Brainstorming on Fitting Trousers
Stephanie asks:
I don’t have a need for work slacks, but I would like some slacks for church. Any tips on fit? I have never worn them. I’m especially thrown by the noticeable lack of back pockets, and I just don’t know what is flattering. I see so many women wearing slacks that fit poorly…Don’t know how to not make that mistake. Right now, if I don’t wear a skirt to church, I wear dark wash jeans, but I’d like to expand my options.
Well, I’ll tell you a couple of things that are not flattering:
- form-fitting, skin-color pants
- visible pocket outlines
- jiggle
Defining what works is a bit more challenging. Let’s face it: women’s bodies are complicated.
Assuming we (at the bottom of the fashion food chain) lack the means, and/or skills, to do custom, here’s brainstorming on trouser fit:
- If your waist and hip measurements correspond to different sizes, go with the larger size and get alterations if necessary. (This is different from the way stretch jeans are normally fit these days.)
- Lining adds to a smooth look. Alternatively, wear magic underwear.
- The benefit of a mid-rise style with a waistband construction is breaking up the area visually. Recently I’ve seen styles with pocket flaps; same idea.
I suspect different styles flatter different figure types. For me, the fast diagonal line created by the slash front pocket is like magic; it almost transforms my figure eight silhouette into a V!
I’d love to hear what works for others.
Related Posts:
On Falling in Love with the Look of Another
The following just in from the comments on a previous post:
Hello everyone — it’s me again — Sarah. I need help! Having seen a super-stylish woman in Topshop, I find myself wanting to buy the coat she was wearing. “Wanting” is hardly a strong enough word to describe the feeling, actually. On the positive (”good excuse”) side, I have golden blonde hair and have been wanting to find a coat and shoes and boots in my hair color, as suggested by Rebecca, and the woman’s coat was definitely in that spectrum.
But on the negative side –
(1) It is rather thick and furry faux leopard skin (OTOH, thick = warm - good)
(2) Will leopard skin be as OUT next year as it is in this winter?
(3) I think that I look best in slim, or at least waist-cinching attire, but this coat is……. quite a wide swing coat hitting at the upper thigh!!! It is the ultimate triangle shape! How can I possibly want it or think it will look good on me?
(4) The girl I saw was very tall, whereas I am not. She looked good because of her endless legs.
(5) The girl I saw was wearing black flat (yeay!) ankle boots and what looked like either black leggings or thick black tights. No other clothing was visible. It looked good on her, but she had very dark hair and black footwear. Whatever would I myself be able to wear it with? I have been unable to think of other ways to wear it, and that seems terribly limiting.
Is this insanity not another example of my misquidedly being psychologically swayed by current fads? Would I think that girl stylish if she were wearing that some other time, when triangle-shaped swing coats were not in fashion? Somehow I doubt it. But there it is: to me, now, she looked fabulously stylish and I want to copy her look. You can see that I need help, can’t you?
In my defence, I should perhaps mention that I have not actually tried on the coat yet, and this season I have rejected as unflattering to me several trends (fads, I’d say) deemed essential for this season on another excellent blog I read. So it might be that the moment I try on said coat the full horror of the bulky faux fur triangle (possibly 9 months pregnant?) swing coat will hit me, but what I can’t understand is — why hasn’t it hit me already, given that I am fully aware of the tendency to be swayed by current fashions? I know it intellectually but I don’t yet FEEL it, if tyou know what I mean? Eek!
Duchesse responds:
Sarah: You have described a common phenomenon: falling in love with someone else’s look- and trying to copy it. (Which is how I once bought a trench coat that made me look like a sack of potatoes.)
First, the good news: swing coats flatter everyone (if they are not too big and end at the right length for your build.) Leopard is classic, always conveying a slightly eccentric, quirky attitude. Though some season it’s especially in, it’s never really “out”.
Now the bad news: You will not look like her. Even if you too were very tall, had legs for miles and hair the same colour, you will not look like her. But short blondes can wear leopard. You DO have to keep the clothes and shoes simple or risk looking like a bag lady.
So try on your leopard and if you like it, buy it. But make it your own. Perhaps with red gloves.
Finally, make sure you have another winter coat (one from past years is fine). You can tire of wearing an animal print. When I had a leopard swing coat it was such fun to wear, but not every day.
