Did you hear about the woman whose skinny jeans put her in the hospital? Not so fast — the dangers of skinny jeans have been seriously exaggerated.
Picture: Joel Bedford
The unnamed woman was called a “fashion victim” by the doctors who published a case study about her in The BMJ. She got nerve damage from squatting all day (just like strawberry pickers in previous case reports), and the jeans only played a role in a complication that happened after that initial problem, where swelling in the jeans caused damage to a second nerve.
Why did the story circle the globe as a warning about trendy jeans, instead of a warning about squatting all day, or not paying attention to your legs as they’re going numb, or about wearing casts and bandages (where this problem more commonly occurs)? It fits neatly into stories we like to tell about people (usually women) being dumb for enjoying stylish clothes. Compare to the rumour that circulated 30 years ago about a woman who was supposedly crushed to death by her tight jeans. Never mind that if skinny jeans were truly a health hazard, people would be collapsing on footpaths every day.
Read more at the link below for the full story on rare and unlikely dangers of fashion.
Don’t Toss Your Skinny Jeans — Unless You’ve Lost Feeling in Your Legs [Forbes]
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