Mom jeans is a humorously pejorative term for a specific type of fit of women's jeans, considered to be both unfashionable, and unflattering to the wearer's bodyshape. This style usually consists of a high waist (rising above the belly button), making the buttocks appear disproportionately longer, larger, and flatter than they otherwise might. It also tends to have excess space in the zipper/crotch and leg areas. The jeans are usually in a solid, light-blue color, with no form of stone washing or fading. Other attributes of the style often seen are pleats, tapered legs, and elastic waistbands. The style is often accompanied by a blouse or shirt that is tucked into the jeans. This style of jeans was popular with women in the United States until the mid 1990s, when lower rise jeans started to become fashionable.
The name of the fit has its origin with a 2003 Saturday Night Live skit for a fake brand of jeans called Mom Jeans, which used the tagline "For this Mother's Day, don't give Mom that bottle of perfume. Give her something that says, 'I'm not a woman anymore...I'm a mom!' "
A corresponding term, "dad jeans" has been coined in popular media to refer to a similarly unflattering, high-waisted, and shapeless style of jeans often worn by middle-aged U.S. men. This came to prominence in 2009 when President Barack Obama was depicted as wearing them to a baseball game.
Famous quotes containing the words mom and/or jeans:
“The family circle has widened. The worldpool of information fathered by the electric media—movies, Telstar, flight—far surpasses any possible influence mom and dad can now bring to bear. Character no longer is shaped by only two earnest, fumbling experts. Now all the world’s a sage.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
“When children dress like adults they are more likely to behave as adults do, to imitate adult actions. It is hard to walk like an adult male wearing corduroy knickers that make an awful noise. But boys in long pants can walk like men, and little girls in tight jeans can walk like women.”
—David Elkind (20th century)