What are your thoughts? Should Sarah buy the leopard swing coat?
Related Posts:
At What Age is Body Image Set?
Christine brought up this provocative question, during our conversation on apparent body size:
One interesting thing I did read was that your body image is set at age 10 for girls. So, if you were a heavy ten year old you could be a very slim adult and still “see” yourself as heavy. In reverse, you could be slim as a ten year old (me) and always see yourself as slimmer than you are (I’m always looking for belts and fitted dresses that don’t work with my expanded waist.
Does anyone else find that to be true?
My own random observations:
- I must have been a pretty normal sized 10 year old. Mom?
- This theory might explain some things. Slim girls who complain about being fat are the ones who get the attention, but I’ve wondered why it seems there are some who are overweight and don’t seem to realize it.
- OTOH, there are some ladies who I think might be packing around an extra roll or two, who are actually quite slim.
- Most importantly, I advise highly against introducing fashion magazines until a young lady’s body image is well established, say in the later teen years.
How does your current body image compare with your size as a ten year old?
Related Posts:
When Do You Combine Differing Styles?
Who besides me remembers when longish dresses worn with granny boots (or combat boots) were everyday casual wear?
The differing styles were talking about here are mainly levels of formality, aka lifestyle segments (my basic four: leisure, casual, business, social). In the above example, social (dress) + leisure (boots) = casual (nicer everyday wear). And, hard as it is for me to believe now, we all wore it. Which leads me to my first declaration of personal opinion on the propriety of mixing disparate styles:
If it’s a mainstream look and you have a mainstream personal style, go for it!
For example, it is still mainstream to wear flip-flops with everything, including wearing them as dress shoes. While I have a fairly mainstream idiom, I give this look a pass simply because I am not comfortable in flip-flops. And I do believe there are a few places where flip-flops are still inappropriate: the White House, professional office setting, or anytime you have to walk in front of a group of people quietly watching you. Conversely (no pun intended),
if you are a true style innovator, mixing metaphors is an integral part of your idiom.
After all, somebody first popularized the wearing of dresses and granny boots, right? Young people, aka the pre-employed, have more latitude in these matters; presumably they are still experimenting and finding their personal style. Also, if you haven’t yet collected all your permanent wardrobe pieces; you may not have the perfect patent leather sandals to wear to the family reunion, flip-flops will have to do.
There is one final circumstance in which I think it makes sense to combine differing styles, one which is a little trickier and sometimes messes me up:
when your accent style contrasts with your main style personality, combining those two styles is part of your idiom.
Such is the case with me: my main style is contemporary classic, my accent style is functional natural. How does that mess me up, you ask? Suddenly the other day, when I was reading some Jennifer Skinner’s excellent articles, I realized that, in combination with some other aspects of my personal idiom (budget, metal allergies, and so forth), contemporary + functional can misread as conservative. Which is not me. Except in politics.
So what’s your combining styles story?
Related Posts:
Who Wears Shoes to Bed?
Julia asks:
On a similar topic, what is up with wearing outdoor shoes in bed? Our son just started going to preschool and they have children going to bed with their outdoor shoes on! This is in the middle of November in Colorado. The childcare is very highly recommended, not to mention costing us a bundle. Does anyone have suggestions on how to deal with this? Is it normal for kids to wear shoes in bed? Should we complain and ask that our son is allowed to take shoes off? I am so unprepared for the whole issue, I did not even believe my son when he first told me they keep shoes on.
Has anyone else experienced this?
My thought is, yes, you should request that your son be allowed to sleep without shoes. After all, you are the parent.
Related Posts:
Do You Wear Shoes at Home?
Increasingly, I am feeling alone in this. But I don’t know that I care. When I am puttering around the house, I wear shoes. In fact, if I’m not wearing proper outdoor shoes, I feel as if I’m not dressed - simply lounging.
Jennifer was wondering.
How about the rest of you? Are you like Jennifer, wearing house shoes in the house and keeping a pair of outdoor shoes near the door for running into the yard or to get mail?
Tell me I’m not the only one who needs shoes to feel dressed!
