CW: discussion of body shapes with a focus on the belly area.
So there I was, on Facebook, idling scrolling, patiently waiting for my favorite time-wasting reels (woodturning! love all the lucite and wood chips flying! dunno why exactly!) when I happened upon this headline:
Little did I know that this was a thing. Well, it’s a thing inasmuch as magazines and websites promote various styles of dresses as belly-hiding.
Alright, I admit that I actually do know what they’re talking about. Everyone has a belly, and they range in size and shape. When we wear dresses, some of them are looser, with more fabric, and some of them are more fitting, highlighting one’s body shape.
A lot of dress marketers are targeting people who worry about their bellies and offering dresses that “cover the belly”. This is the kind of thing they have in mind:
I mean, those dresses are perfectly fine. Sometimes, however, you want a dress like this:
Technically, this person’s belly is also completely covered. As are her rear end, hips and chest. But according to the body-hiding dress marketing industrial complex, she is exposed, showing her body parts. And tacitly, they’re saying we ought not to do this unless… unless what? We’re young? Thin? Tall? Equipped with flat tummies? And all the time? I’m skeptical about the coherence of the message.
I mean, we could just opt out of the whole debate by wearing this:
The sandwich board is the OG belly-hider and also efficient advertising medium. Underused and under-appreciated, in my view.
As for me, I want options. Sometimes I want a form-fitting dress. Sometimes I want a swishy, loose-fitting dress. I say let a thousand dresses bloom.
But they all need pockets, okay?
