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women’s health

Woman calls out Champion for ill-placed pleat making people cackle.

Pleats just make things cuter...most of the time. Pleated skirts and dresses give the clothing more movement and can make the entire outfit feel a little more feminine, if that's the look you're going for. Pleats in pants allow them to have a more shape-hugging fit while standing, but provide a less constricting fit when you sit. Sweatpants with pleats that make them look like slacks sounds like every boss babe's dream, except if you happened to purchase a pair of Champion's pleated sweatpants.

Dr. Marcy Crouch, a women's health clinical specialist and physical therapist, recently purchased a pair of Champion pleated sweatpants. To her confusion and horror, after holding up the low-rise business-casual-appearing sweatpants, she notices the pleats don't just hit the hip area like typical pleats in pants. There's an additional pleat down the center of the pants...in the front.

center pleat; pleated sweat pants; Champion; Target; center pleat; funny video Friends capturing happy moments with a selfie.Photo credit: Canva

The pleat itself is small, so you'd think it would be unnoticeable. But...it's not. In her now-viral TikTok video, Crouch is wearing leggings, making it easy for her to kick off her shoes and pull the sweatpants on to show just what the pleat does for her (or to her). Standing in front of the camera, there's nowhere else to look but at the suddenly inappropriate pleat in the front of her pants. Crouch wonders out loud how this design flaw made it into stores, while commenters had a blast making punny jokes that just won't quit.

"Listen Target, READ MY LIPS… 'Do better!" one person writes.

"Clams down best comment section in a while," another says.

"Are those from their Tulips collection?" someone else jokes.

One woman is thinking a large-scale act would really drive the point home: "I think all of us should buy a pair and make the rest of the country uncomfortable lol."

center pleat; pleated sweat pants; Champion; Target; center pleat; funny video Joyful moment with vibrant blue nails.Photo credit: Canva

Another commenter just wasn't ready for the reveal, saying, "I thought you were upset that sweatpants had a pleat down the center of the leg. I was not prepared."

Were women in the room when these pants were designed? One person thinks the answer is no. "Tell me these pants were designed and made by a team of men without telling me they were designed and made by a team of men …"

The center pleat defies all imagination before Dr. Crouch dons them for the camera, saying, "I already knew where it was going. Holy clam flaps, Batman. I was not expecting it to be that bad! They literally recreated the whole thing. That’s honestly impressive, in its own way."

center pleat; pleated sweat pants; Champion; Target; center pleat; funny video Embarrassed by the text, she covers her face in disbelief.Photo credit: Canva

Yes, this was approved and likely went through multiple quality checks before making it to the store, though one woman is in disbelief that these pants were vetted for sale, writing, "Someone designed it, and someone else approved the design, and then they made thousands of pairs…. Nobody batted an eye. Was there even one woman involved anywhere along the way??"

Are these pants still being sold in Target stores? Did Champion get into majora trouble over their pants that accentuate the thing they're supposed to cover? The world may never know. But for everyone's sake who wants to maintain eye contact with the women they're speaking with, let's hope these pants made it to their rightful place, in a Georgia O'Keeffe museum.

Singer-songwriter Halsey got very real about a little-known health condition in a heartwarming speech.

The 23-year-old artist spoke about living with endometriosis at the Endometriosis Foundation of America's ninth annual Blossom Ball on March 19, 2018, in New York City.    

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Endometriosis.


"I can't pretend anymore that just because I'm a pop artist and I'm touring that everything's perfect and everything's all good and my skin's always great and I'm fit and my outfits are always perfect," the artist said in her speech.  

The singer discussed the challenges of dealing with the common and often painful disorder that affects roughly 1 in 10 women in the United States.

Despite how disruptive it can be, endometriosis is a complicated condition that often goes unrecognized, misdiagnosed, and mistreated. It occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (endometrium), is found in regions outside of the uterus or where the tissue should not be. Worldwide, 176 million people, typically between ages 25-35 are affected by the disease.

The illness has very real social, financial, and health implications for many people. Those who have it often experience long periods, a heavy menstrual flow, chronic fatigue, infertility, and pain during sexual intercourse.

With March being Endometriosis Awareness Month, Halsey's inspiring openness about the really challenging aspects of disease is helpful in raising awareness about the condition.

The singer even discussed the impact of the illness on her social life and self esteem.    

"In the process of having everyone pick me apart and feeling so insecure, feeling less of a woman because I couldn't be intimate with my boyfriend, because I couldn't go out when my friends wanted me to, because I was dealing with digestion problems and bleeding problems and fainting and all of the other amazing things that come along with having endo[metriosis]," Halsey said. "It was really hard to feel like that confident, 20-something-year-old girl who wanted to get on the stage with her middle finger held high and make everyone sing along with her."  

Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images.

But Halsey made it clear that this illness won't get her down.

"[I'm] trying to normalize the conversation and say, 'It's okay to talk about reproductive illness, this doesn't make you weak, this makes you strong and you should be proud and vocal,'" she said. "And the more you talk about it, the more likely you're going to help one of your friends who might not know that they have it because they may be afraid of speaking about it, too."

Endometriosis may be difficult, but with more celebrities like Halsey speaking up, the lack of awareness could change.

Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images.

Whoopi Golderg, Tia Mowry-Hardict, and Lena Dunham are just a few of the people who also have publicly opened up about having the condition. Halsey discussed the importance of visible people sharing their stories and how it's caused her to take charge of her own health. She noted that she recently decided to undergo procedures to mitigate some of the effects of endometriosis and vocalized the importance of speaking out and pushing researchers to find preventative measures that can mitigate the condition for people living with the illness.

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

"[These experiences] ... that give me hope," she said, "and make me proud to be sharing my story in knowing that because I'm talking about it, and because I'm not ashamed of it, and because I'm proud of it that more women are in this world, hopefully, can catch their diagnosis earlier, can wake up one day and realize that the pain they're living with is not normal. And that hopefully, they can live a pain free life."

Thanks to Halsey's honesty and the many others like her who are working to raise awareness, people with endometriosis can know they're not alone and that people are advocating for making life better for them all around the world.