*This post is made possible by support from AARP’s Disrupt Aging. All opinions are my own.
In June, we took a trip to the happiest place on earth to celebrate the amazing year the kids had in school. As anyone who has been before knows, great effort goes into planning a trip to Disney regardless of the amount of times you’ve been. Out of the many activities, food, and transportation plans to be made, what to wear can be the hardest decision to make.
It doesn’t take reaching a certain age for a female to feel judged in her clothing choices. I purchased my first pair of shorts in preparation for our Disney trip … I hadn’t worn shorts since I was in elementary school.
I must have hit some unfortunate growth spurt somewhere between elementary and middle, resulting in stretch marks on the backs of my legs. As you can imagine, this left me extremely self conscious and I avoided shorts like the plague. Even as I aged into my twenties, weighing 109 and wearing a 00, I had dimples on my thighs that solidified my choice to walk straight past the shorts in summer in favor of sweltering jeans and yoga pants.
Reaching my 30s, 35 to be exact, and weighing more than I ever have, 151 for anyone so inclined to wonder, led to a streak of confidence that enabled me to purchase my first pair of shorts. Not just any shorts, cut off shorts that I imagine many, my older family members included, to feel I’m “too old” for such an article of clothing. To this I say, “by who’s standards?”.
I spent my younger years worried so much by what others would think or say, I chose to be hot over being comfortable. There is no age to comfort but unfortunately, there seems to be one for confidence due to stigmas society places on us. As I tried on my Express cutoffs, and my daughter expressed her pride in me for finally deciding to wear something other than jeans in the 90° Orlando weather, I knew it really didn’t matter to me who or how many people thought I was too old for them. I felt comfortable and confident in them, while also teaching my daughter that as long as she accepts herself it doesn’t matter what “they” say she’s too old for. That, like me, she can disrupt aging and rock those shorts with the best of them.
