Woman Ended a 23-Year Friendship Over a Pair of "Traumatizing" "Mom Shorts"

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a friendship that spans multiple decades. Sometimes we meet people, they become our close friends, and then the season passes naturally as we move on to new groups, locations, or interests.

But sometimes friendships and relationships end abruptly and painfully, for reasons that can be unfathomable to one or both parties.

The latter is what happened to a woman on TikTok who says her friendship of 23 years was suddenly over due to an outfit choice she made. That choice? "Mom shorts" from American Eagle.

Here's what we know about the way her friendship abruptly came crashing down after more than two decades.

TikTok user @originalsugarphly took to the platform to share her heartbreaking story. In the video, she's recording in a mirror as she shows off her outfit, which includes a brown t-shirt and a pair of mid-length shorts from an American Eagle collection known as "mom shorts." These shorts are generally high-waisted and fall near the upper-middle thigh, so they aren't particularly revealing or "sexy," they're just shorts.

However, @originalsugarphly's friend has a different opinion of them.

The TikToker explained, "23 years of being best friends, out the window. Why?" She showed off her shorts and explained, "These shorts. You've probably seen them, they're called the 'mom shorts' at American Eagle."

She explained that she flew out to Las Vegas to help her friend of 23 years move into a new home. She also went with her friend to take her friend's sons back-to-school shopping. Her friend's sons are 17 and 14.

Everything seemed normal until @originalsugarphly returned home and received a call.

"All of a sudden," she explains, "she mentions that her boys were uncomfortable." The friend told her, "Your shorts were so short that they were inappropriate, and you made them uncomfortable. You could see your whole butt." The TikToker then turns to show that her butt is, in no way, showing.

The TikToker pushed back until the friend said that "because of the things that happened", the 14-year-old is going to need "therapy."

The friend also said that her family was not "used to seeing people dressed like this." Which is a bit of a shock, since the video was filmed about an incident in Las Vegas. During the Summer.

@Originalsugarphly said that her friend needs to teach her boys that people have autonomy and can dress the way they want, and to stop sexualizing women. Now, she says, she has no idea if the friendship is over or not, although it certainly sounds like it is.

TikTok is just not having it. People filled her comment section with support, with one user writing, "IF her son really was offended, she should be teaching him not to objectify women and keep his eyes where they belong. And I say IF, I doubt the kids said anything."

Another agreed, adding, "Script flip — it wasn’t her sons, it was her man who she caught lookin or he mentioned she should get a pair. On a positive note — you now have space for a True friend!! And the shorts look great on you!!!"

One TikTok commenter mused, "I think the sons are the problem, not your shorts."

Many people pointed out that the friend's issues are likely something that she's dealing with inside of herself, possibly an insecurity. Nonetheless, who needs enemies when you have friends like that?

While some hoped that @originalsugarphly would make amends with her friend someday, others encouraged her to find people who wouldn't scapegoat her for family issues over a pair of shorts that are nowhere near "inappropriate."