Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Denim Doubts

Jeans. They can evoke so much emotion in us: the hot jeans we wear on a date, the skinny jeans we can finally fit into, mom jeans we vow never to wear, the comfy jeans we’ll never throw out.
The assignment this week is to write a piece – fiction or creative non-fiction – in which jeans play a prominent role. You can even write an ode if you’re so inclined.
Word limit is 600

Wrangler came out with some new style of jeans that was supposed to give Janelle a J-Lo butt. She threw them across the footboard of her bed and tried not to think about it.

What's wrong with me? She thought. Shopping for clothes always gave her that feeling of frustration and despair.

Diets. Exercise. Shopping. Advertisements. Music videos. It seemed like every force on earth was lining up together to make her feel like a failure. The tears spilled out, and a little profanity along with them. Why was this so hard?

The phone rang. It was Suzanne, Janelle's best friend. How did she always know when to call?

"What's up, chickie pooh?" Suzanne was always cheerful.

"Not much. I just got back from the mall." Janelle's voice was flat.

"Oh. Well. I know how you feel about that. I bought a bottle of really nice Malbec. Can I come over? I have an idea." Suzane said.

"Sure. I'll make popcorn and we can talk."

An hour later, Suzanne revealed her idea. Janelle loved the idea, they spent the rest of the evening sketching out a plan for how to make the idea happen.

In only 18 months, Annie-Elle Jeans rolled into the stores. Real women's jeans. For women with real bodies. With pockets that could actually hold something, and zippers long enough that no one had to do the crawl to get into their jeans. Stylish, not blingy, nobody's name emblazoned across the ass. They didn't show your butt crack to the world, didn't ride up into your lady bits, the waist band was a little stretchy without looking like elastic pull-up jeans. And they came in a wide variety of size and length combinations, so that no one had to wear high-waters.

Jeans that felt so right on her body encouraged her to buy new lingerie and some hot new shoes. It wasn't nearly as painful anymore. She found out she had been wearing the wrong size bra. Looking in the dressing room mirror, wearing a sexy red bra that lifted the girls up high and round, she realized for the first time in her adult life that she was built. Why hadn't she seen this before? Janelle had the hourglass shape and womanly curves that turned heads everywhere she went. Great legs, gorgeous hair, an amazing rack... all things she had been ambivalent about because she was worried about a few pounds.

The realization that there wasn't anything wrong with her, that clothing makers were making clothes for mannequins and not women, opened up the windows to her life and let the fresh air in. Gone were the "I give up" ponytails, cheap flip-flops, yoga pants and over sized men's t-shirts. She bought clothes that pleased her, and found another hair stylist (one who did not say "very thick and wavy" like it was a bad thing). She got rid of every speck of heavy makeup in her bag, threw out every can of meal-replacement-shake crap in her fridge. She got to know the people at the farmer's market by their first names. Granny panties? In the trash! Self-help books? Goodwill! Exercise dvds? Gone! She bought a great vintage-look bicycle and started shopping locally, piling her groceries in the cute little basket on the handle bars. She stopped using the elevator all the time. She traded in her old sedan on a sports car and drove that to the city instead. She burned her punch card for Tastee-Freez. No one else was in control anymore.

Next  year, watch for Annie-Elle's new swimsuit line.



Always, feel free to comment! Trish in AZ

7 comments:

  1. That's nice: women taking control of their lives. I like it.

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  2. I give up ponytails. Ha. I can relate. I enjoyed the feel good ending here.

    Stopping by from Write on Edge.

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  3. Very nicely condensed into a readable, enjoyable story in just a few hundred words!

    A little con-crit:
    When they start to think of The Idea, I'd either capitalize it or use some other way to make it stand out. Also, that paragraph needs a semi-colon instead of a comma between the last two independent clauses.

    I also love the idea of "I give up ponytails" and I am frequently guilty lol!

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  4. I hate I-give-up ponytails almost as much as I hate I-give-up buns. ;) This was a very empowering story, I hope you write more on her later!

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  5. So, where do I find some of these jeans? ;-D

    Very nicely done. :-)

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  6. Love your story! I can totally relate to it. I always feel awesome in my favorite jeans, even though it took me a long time and 3 babies to finally be comfortable with my body.

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