Which Dress Pants to Buy When Trends Are All Over the Map

Reader A has a question about which pants to buy right now – let’s discuss. What pants trends do you see? Where do you think pant trends are headed for the next few years? Which of the trendy dress pants for women do you buy? Here is the question:

Help! Work pants styles seem to be changing (wide-leg! pants style! they’re back!) and due to weight changes, I’m about to invest in a few new pairs but can’t decide whether to replace them with slim-fits. stylish or something in the last few years. Where are the trends going? i would like a post

I have long theorized that workwear is influenced by denim trends, largely because you get used to the difference in volume. Tight jeans and tunics lead to tighter ankle pants and longer, looser blouses and sweaters. Bootcut, wide-leg jeans and tighter T-shirts (baby tees in the 90s, bodysuits now) will give way to fitter tops in the office. A good example: the waist-length or short cardigans we’ve seen (versus the longer cardigan styles we’ve seen over the last few years).

So what’s trending in denim right now? The biggest thing I keep reading is skinny jeans. But I still see a lot in stores—and as I go on vacation I see seasonal skinny jeans in leather, velvet, sequins, and more. That’s why I think skinny jeans are still in vogue – I wouldn’t invest a huge amount of money in them, but if you have an outfit you like, I think you can still wear it.

Also, wide-leg, baggy jeans — and boots — and crop tops — and flared boot crops — and slits. So… I think it’s fair to say there is still something.

(Add to this, of course, that the street isn’t like the catwalk – people keep wearing things after they’ve gone out of style, adding just one or two new pieces at a time.)

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How to Decide Which Pants to Buy When Trends Are All Over the Map

So where does that leave you with workwear, especially trousers? If you’re buying a few new pieces to bridge the gap in your weight gap (if you’re losing weight and are just going over size, or have temporarily gained weight and are planning to lose it), here’s what I’d consider buying for work pants right now.

How are you going? Full-length pants can smell in sleet and rain—to be honest, I always wore a skirt or dress in the rain instead of messing with full-length pants. If you regularly struggle through rain, sleet and snow on your commute, you may want to reconsider purchasing some of the more trendy, longer styles right now.

How diverse are your shoe sizes? Assuming your previous shoes still fit, take a look at how varied heel heights are. Do you wear flats one day and 4 inch heels the next? Do you go to apartments and wear higher heels to the office? Again, with full-length trousers, pinning the hem right can be a pain – and you usually have to choose a specific shoe when wrapping it. This may or may not work with your current shoe wardrobe, it can be limiting.

Which tops are you thinking of pairing with the pants? If all your work attire tops are going to look best with ankle pants, because that’s what you always wear… You can grab a pair or two of ankle pants and call it a day. On the other hand, if you’re buying more fitting tops for work and play, you may want to look into some of the wider pant styles.

How trendy do you want to be – and how? I would say there are a few big trends we see in work wear and street wear.

1) Monochrome dressing with great attention to texture

2) dopamine dressing with bright colors to influence your mood

Trendy Dress Pants for Women: Texture Dress Up

Again – think about the rest of your wardrobe. If you’re going to shoot for the first trend, do you need your pants to bring texture – or can they be matte? If you need texture, you’ll be limited to what’s available in velvet, velvet, and tweed for the fall. This is partly why I feel faux leather styles are so popular right now – but get to know your office and yourself before you buy.

Trend Dress Pants for Women: Dopamine Dressing

On the other hand, if you’re looking to try some dopamine dressing, this might be a good place to double down on trends – grab a bright pair of wide-leg trousers to catch both trends.

Here are a few good options for colored pants for dopamine dressing:

hunt for colored trousers for work? Like brands in general. banana republic, BR Factory To express, J crew, bodenand crazy Larry there are a ton of options; here’s a little summary of what’s out there right now:

hunting for more wide leg trousers for commuting? We’ve just rounded up – among the general favorites are pleated pairs My Favorite Girl, Everlane*, reform*, and abercrombie*, with straight front pairs good american,* MMLaFleurand ann taylor. (* = plus sizes; see post for notes on petite and tall).

Some of Our General Favorite Pants

Historically, these were our favorite dress pants for women…these are still in stores now and for a long time—probably many women you work with will have these pants, so you’ll fit in.

hunt for pleated pants? You can find it at. ann taylor (regular and petite sizes 00-18), Penthouse (regular, petite and tall sizes 00-18), To express (regular, short and long sizes 0-18) and White House | black market (00-18, normal, short and long).

Some Comfortable Pull-On Pants for the Office

If comfort is a high priority for you, these are some of our readers’ favorites for comfortable pull-on pants…

my .02 dollar

Here’s my best advice: Whatever the trends, I prefer long-standing established shapes. Ankle pants? Control. Straight pants? Control. Boot or flared pants? Control. Wide leg pants? Control. High rise, steady rise, check, check.

The trends I would avoid are the newer ones – front slits in your pants, side slits in your pants, cropped wide leg styles, sailor style pants, puddle pants, etc.

Readers, what are your thoughts? Which of the trendy dress pants for women do you buy? If you had to buy a new pair of pants for work right now, what would you buy?

Stock photo via stencil.