The Wonders and Horrors of Fashion

Althouse asks what's with the obsession with abdomens?

Haven't we seen enough of the female midsection for a while? The look-at-my-abs style has lasted way longer than was ever justified. I understand a fixation on breasts or legs, by why are we going on for years and years looking at ladies' tummies? It's rather strange, isn't it?

I agree. I get the point, you've got a nice tight abdomen and want to show off your surfboard tummie. Great. I'm a guy, I can appreciate that.

But it's gotten so out of hand that we've dropped the requirement about having a good solid stomach area. I don't want to be mean, but if you're a female wearing a mid-drift shirt, and you have inches to pinch so that it's just sticking out between your shirt and your low-rise jeans like some awful oozing thing, then you need to wear something that is a LITTLE bit more flattering. Showing off your stomach, if you have a gut, isn't going to win you many admiring looks.