Related Posts:
The Text on Texture
Searching the October 2006 archives brought up this previously published discussion:
Vildy’s comment hits me right in the uncertainty zone (at least we’re there together:)
I’m not sure anymore how I feel about textures. I would wear this out to a casual evening but not stretch velveteen in the daytime. Not any more, anyway. I’ve just gotten rid of all of my flannel suit jackets, skirts, trousers. I realized I never wanted to wear them because I like smooth fabrics. I like fabrics with substance and crispness, too. This goes against the whole “there should be movement in your clothing” philosophy.
I get a lot out of reading your thinking about clothes and life. I’d love it if you’d write more about texture. Even though I’m rounded, I have a crisp personality and feel awkward in soft, draped clothes - like I’m selling a bill of goods.
The textbook answer to the taute vs drapy fabric question is this:
Skeletal (straight line) body types wear taut fabrics, muscular = semi-taut to semi-drape, molded (smooth, where the natural padding obscures the visibility of either bone or muscle) types wear drapy fabrics. Combination types wear taut on the straight parts and drapy on the smooth parts.
But that advice has never suited my personality either. And it seems to contradict Clinton and Stacy’s regular practice of making chubby people look slender by putting them in structured jackets.
Obviously I am not finished exploring this topic. What are your thoughts?
Related Posts:
Layering Tops of Various Lengths
Eternal Voyageur brings up a good, if messy, question:
I was wondering whether you’d do a post of layering length of jackets/cardigans over tops. I was thinking about how to combine short/regular/long cover-ups over short/regular/tunic length tops. This is tricky for me especially when I plan to leave the cover-up layer unbuttoned …
And Imogen was kind enough to answer it on her blog!
Myself, I am off to Macy’s today. You see, I forgot that I had an account with them and so when the mail came I threw the envelope in the drawer “to look at later”. :( But as long as I am there to pay my bill anyway, I plan to Shop Clearance at Macy’s. :)
Wish you could go with me (I’m a bit lonely today after having my best friend around for the long US holiday weekend)! If you could go with me, what would you be shopping for? Or would we just be mall-walking for exercise?
Related Posts:
Would You Use an Image Consultant?
As long as we’re all about making ourselves over, Imogen asks:
I’m interested to know what makes you decide to make a change, take control of your image and do something?
I’m actually very interested, not just because of my job, but also because I’m being interviewed for a magazine next week about this topic. Would you ever consider using an image consultant to help you with your transformation? I’d love any feedback on the following questions - from your points of view:
- Who benefits most from an image consultant (age, line of work, emotional state, stage of career etc.)
- The value of an image makeover
These are some of the questions I’m being asked.
Let’s help her out. 
From the gut, here’s my intial reaction to the idea of using an Image Consultant: I’m afraid an Image Consultant in Spokane would be … hinky, for lack of a better word. A Mary Kay lady. A glorified something salesperson. A hair stylist trying to beef up her business.
But, realistically, a properly trained Image Consultant could be a better investment than getting your advice from your hairdresser, who is depending on keeping you in services for her income.
What are your thoughts?
Related Posts:
Do You Look Hopeless?
From a recent email:
I always wonder –and maybe you can ask the question on your blog – why do people lose all hope and start dressing in those terrible old lady clothes?
(Referring, I assume, to the “elastic-waist pants, boxy top, earth shoes” uniform template. And let me just say that I don’t believe people are generally critical of those who can’t wear heels, etc. We can all agree to be understanding about that, can’t we?)
Pondering the question, next to everything else that currently resides in my brain, I noticed the following similar themes (it’s my job to notice patterns):
- the use of the term “lose all hope”
- longer, floral dresses are known as “I give up” dresses
- quite a few of the “types” (a more complimentary and probably more accurate term than “caricature”) in Trinny and Susannah Take on America
, which we discussed here previously, seem to have given up; from “my kids are my life” right down to “this has always been my best look”.
- In Staging Your Comeback
Add in the following, from private discussions I’ve had:
- one beloved friend feels like a failure for being (insert age) and not knowing what to keep and what to biff.
- a reader wrote, in response to the What Do Your Clothes Say About You discussion, that she wasn’t sure what her best look is.
- bodies change as we get older, necessitating different styles for comfort.
- polyester never dies.
My conclusion: I’m afraid alot of women are unintentionally giving the impression of being hopeless in matters of personal style. In other words, they think they look fine, like I would if I wore the long, pretty dress with the small print. :)
Please, correct me if I’m wrong. Why do you think people wear “old lady clothes”?
