It’s official, I’m joining the wide-leg, tailored trouser club.

Gotta be honest, didn’t really foresee myself being part of this club. I’ve always been nervous of wide-leg trousers and being swallowed (visually) by them – an unfortunate result of the combination of lack of height, lack of leg length and being busty. The overall vibe is “a lot of pant, not a lot of woman”. My compensation strategy for this was to only wear them with very high shoes and whilst a very cool look, it does not result in a super versatile clothing item and so mostly, I avoided them.

But, the style guide of instagram convinced me to try them – it feels like every second post at the moment is some version of the classic tailored, pleated wide leg “office pant”. Patterns are coming out left, right and centre and whilst I’ve never been susceptible to fashion magazines and the waxing and waning of fashion trends, I do find my myself susceptible to my instagram feed. Some may say it’s the algorithm but I like to think of it as positive peer pressure. In the same way I am easily convinced to give aerial yoga a try because my partner loves it and thinks I would enjoy it, I can certainly be convinced that I might like a fashion item on myself when I am seeing make after incredible make of similar items, on a variety of different bodies and all with different styling. I find it hard to look at stylishly posed models in a garment and visualise myself in it but easy to see stylishly posed everyday people in a garment and visualise myself in it. Ergo, I was convinced to give them a go.

I needed new work pants anyway.

My default black work pants for years have been a pair of Gertie’s cigarette pants (pattern from her Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book, but very similar to the Audrey Cigarette Pants). They are well-fitted, slim cut and now beginning to feel slightly out-dated with the rise in popularity of the wide-leg pant. I’m not sure whether it’s the spooky realisation the 30 is looking closer and closer each day or whether the fact that the current trends are so far outside of my default fashion choices but the skinny pants have somehow made me feel more cheugy than anything else.

I suspect that the current resurgence of the American Ivy/Old Money aesthetic that the tailored pants fit so well into also makes older styles feel ~more~ outdated than they otherwise would. Articles of Interest does a fantastic series on the American Ivy look but simply put, the creation of American Ivy is also the reason behind why we think of things like oxford shoes, button downs and tailored trousers as “classic and timeless”. I think the resurgence of this look as one of the dominant trends does a double whammy of not just displacing the previous style but also makes the previous style look “tacky” in a way that other new trends might not.

construction notes

My pattern of choice was the Protea Pants by Paradise Patterns. This was my first experience with her patterns and I was very impressed. The instructions were clear, detailed and easy to follow, even with the two finish options (top-stitch or clean finish) presented side by side through the instructions. I made a size 8, grading down to a 6 in the waist, as well as reducing the inseam length to account for my short legs. Other than that, I made no other fit adjustments, which was a welcome surprise! it’s been a long time since I’ve made a pants pattern that I haven’t had to modify or make fitting adjustments on the fly.

I do think this is greatly helped by the amount of ease in the hips – as long as you get the waist measurement right, fitting the rest is pretty cruisy. I was particularly impressed with the pockets – a slightly different style/finish to anything I’ve made before but the instructions were clear and the pockets lay flat and look beautifully crisp. It was also the first time I’ve ever done french-seamed pocket bags and wow, I am a convert. Did I spit and curse when I got to that section in the instructions because I knew it would take me twice as long as just overlocking the raw edges? Absolutely. Will I forever be using french-seamed pocket bags wherever I can from now one because they genuinely just look so beautiful and so neat? You betcha.

My one criticism(?) is that I think the fabric amount it calls for is overly generous – I was only able to get 2.2m of the fabric I used (the pattern calls for 2.6m in my size) but I could have gotten away with only buying 2m so save your money and be stingy with your fabric (especially if you pick one of the shorter inseam lengths.

I am really pleasantly surprised by how balanced they look on my frame. I will not be joining the tailored pants/dad sneakers club anytime soon but I will concede to wearing them with only a small heel. To be honest, I do think the current trend of the “tailored pants for all occasions” feels a little reminiscent of the “business casual at the club” trend of the early 2010s. As much as we loved our peplum tops, blazers and sock buns at the time, in hindsight it feels like such a bizarre trend to have had such a huge moment. Maybe I’ll be dead wrong but I can’t help but think we’re going to be looking back on this time period in 5-10 years and be scratching our heads as to why we were wearing dad sneakers and wool trousers to literally every occasion. This is obviously not a dig at anyone that loves the dad sneakers and wool trousers look! I was a huge proponent of the sock bun, large necklace and coloured skinny jeans look and whilst it was a ~choice~ to wear a bun that large, I hold no shame or embarrassment towards my younger self’s fashion choices – how could I hate something that brought me so much joy at the time?

Maybe in 10 years I’ll be praising myself for switching from skinny to wide-leg pants when I did, maybe I’ll be scratching my head at my choice of shoe, maybe I’ll wish I had the opportunity to dye my hair pink again. Who knows? Either way, right now I have a very stylish and very comfortable new pair of pants that, between work and choir performances, will get a lot of wear over the coming years.