Yoga pants are the new housecoats.

An older lady who lives down the street appears to have a uniform. Every time I see her, she's sporting some sort of housecoat/smock and a men's t-shirt. Her legs are always bare, even in the bitterest cold, and this worries me. But she smiles from behind her huge red glasses and calls me "Hon."

At first glance, it's easy to look at Neighbor Lady's ensemble and think, "Oh, brother." Let us be honest: the men's t-shirts are neither flattering nor coordinated with the housecoat/smocks. And sometimes there's both a housecoat and a smock, and the patterns don't go together. Comfort seems to be the focus here, not high fashion. Nor low fashion. Ahem.

But judge not lest ye be judged! Because today, I was feeling an ugly little bit judgey ... while walking my dog in yoga pants, a green fleece with a broken zipper, and a t-shirt that was of another, totally not complementary green. I was Clashy McClasherson. I was just walking around the block and picking up poop, so who cares?

Let us celebrate our freedom from fashion!

Neighbor Lady was just picking up sticks in her yard. Who dresses up for that?

And then it hit me. My grandma had an assortment of housecoats. They were comfortable and to be worn around the house only. Neighbor Lady is just stretching that window of appropriate venues a bit.

And I have an assortment of yoga pants. They're comfortable and to be worn in yoga class only. But, since most of us don't go to yoga class, they're to be worn at home only. But like most of my peers, I'm stretching that window of appropriate venues a bit.

Yoga pants are the new housecoats. Which is all hilarious and fine until we fast forward about 40 years. The lady people will be wearing whatever the third generation of housecoats will be. And they'll look upon us yoga pants-clad octogenarians with a mix of disdain and pity. Just how I'm looking upon my housecoat-clad neighbor.

But really? Neighbor Lady has one up on the women of my generation. Housecoats can hide a multitude of sins. And, they have pockets.

Pockets!

But yoga pants? Ain't no secrets nor storage when yoga pants are around. Yoga pants show the world your business whether you're 40 and in pretty good shape or you're 80 and have parts hanging everywhere.

The housecoats have the upper hand here, obviously. Gen X women, we have made a tactical error.