In a recent Weekend Reads, I suggested a pair of ponte cropped wide leg pants from LOFT as a good buy during one of their sales. I decided to buy a pair and see if I was right, that they were a good wardrobe addition and show how to style them. This is a casual look - one for the weekend, maybe if your office is more relaxed, could maybe be worn in the classroom.
Top | Pants | Bag | Shoes | Sunglasses | Earrings | Ring 
Top: J. Crew (very old; similar) | Pants: LOFT (Large Petite; here is the link for the pants in plus size) | Shoes: Clarks (they come in other colors as well as widths) | Bag: Suede Shoulder Bag c/o Talbots | Earrings: Domain Portrait Hoops c/o REALM | Ring: Insignia Empress Luxe Ring c/o REALM | Sunglasses: Ray-Ban 
Ponte knit is a favorite of mine - it's stretchy and comfy but looks refined enough for the office. Ponte knit comes in different weights. Lighter weight ponte is great for dresses, I prefer a heavier weight for pants and suiting separates because it looks more professional and better skims the body giving good drape and a bit of camouflage. These pants are the lighter weight version of ponte. They are heavier than yoga pants, but I don't know if they'd work in a traditional office setting, even if styled with a silk blouse, a blazer, and a pair of pumps. They do have welt pockets on the back which give a better effect of "traditional" pants, but the weight plus the silhouette skews more casual. In fact, I planned to style these two ways - for weekend and for work and decided not to style them for work and mislead anyone.
The pants have a wide elasticized waist - the kind where the elastic is sewn on and then it's folded over so there is no band and the elastic is invisible. I like this because the elastic is so wide it won't bend or roll on itself, and it provides a clean line for tucking in or leaving out fitted knits. There are no front pockets, which is good for a clean line but bad for life in general. I think if these pants had front pockets, I'd find them more work-appropriate because I wouldn't feel as though my whole lower half is on display. The length is great for petite, exactly where I'd like the pants to end to wear with flat shoes as I have here, or glam up with some heels. LOFT usually has the same link for Misses and Plus sizes; this pant they do not so here is the link for the pant in plus sizes. I haven't washed the pants yet, but I've had luck laundering ponte - I wash it on the gentle cycle, line dry, and use a steamer (I have this steamer) to get out any wrinkles.
This pant silhouette is one I despised, then grew to love. And I don't think it's going away any time soon. the fluidity of this fabric makes these feel more graceful. If you're into these pants or a similar pant, here are some styling ideas:
As I mentioned in this post, I'm feeling softer colors for fall. The fall color trends show that blush pink is a hot color for the season and I really fell in love with this bag from Talbots. I think this shade is a neutral, one that would work with most colors. Because it's new, I wanted to show it off and felt it could take the spotlight with a simple black and ivory look. I was pleased to find my Clarks loafers (previously seen in this post) were a good match and pulled the look together. Blush is a great low-contrast color for my skin; especially with a black pant which can segment, I felt a lighter colored shoe was a good choice for this look. With cropped pants, you either want the pant low contrast or the shoe or else what everyone's eyes goes to isn't the look but that bit of skin between hem and shoe.
Shop the Look:
