Bella Hadid by Zoe Ghertner for Vogue Italia March 2024
Well, there’s this funny thing that happens when someone actually stops and thinks about how many parts of beauty have been uncomfortable on purpose. Like, the whole “beauty is pain” idea has been around for so long that people just accept it without even questioning it. It’s the high heels digging into ankles, bras leaving those lovely marks on the skin, shapewear that feels like a full-body wrestling match, it’s a skincare routine that’s meant to be soothing but just burns your face instead (which is a redflag), clothing so tight someone can’t even breathe right, and hairstyles that tug so hard the scalp.
Now, of course, this list of very relatable things could go on and on, but you get the idea here. Before all of this, it was corsets, it was layers of clothes on a hot hat, it was heavy wigs, but the mentality of “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, has basically always been there. As you can probably see for yourself here, it’s almost like beauty’s been measured by how much discomfort someone can tolerate.
Comfort’s Been Missing for Way too Long
At some point, a lot of people start noticing how draining it is to keep forcing themselves into uncomfortable routines day after day. And it doesn’t hit all at once. Instead, you can pretty much count on all of this to just creep; it creeps in during a long day in heels or in that moment someone sits down and realises their jeans are definitely cutting into the wrong place. Or maybe even during a workout that feels harder than it should because a sports bra’s doing more fighting than supporting.
Again, it creeps, and it just makes comfort being seen as a luxury, when it’s literally not, though! But it needs to be the baseline here, and yeah, that mindset needs to go. People are tired. They want beauty that feels good, not beauty that leaves them counting the minutes until they can change into something soft and stretchy.
Sometimes Comfort Means Long-Term Decisions
Well, you need to keep in mind that comfort isn’t always just softer fabrics or better shoes. For some people, it’s facing physical strain that’s gone on for way too long. You need to keep in mind that things like back pain, shoulder pain, posture issues, and daily discomfort can take over someone’s life, and chronic pain even takes over someone's life, being ill does in general.
But of course, depending on the situation, there might be some long-term decisions and solutions, like a breast reduction to stop shoulder and back pain (unfortunately, society still pushes women to have large breasts even though that comes with literally painful consequences). Now, of course, this is just one example when it comes to comfort and long-term changes.
The Shift Toward Comfort’s Already Starting
And you, and everyone else, deserve the shift; that shift needs to be there! There’s a reason so many people have traded in painful shoes for supportive ones and swapped tight outfits for materials that actually let them move. Sometimes, style isn’t enough; pain is pain, it ruins your whole day. And as you can see for yourself, there’s this whole wave of people choosing hairstyles that don’t hurt, makeup routines that aren’t stressful, and clothing that actually matches their lifestyle.
There’s seriously nothing wrong with comfort; it’s the furthest thing from laziness, there’s no reason for physical comfort to be stigmatized in the first place.
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