From comical to casual to counter-productive, I present to you The Romper
In a random, brief conversation with an impassioned shopper last night, I was informed that jumpers are always in style as the adorably excited woman lifted her recently purchased timeless black pant-legged jumper from her bag. My decided use of italics here is only to emphasize my surprise at the statement and her firm belief that jumpers are timeless wardrobe items and always convenient, practical, and fashionable. Apparently I’ve been living under a rather isolating rock, thinking that the romper was the most current modern version of the outdated jumper. Silly me.
Having made two romper purchases within the past month, I actually thought I was perhaps engaging in the current trend a little over-enthusiastically. A romper-wearer has to have an empowered energy—and energy that trumps onlookers’ stares when they critically assess your adult version of a childhood onesie. As convenient as a one-garment completed-ensemble may appear, the restricting nature of the romper design warrants the womp womp sound of defeat. Bathroom trips become an unfortunate production of complete undress and redress, requiring laborious shimmying, unzipping, untying, retying, and a not-so-cute little relief-anticipation dance all the while.
COMICAL, This Haute Hippie Ribbed Romper makes Belle here look like she's ready to hunt her Lumberjack Beast. And then retreat to bed.
I find it interesting that my jumper-educator believes in the enduring quality of the onesie, meanwhile my attraction to the once-infatuating romper has been tapering off. What does a woman’s willingness to put up with such inconvenience for what she considers fashion say about her priorities? Well, first off, it says she’s never quite grasped the genius behind the CitySlips functional-fashion concept, but secondly, she’s not valuing her comfort in her daily living.
Now, that’s not to say that every woman wearing a jumper or romper today is implying low self-esteem, poor life-prioritization, or complete disregard for her personal needs. No, no. As I said, it takes a strong woman to pull off such an attention-grabbing article of clothing. I’d simply like to take this opportunity to highlight some of fashion’s friendlier rompers that avoid such bathroom dismay and encourage sophistication in the wearing of the onesie by featuring a few with well-thought-out plans for undressing.
COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE, an overly-ruffly Halston Heritage Romper cannot mask an under-enthused mood
The situation parallels that of the backup footwear dilemma rather beautifully: Carrying around backup footwear is tell-tale behavior of a smart-minded woman. The flip flop, however, is not the most practical, nor the most attractive backup option. The bottom line? CitySlips fuses fashion and function in a nifty way. Were rompers to be more thoughtfully-designed, they too could be tell-tale signs of fashionable, highly-functioning women.
Smart in Stilettos 