It seems that every season has some accompanying fashion controversy. During the winter, there is the constant argument over whether or not wearing leggings as pants is actually OK. What started as yoga pants being worn outside of yoga class slowly turned to workout leggings being worn when not working out, to finally just wearing practically translucent leggings with sweaters, sweatshirts or really anything.

Though I’ll admit to wearing leggings as pants around campus, I can’t say they are always appropriate. Like any garment, there are ways they should and definitely should not be worn. Columnist Kristen Daily covered this topic thoroughly earlier this semester, providing us with some guidelines for this popular cold-weather choice.

However, it seems that winter is finally giving way to a final and much-anticipated thaw. As the daily temperature rises, people on campus are shedding more and more layers. The last week has been full of the sweatshirt-and-shorts combination, and if the weather keeps improving, hopefully we can ditch our sweatshirts as well.

But even though the 50-degree weather is much more pleasant than last month’s single-digit wind chill, it is still by no means nearing a summer heat. Yet already visible around campus and Ames in general are girls and women clad in ridiculously small shorts.

Unless these women have ludicrous metabolisms or a bizarrely high-running body temperature, it seems a little bit early at this point to be dragging the short shorts out of the closet. Having seen girls around campus clutching their arms to their bodies, with visibly risen goose bumps on their bared legs, I feel it’s safe to say we should postpone “booty short” season until the weather hits at least 65 degrees.

Weather appropriateness aside, there is (or at least should be) a limit to how short your shorts get. If you love your legs, then there’s no reason not to enjoy showing them off. However, other people stop looking at a woman’s legs (or, more importantly, her face) if half her ass is hanging out the bottom of her denim shorts.

Though in the legging discussion of the wintry months, in which it seems that both sides can be attacked and defended equally, the butt-out-of-the-shorts look seems more difficult to justify. It’s a look that continually appears to be an embarrassingly obvious lure for attention. And, unfortunately, it’s nearly always successful.

The double-crescent of a woman’s behind hanging out of the bottom of her shorts is sure to attract looks, but it is not the kind of attention that anyone really wants. It might be that a girl thinks she looks “sexy,” but this shallow attempt to achieve self esteem is only going to be harmful in the long run.

There is a sort of attention that women should and can achieve. Even within the discussion of physical allure, a woman who knows how to dress well and attractively without showing any scandalous skin is going to garner a lot more positive attention and respect than her booty-short-clad counterparts.

There are hundreds of ways to showcase your best attributes as a woman without lowering yourself in the eyes of onlookers. Though summer fashion generally follows the trend of less coverage, there are flattering options for everyone. Whatever size or shape a woman comes in, she can take pride in her appearance without degrading herself.

By carefully avoiding seasonal fashion faux pas such as this one, we ladies can achieve truly fabulous campus looks without garnering obnoxious stares or whispers. There’s a time and a place for every level of skin coverage. Keep over-exposed skin in its appropriate places — at the swimming pool or in the privacy of home.

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Hailey Gross is a sophomore in English from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.