SLIM SILHOUETTES

I’m not only making dress pants for you, I’m making them to fit you in a style, in a fit that flatters.

Fit is all about the designer’s intent. How the pants are supposed to hit your waist, how the fabric should drape down your backside, and how the pants hit the floor (or not at all).

The following pants are designed to reveal the shape of your leg and are perfect for every and any day.

SLIM ALL THE WAY DOWN

Capri

• Also clam-diggers, three-quarter pants (can also be wide-leg), pedal pushers, and even toreador pants.

• The shortest pants you’ll see (that go past the knee).

• Tight on your thighs all the way to the top or middle of your calf.

• Usually tapered but may have a bit of flare with a slit on the side.

• From fashion designer Sonja de Lennart, debuted in 1948 and were very popular in the 50s & 60s.

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Crop

• Also high water pants (many wide-leg styles).

• Between capri and ankle length pants, hitting the lower half of your calf.

• Often thought as leg-shortening but can be very flattering on all heights, especially if slim-fit (hit below the calf at a more narrow point).

Cigarette

• High-rise, tight fit (across hips and legs), and straight opening (not tapered or flared).

• Hits an inch or so above your ankle.

• Think Marilyn Monroe and Sandra Dee.

• Tres chic and can be very flattering.

Ankle

• Also flood pants.

• Meant to hit right at the top of your ankle.

• Many fought against this “leg-shortening” style but with a slim-fit they can be surprisingly elongating: by extending to the ankle, they don’t cut up your legs!

• To my tall friends: I promise these really are meant to hit your ankle…

• These have been pretty popular, especially for office outfits.

Skinny

• Also pencil leg, drainpipe, or stovepipe pants.

• Tighter slim-fit pants that go past the top of the ankle (not tapered or flared).

• Shows off your figure entirely which can be very flattering (or for some entirely uncomfortable).

Straight

• Full-length pants, not tapered or flared.

• Consistent leg width from hip or knee to ankle.

• More relaxed at the waist and hips than skinny pants.

SLIM AT THE TOP

Boot-cut

• Tapered at the knee, expanding slightly at the ankle (often starting mid-calf), more narrow than flared pants.

• The loosening at the ankle, of course, accommodates a boot to fit just inside.

• Coming back in style, baby!

Flare

• Also bell-bottoms when really extreme wide leg opening or from the 70s (thank you Sonny and Cher)

• The leg tapers inward slightly at the lower thigh then begins to widen at the knee and expands all the way to the hem.

• Also making a come back from the 90s or 70s or whatever decade you last wore them in.

Honorable Mention: Ponte

• Pants with double-knit fabric.

• I don’t think these are formal enough for dress pants, but they must be mentioned with it’s (unfortunate) use in our offices these days.

• Current trends are offering these in skinny fits, just shy of a legging, but can also have a flare leg.

WHAT FITS YOU

I’ll never forget THONG-gate in my high school…rows of girls with shiny, neon thongs sticking out of (way too) low-rise jeans in every class.

Low-rise was all the rage, a fashion movement across the US for way too many years. And that’s just it…low-rise is a fit, designers intend it to fit low on your hips.

But it’s not a fit for all of us. Not all fits, no matter how trendy, should be worn by all.

Know your body, what’s comfortable and what will make you feel proud of the way you look…30 years from now.