Reevaluating my personal clothing rules... skinny jeans on an hourglass woman?

There's been a wave of body-awareness thoughts in the busty blogosphere lately, of which I was a part, with my last post about my muscular calves.  It made me really happy to read positive comments on that post, so an extra thank you to those that commented with their own thoughts and experiences! Some other recent blogs I've read on this topic: Body Acceptance (by A Sophisticated Pair) (I nodded along with so much of this post-- the key to body acceptance is NOT to be negative about another person's body or build. It's really a great read). By Baby's Rules also recently posted about a body part she used to hate, that she's grown to appreciate with time (you'll have to click through to find out what). The final link I've got for today is to Venusian Glow's post on How to be a woman.

Thin and Curvy recently posted about the "rules" for dressing busty women, and how they are overly restrictive-- what people should wear is what makes them feel good about themselves, and highlights their favorite features, while also feeling right for their personal style. Having a large bust does not mean you are excluded from enjoying your own personal style!

I've been thinking about that lately as well-- one of my main personal fashion rules once I became an adult was "No skinny jeans, or narrow-legged pants!" That wasn't an issue for quite some time, but then they came back into style... no big deal, I can maintain my personal style despite transient fashion trends, but then I realized how... practical they are.

They aren't necessarily the most practical option for every season and place, but when it starts getting cold, rainy, icy, and/or snowy there's very little in the way of bottoms that is more practical, easy, and stylish than a pair of narrow-legged pants tucked into a pair of boots. Do you know how many times I've tried to cram my wide-leg or flared pants into my pants to get into work without sopping wet, salty hems, only to have them fall out half-way to the building (and they look really silly in the mean-time)? I'll just say: many.

Also, even though I'll likely never see similar legs on a model, I like my legs. I can't really display them as a feature during the winter, but slim-fit jeans are better for showing off my hard work in the gym, than a pair of wide-leg jeans or slacks.

So, being indubitably practical, and willing to go outside my comfort zone at least for one pair of pants, I waited for a sale in late summer and picked up a pair of American Eagle jeggings (Yes, I know. Jeggings?! These are made of stretchy denim, and have functional pockets and a zip and button-- so they are more like very slim-fit skinny jeans than leggings, instead of being in that weird twilight zone that are "not-quite-tights, definitely-not-pants").

It's gotten really chilly the past few days, and I wore them out today. All in all, I feel pretty good in them! I tried them a few days ago with a pair of heeled sandals, and didn't feel comfortable with how they looked... I like my strong legs, but I have petite feet and ankles, and I feel like I need more bulky shoes on with skinny jeans to feel proportionate and like I'm wearing something that's flattering.

Note that I'm still following some other of my own personal fashion rules-- I'm still wearing a fairly fitted top to show that my waist goes in (it's hard to find a fitted hoody, but this one, from Target last year, is thin with a fitted shape, and a really flattering neckline). Without a fitted top, I look like I have a shapeless and wide torso due to my bosom and semi-wide hips.

I got the jeggings in a size 6 instead of my normal size 4 at AEO, because I thought the tight legs might not fit on my strong legs otherwise. This was an error in judgement, because they get a little baggy in the legs with a few hours wear, and the waist is a bit too big. They aren't unwearable, but the material is stretchy enough that I could have ordered true to size despite my muscular legs that normally don't fit well in skinny jeans.

I also think these would be more flattering if they didn't have the "whiskering" (striped faded areas) across my hips and inner thighs. A evenly worn material, ideally in dark denim, I think would be the most flattering. The whiskering draws attention to the width of my hips, which is not ideal for this style of pant, in my opinion.

 Oh, since I've talked about everything else I'm wearing in this outfit, the boots are by Merrell-- the style is called Yarra. The buttons on the side are strictly decorative, but they are large-calf friendly, very warm, waterproof and very comfortable. I've had them for about three years.

I broke a personal fashion rule... and I think I like it.

This is the first review I've written that wasn't featuring a brand that caters to busty women. Is that something that you'd like to see more of, or are reviews of brands that are hard to try on in person, like Urkye and BiuBiu, of more interest?