Some Trends Are Best Left to the Young (and Warm)

There is a current fashion trend that I cannot comprehend. Not at all. It is the trend to go pantless. This trend involves wearing underwear or very short bottoms like bloomers, hot pants, or briefs instead of pants or a skirt in public. Some people will wear a bulky sweater or a fitted jacket, while others will go with skimpier tops.

A daring look meant to draw attention to the legs and to denote individualism may work for confident and beautiful models/actors/singers. Let's face it, it is not a look for an overweight sixty-nine year old. Even when I was younger, and thinner, I would never have had the confidence to wear my underwear in public and call it fashion. Though I do remember a neighbor in the 1960's who wore really short shorts. I would go to play with her children and she would wear those shorts and I would be embarassed for her. I was ten years old and she was the first woman (not a girl or a teen) that I had ever seen in shorts. I don't remember my mom or my aunts ever wearing shorts.

I asked ChatGPT to create a cartton image of an elederly woman wearing granny underwear, boots, and a bulky weater for my blog on pantless styles. ChatGPT's appeared to be creating an image and then responded: "We’re so sorry, but the image we created may violate our guardrails around nudity, sexuality, or erotic content. If you think we got it wrong, please retry or edit your prompt."

I tried again with this prompt: No nudity please! The woman should be wearing granny underwear or bloomers , a sweater, and boots. The woman should be elderly and a cartoon figure. There is trend for people to go pantless - instead they wear underwear, short shorts, or bloomers and then a jacket or sweater. 

This time, ChatGPT produced the image below and even offered to tweak it later if I wanted to change the colors.

Color was not my concern, but I did wonder whether the image might look more attractive with a thinner model and a more fashionable boot.

I will let you judge for yourself.

I admire the confidence it takes to step outside wearing little more than underwear and a sweater. Truly, I do. But at this stage of my life, and in a Minnesota winter, my boldest fashion statement is choosing warmth over spectacle. When the windchill is flirting with zero, pants are not just unfashionable to skip, they are essential. Pantless may be trending, but long underwear, wool socks, and a good pair of pants still reign supreme in my closet.

So tell me, would you be willing to go pantless to make a fashion statement?