of think it looks bad.
On the.... er, third hand, who the hell cares what I think, as some random stranger on the street? If someone walking past me hated my hair or my calves or my suit, I wouldn't actually give a damn. Plus, while it strikes me that there has to be a happy medium between wearing tight stretchy baby-Ts and low-riders on one end of the spectrum, and hiding behind a giant flowered shirt suitable for a 90-year-old off to her canasta game on the other, I do recognize that the fashion industry is not exactly falling over itself to provide that happy medium, especially for teenagers.
In theory, my response would be, "I don't find the muffin top flattering on thin folks or heavy folks. Go ahead and wear something low cut, but buy it in the right size and cut for you, whatever size that may be." The truth is, it's not that easy to find clothes that are well cut, whatever your size; folks don't always know how to determine what "well cut" actually is; and for larger folks, sometimes that size isn't necessarily available.
For those interested in flattering low riders, the trick is to find trousers/jeans/whatever that are snug (not intravenous!) through the leg and hip, but loose at the waist. The muffin top is created in two ways: (1) when the trousers are loose enough in the leg and hip to slide down until the waist jams on the hips so tightly it can't slide down any further, and the flesh billows over the top; (2) the whole garment is just too darned small. It's a bit like creating balloon animals: squeeze it in one place, and the balloon puffs out someplace else. Buy a bigger size! And when you do, make sure it's snug through the hip and leg, and loose at the waist.
I have to agree that some of the clothes make you look fat even if you're not. I've tried on some of the designer jeans in the right size for my body and the cut in at the sides (creating the dreaded muffin top) AND had 2 or 3 inches of extra fabric at the back waistband. I have no idea how that manages to happen at all.
And the girl with the "cute fat chick" comment is right on the money. Her clothes fit well and she looks adorable in them.
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I posted about this a month ago! I was in Los Angeles and I was told that "LA Bitches" use this phrase. I had never heard anyone say "muffin top" to describe a pudgy tummy before.
Anyway, part of me thinks "who cares how people dress? There are much more important issues in the world to spend time on than fashion." That's the same part of me that thinks we spend too much time thinking about weightloss for any reason other than health.
The other part of me thinks that those girls are sadly misguided by their peers into thinking they look hot when they look ridiculous.
I guess I am getting old; both of these reactions are from an outsider-a-generation-apart perspective.
I am ambivilent about this subject. On one hand it makes me crazy when fat girls/women wear clothing that is unflattering, I guess I feel like it reflects on all of us, which is kind of stupid.
BUT I can undestand why they do, because I do. My clothing fits nicely but I have bat wings on my arms that are horrendous-because I was morbidly fat for a long time and then lost 165lbs. I have skin that hangs, but I also wear sleeveless shirts, and will continue to do so no matter what people think. If someone doesn't like it, they don't have to look at it. So I am in no place to judge.
I also have looked at those young women (I am middle aged) and thought, good for you embracing your fat so much that you are willing to let it all hang out!
It's funny, but in the last two years or so, I have had to stop shopping at Old Navy. I wear a straight size, anywhere from 10 to 14, depending, but even at the upper end of my size range, the Old Navy pants do not fit. They are so short in the rise, and so tight, that I believe they are now purposely cut to fit like young girls are wearing them (too tight, with skin hanging over the waist-band).
I'm not sure how really conscious it is, you know. I think that's just the way girls dress now. Period.
I'm constantly amazed at what I see women even in their 20's wearing now here in the city to work and in other more formal situations. There is no sense that it's too low cut, or too revealing, or even trashy looking. That is simply the style.
Remember those girls who wore sundresses and flip-flops to the White House?
They had no clue that wearing something like that would be in any way inappropriate. Because on t.v., in magazines, that is what you see.
Ok. I'm sounding like a curmudgeon, so I'm going to stop now.
I guess I'm saying I don't necessarily think it's about fat girls trying to cram themselves into clothes that are too small.
I think there are two things going on here, one scary and the other pretty normal. The scary issue is the fact that girls are "afraid" to wear clothes of a certain size. The idea that people wear something that doesn't fit them because they would rather convince themselves they want to be uncomfortable than to admit they are bigger than the skeletal "norm" of Hollywood is frightening.
However, on the flip side, there is something to be said for a general trend in teen fashion. When I was the age the article talks about, we went "grunge" and I wore mens flannel shirts. Flattering? Not at all. Maybe muffin tops are not "flattering" as well, but while they may be signs of more insidious fat bashing brainwashing, they may also just be hallmarks of bad teen fashion sense.
"if they had been wearing something one or maybe two sizes up, or just not such clingy fabric, it would never have occurred to me to even notice their stomachs. And I do sort of think it looks bad."
I think I agree with this. Mostly.
I should declare, as a chunky-legged longwaisted person with a big bum, I think low-cut jeans are the devil's work, because I can't wear them. That is, if big enough to go around my hips and thighs, they would then fall off because they'd be clinging to the lower curve of my bottom. Not going to work.
So I can totally see the temptation, if you are an apple shape, to buy the jeans that fit comfortably onto your slenderer legs, even if you then, um, stick out a bit over the top. If it were me, I'd then try to find a flowing top to wear with them, though. Grunge shirts had this to recommend them: they were baggy and hid any spillover - and I was wearing jeans that were far too tight back then, in the mistaken belief that this would make me look thinner, so I know this for a fact.
There is a middle ground between low-rise and mumsy tapered-leg jeans. Boys' jeans. Yes, I know it doesn't sound convincing, but they have a slightly higher rise, and you can pick the leg length. I find Gap to be good (I usually get them cheaply in the sales...)
I must agree with some previous comments re: the creation of the muffin top. It has not as much to do with extra weight as many people think -- rather, it has almost everything to do with the tightness of the waistband & specifically, exactly *where* on the hip the waistband of the pant in question hits. Jeans can still hit your hip, but just a *bit* higher than many of the low-rise ones do, and lo, no muffin top. Part of the problem is that in order to get lowrise jeans that fit in *most* ways, and don't feel like they'll slide off, you'll sometimes find yourself buying a smaller waistband than is necessary to avoid cutting into the flesh & creating the muffin top effect. I discovered I've got a couple of unfortunate pants myself -- I try to wear them with blazers or something to camouflage the muffin. :)
I agree with a lot of what Heather said. At the moment, my bottom is a regular 16 or 16Petite, my top is about an 18/20. Even when I bottoms that fit or are a bit loose, I have a muffin top because I'm all gut.
I recently decided that I'm not going to wait until I get to my goal to dress in cute clothes -- cute and pretty clothes that are flattering. It doesn't mean I'm going to dress in a way that shows off things I don't want to show off, but it means I'm not going to be afraid to wear pretty skirts that show off my legs, or colors other than black. In the meantime, I've lost 15 pounds and am working slowly on losing more.
I think people should wear what looks good on them. Even very thin people don't look good in everything. People look better in clothes that fit, not clothes that are too large or too small.
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