If there’s one thing I have realised for real during this lockdown in terms of dressing, it’s that jeans are just plain cruel. And hear me out before you call me out for what I am saying. Do you remember the day when you pulled out a freshly washed pair of jeans, wore them and thought, “Have I gained weight? Why does it feel tight around the thighs?”
The day goes on, you’re wearing those jeans and then they slowly start to take the shape of your legs and go back to looking like they did. Point being, jeans can make you want to run your head through drywall pretty easy.
The last time I wore jeans was 17 March when I flew from Mumbai to Delhi.
It was fine. I was just another girl wearing jeans and I knew what they feel like and I have had a love-hate relationship with them. And then the country went into a total lockdown with only a handful of offices and companies running. Very few people were putting in the effort to dress as we sat at home.
Me? I just changed from night pyjamas into day pyjamas and then night again. Well, an occasional tracks day thrown in between. Until last week, everything was okay. And then I reached out for that pair of jeans sitting in my bag. And there it began - the BAN JEANS campaign.
All those salesmen and companies are fooling you, making you pay for a garment that sucks the life out of you. They should pay you money for buying those things you know. The more uncomfortable the fit is, the more they pay you. Those skinny ones...urghh double the amount.
I will admit here that I was happy I could fit in them. But the sudden feeling of not being able to breathe cannot be defined. I can’t imagine the pain I have given to my body unknowingly. Whenever I sat, got up, walked, bent through that entire day, I could hear my skin shout, “Get these off and let me breathe in those pyjamas.”
God knows what would have befallen on my stomach if I chose to wear those jeans on my period.
Now, I know a lot of you will be like, “Oh this is so exaggerated. Oh, there are jeans that are so comfortable.” Yes, friends. I hear you. But this isn’t meant for boys who can wear jeans two sizes bigger and buckle it up with a belt.
Why Do 5.5 Billion People Buy Jeans, I Wonder?
Jeans are made of denim. A material that’s cheap to procure and can last a long time. We know from our personal experience that we have worn a pair of jeans without washing for a long time just because...well no one can tell unless you have a curry stain on them. They are so easy to style that people literally never worry about what they pair them with.
Some people will rave about the pocket space in men’s jeans. They can fit their wallet, phones, smokes, keys...their house, all in the jeans. But women jeans (or well any other outfit) can’t do that.
I think we only buy these because it's the only thing in our wardrobe that we can repeat without having people notice what we are repeating.
The Search For a ‘Comfortable’ Jeans Will Continue...
If you have found comfortable jeans fit for your body, you really are one of God’s special people.
I, like everyone on my social media feed, have had too many realisations during the past few weeks of lockdown and the biggest one so far for me was that I have wasted a lot of money in my 20-something years of existence on my experiments with jeans. And if I come out of this lockdown wanting to wear jeans, it will be a miracle.
We as Indians who mostly live in hot and humid conditions, don’t have a reason to wear jeans.
We have a plethora of options. Cotton pants, palazzos, skirts, dresses...have I stressed it enough?
So why would I want to willingly suffocate my body and end up with rashes due to sweat and stifling jeans buttons?
In my humble opinion, there’s nothing like a ‘comfortable’ pair of jeans.
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