Waist-high, with pleats, and possibly a crease down the front: we’re aiming for Katharine Hepburn with a martini
W ho wears the trousers these days? Everyone, that’s who. Let me tell you a story. Recently I went to the John Lewis showroom, where the creative team were showing their new collection to fashion journalists. Not a dressy do, just a casual 9am coffee. But on the other hand, it’s never going to be completely not a dressy do when the editors from magazines and newspaper style desks all know they are going to be in the same place. It’s the sort of thing for which you definitely think about what you are going to wear, but also don’t want to look like you have spent ages getting really dressed up. navy shirt
Anyway, I glanced around the room at what people were wearing, and it dawned on me that every single one of the 10 or 12 women present was wearing trousers. Not a dress, not a skirt, not jeans, but trousers. Lots of different kinds of trousers: wide-legged trousers and pleated trousers, cargo pants and carpenter-pocketed ones. Mostly in black/navy/grey, but there were also a couple of white pairs, two with pinstripes and two in red. All different, but all of them definitely trousers.
The realisation tickled me, partly because John Lewis was very much the spiritual home of the floral midi dress. During the reign of the floral midi – roughly 2017-2022, if I were to attempt to carbon date it – a calf-length, low-key spriggy printed skirt or dress was what all these very same women would have been wearing at a non-formal work event for which they wanted to look good in a smart-casual kind of way. So for the entire species to have taken up wearing trousers is a moment of fashion evolution.
This is absolutely not about wearing “fun” trousers. Please do not be alarmed: I am not advocating for zebra stripes or sequins. This is about rediscovering the simple elegance of normal trousers. It is not about wearing exciting trousers, but it is about wearing trousers as if trousers were an exciting thing to wear. I think what this comes down to is wearing them with intentionality. So, instead of treating them as the boring bottom half that you wear with a fancy top half, you focus on them as the main event of your outfit. That might mean wearing a belt with your trousers, and if so thinking carefully about which one. It also means taking a minute to check in the mirror whether the silhouette would benefit from a crease down the front, and to get the ironing board out if so. You need to choose a shoe that the hem touches without too much bunching, or wear your best socks if a cropped trouser length flashes a bit of ankle.
Do you have your trousers of the season already? Those flat-fronted, flimsy ones we used to wear with a white Stan Smith a few years ago won’t do, I’m afraid. We are aiming for Katharine Hepburn with a martini here, not satchel-carrying schoolboy. They need to be waist-high, not low-rise – probably with belt loops, because belt loops are very main character energy on a pair of trousers, but not essential if the waist fits you well. They should be loose at the thigh and knee, and either tapering a little to the ankle or straight all the way down. “Baggy trousers” have gotten a bad name over the years, for being scruffy. But a more generous fit looks a more deliberate, sophisticated style choice – intentional, remember? – than anything tight and stretchy. This is one of those times where the space between the body and the clothes is part of the look.
You don’t need to overthink the question of what to wear them with, because the point is that the trousers are the point. A simple shirt, or a knit sweater, or a tucked in T-shirt will do. You want a solid shoe to balance them out, so a pair of loafers is probably going to work better than a ballet pump. But, well, it’s kind of up to you. You’re wearing the trousers, remember?
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maroon top Styling assistant: Sam Deaman. Model: Cynthia at Milk. Hair and makeup: Sophie Higginson using Colour Wow and Makeup by Mario. Jumper and shirt: Joseph. Trousers: Me+Em. Shoes: Zara