Fashion changes on a dime. It’s terribly unreliable and just annoying. Just when you think you’ve figured it out it changes. I think the best way to describe fashion is how a man would describe what it is like to be married to a woman– a mind-changing force that believes it’s her prerogative to do so with little to no notice. Now that we’ve finally gotten somewhat comfortable with the idea that every pair of pants on the planet has to be skinny and tapered, and we’ve finally bid farewell to our last pair of slouchy, wide leg pants, guess what, wide leg pants are back.
Damn you, fashion.
While you may be letting out a sigh of relief over the fact that you might actually be able to breathe in your pants again and think that you may finally be able to tell your muffin top, “Yea, it’s been real but, see ya, wouldn’t want to be ya,” hold that thought. It can take a while to adapt to a new trend once you’ve gotten used to a different way of wearing clothes. Many women begrudgingly accepted skinny pants into their lives. Sure, it took time for us to accept that we may have looked like bowling pins, with exaggerated hips and asses, in our skinnies, but we learned to deal and, eventually, purchased an entire wardrobe around this trend. And, now it’s changing. Regardless of whether you may be running headstrong towards the soon-to-return wide leg (and surely more comfortable) pants, there is a good chance that you either a) have completely forgotten how to wear them and/or b) have nothing in your wardrobe to wear with them. Additionally, despite the fact that wide leg pants may have many redeeming qualities that skinny pants don’t, there are still some dressing issues that can come with wider leg trousers. For today’s One Item, Five Fashionable Ways, allow me to re-educate you on how to wear wide leg pants.
Wide leg pants have a completely opposite proportion than skinny pants
When pants went skinny and tapered we all had to rethink dressing proportion to make it work. Basically, we had to turn the proportion upside down. Skinny pants require a more relaxed top to look balanced (and not like a scantily clad prostitute), so sweaters got more relaxed, cardigans got drapier and we got comfortable with an easy, long-over-lean look. Now that the wider leg has returned we have to do another flip-flop and look at the bottom half of the body as the more relaxed region with our tops being shorter, more fitted and with more structure and waist definition. Too much relaxation on the top with wide leg pants can make you look like one big enormous shapeless box, unless you are a 5’11″ glamazon with .05%body fat. That’s right no bit, slouchy and shapeless sweaters with your wide leg pants.
You need a break
Skinny pants don’t require a break in the hem. Typically, they are hemmed right to the ankle. Wide leg pants, however, require more length and a break at the hem. A break is when there is a slight fold or bend at the leg hem of a pair of pants and the fabric “breaks” where your shin meets you shoe. Skinny pants don’t require a break, in fact they look silly when there is one. Conversely, wide leg pants without a break look like you are expecting a flood.
Cuffing wide leg pants
There is no rule for or against cuffing wide leg pants. Some feel that pants with a wider leg look better with a cuff than without one. I think it depends on your style, the style of the pants and, more importantly, the shoes you plan on wearing. If you’re a stiletto wearer I’d avoid cuffing any wide leg pants because it is just way to easy to get a heel stuck in the cuff. Trust me, I have a fall down a flight of stairs to vouch for this.
Even if you don’t add a cuff to your pants, beware of the heel of your shoes catching in the hem of the pants. It’s way too easy to get a stiletto stuck in the hem and to rip it or, worse, get tripped up and fall.
Wide leg pants on petite women
Wide leg pants and petite women typically don’t mix well together because they often make a petite woman look shorter than she already is. However, there many petite women who understand that no matter how elongating a piece of clothing is they will never look like Wilt Chamberlain. Yet, the problem with wide leg pants is that they not only have the potential to make a woman look shorter but they also can drag the eye downwards and away from the face. There are a few solutions to change this. First, choose a straight leg pair of pants over a very wide leg. Your still embracing the trend this way. Second, build up the shoulder to create height through wider neck tops, stronger shoulder lines, eye catching jewelry near the face and a defined waist. Third, keep the top half of the body lighter than the bottom half. A bright color on top, against a darker color on the bottom will force the eye upwards. Lastly, choose monochromatic colors from head to toe to create length and height.
Structure
If you are at all bottom heavy and think that wide leg pants will camouflage your pear shape you are right and wrong at the same time. You are right because a pant that falls from the widest point of your hips will always create a straighter and leaner looking line, however, if the pants aren’t structured or tailored you also run the risk of creating the “fat in a Ziploc bag” look. If you’ve never heard me talk about this analogy I will explain quickly: Imagine you took fat and put it in a Ziploc bag. This fat would jiggle all around in whichever way the bag moved. However, if you put fat in a more structured container it is forced to take the shape of the container. Wide leg pants on bottom heavy women can be a blessing…just as long as the pants fit well and are supportive and not in fabric that is too flimsy. This is not to say that skinny pants have been the biggest blessing on the planet, but, one thing they had going for them was the heft and beefiness to contain bodies with structure. Wide leg pants can sometimes just leave your body dangling in the wind.
