Yesterday, as I held my breath and squeezed myself into my Brazilian jeans, I wondered what my mother would have said.

Here I am, 70-something and wearing skin-tight jeans.  Did my mother even own a pair of jeans?  Did I ever see her in public in anything that didn’t have a skirt?  Was there such a thing as a trouser sock in her day?

I remember when women first could wear pantsuits to the office.  I had just returned to work after two years as a stay-at-home Mom in the early 1970’s.  The rule was that the jacket of your pantsuit had to cover your butt.  And a blouse with a big bow at your neck was part of the deal.

Forty years later, my work wardrobe is about 50-50 pantsuits and skirts.  But none of my pantsuit jackets cover my butt and there are no bows on my blouses.

We’ve come a long way baby.  These days, it’s no longer clear who wears the pants in the house.