Next, if you are bottom heavy with a small and defined waist it is imperative that you showcase your waist. As I said earlier, a shapeless top with a relaxed pair of wide leg pants will just make the body look like a shapeless box. This is especially true with bottom heavy women who bypass the slimmest and shapeliest part of their bodies– their waists.
Lastly, pockets. Ugh, pockets in tailored pants. I have yet to meet a woman who uses pants pockets for much of anything, yet, most tailored pants have them. If a pair of tailored pants have traditional quarter top pockets, which mean they start a quarter of the way from the side seam, they will splay open…and make you look hippy. Plus, what’s worse, the pocket bags of tend to show through on the thighs and make you look, again, hippy. Do yourself a favor, get the pocket bags removed and the pockets sewn shut. You won’t miss them.
How to Wear Wide Leg Pants
Here are some outfits and additional tips on how to wear wide leg pants using this pair from Alice + Olivia. You may notice that they are pleated. Pleats have slowly been reemerging after years of laying dormant. I can’t say that I’m in total favor of pleats returning, however, what I like about this pleated pair is that they are low slung and have a contour waistband which can be very flattering. Additionally, there is only one pleat that is on the shallow side.
Another point I’d like to make is about the belt loops. A lot of clients ask me if a pair of pants have belt loops if it means they are required to wear a belt. What I tell them is if they plan on tucking to either wear a belt or have the belt loops removed. If they plan on not tucking in a top they should not wear a belt. Unlike men, belts are usually more decorative for women. Typically, we don’t wear them to hold our pants up. If you choose to wear a belt with these pants, because of the contour waist shape, choose a belt that has a contour shape. For more advice on belts you can click here.
Outfit #1
With a shaped jacket, like this one from Boden, an hourglass shape is created because of the waist definition. While a fit-and-flare or peplum jacket can create a very defined waist with a wide leg pair of pants, be careful of too much flare in the hem of the blazers you choose. With the wide leg, especially a pair with pleats, the wide hem of a jacket is best when it hits above the widest point of the thighs and doesn’t sit too far away from the body, especially if you are bottom heavy.
The outfit is styled with a multi-colored pair of J. Renee Corbett shoes, a pink tote by Coach and a pair of Pineapple See earrings.
Look #2
Shape can be created with layers. In this case, I layered an Anthropologie shrug over a sleeveless Reiss tank. Using the statement necklace from last week’s blog in this series, printed pair of pumps, metallic bag and a gold bracelet, these pants can go from work to dressy weekend.
Look #3
If you’re wondering if this outfit with a slouchy, relaxed cardigan contradicts my earlier advice, I wanted to show an outfit like this to give you a way of using more relaxed cardigans, like this one from Mango, with wider leg pants. By laying a slim top, like this one from Elie Tahari, under the cardigan the waist is defined in a relaxed way. The belt by Ralph Lauren adds extra definition and pulls the focus towards the waist. As long as the the shape of the body is visible an easy cardigan can work with wide leg pants. The outfit is finished with purple kitten heels, a black tote by Cole Haan and the same earrings used in the first outfit.
Look #4
To add height, go for a monochromatic look, as I mentioned earlier. For strong shape, I chose a short, retro sweater from Modcloth. For an extra pop, I added a pair of red kitten heeled loafers by Fitzwell and finished the rest of the outfit with the same accessorizing components from previous outfits.
Outfit #5
To use a relaxed blouse that you may already own, like this one from Modcloth, a belt can cinch the waist to make the outfit more proportioned. When doing this, make sure that the top isn’t too blousy or long. You want waist definition and to not look too slouchy. Relaxed is good, sloppy isn’t. Often, a heel, like these by Jessica Simpson, can add some height and proportional balance to too much fullness and length. To pick up the warmth found in this shoes, I added a cognac bag from Aldo and styled the outfit with grey earrings and a gold and silver Banana Republic bracelet.
Hemming and switching shoes with wide leg pants
photo courtesy of Zakkerz.com
Another big question I get from clients about wide leg pants is going from flat shoes to heeled shoes and having the hem right for both heights. There are a few solutions for this. First, if the pants need a hem, bring both the flat shoes and the heeled shoes to the tailor so the tailor can find a happy medium for both heights of shoes you wear. Secondly, check out Zakkerz which are great for when you commute with flat shoes and plan to change in to heels later. Zakkerz is an ingenious temporary pant roll up solution for commuting. It’s a great idea that will keep your pants that were hemmed for heels from dragging on the ground.
