Skinny Pants

Choices: Last season's sale items at Holt Renfrew vrs. Costco 

New (Purchased over the last 6 weeks)
Note-Worthy      No Thanks     Need    

I've purchased three pairs of skinny pants in the past six weeks; two were on sale at Holt Renfrew and one pair was a Costco purchase - each in three different Canadian cities. Skinny pants are my alternative to short shorts. As to weather considerations, a loose pair of linen pants or a gauzy lightweight dress/shift would be better in hot weather than short shorts anyway. It's an age thing.

Retrieved from Lyst on March 27, 2013.

The dark taupe Theory pair were purchased at Holt Renfrew in Edmonton, Alberta at the sale cost of $149.00 (plus 5% GST) at the beginning of February. The original cost was $225.00. Theory was founded in 1997 by Andrew Rosen in New-York but is now a Japanese owned company. Clothing from Theory has defined "the modern contemporary category". According to the publicity statements, "exceptional fit, high-quality fabrics, and sleek silhouettes for both men and women have made Theory designs go-to staples in stylish closets around the globe". The starting retail prices are about $200.00 for pants. My favourite way of wearing my dark taupe Theory pants through the last of the snow is with a pair of flat knee-high boots and a black lightweight merino wool top. For work I put a black blazer on and it feels perfect.

Retrieved from Hudson Jeans on March 27, 2013.

I paid $99.00 (plus British Columbia HST of 12%) for these Leeloo super skinny cropped Hudson "bone white" pair with black side stripe at Holt Renfrew in Vancouver. They were originally priced at $198.00 but I bought them for $99.00 on March 19th. On the Hudson website I found them at a sale price of $119.00. They look more white in this photo than the beige I see in real life.

Nice:  My favourite of the two are the Theory pair. They feel the best, they sit the best and the dark taupe is my new beige. 

Need: I intend to find a floral top or a striped scarf including a matching taupe accent to lighten and brighten the Theory skinny pants for spring, 2013.

Note-Worthy 1:  Even though the cropped Hudson pair don't fit or sit as well as the Theory pair and they feel like they are "falling down" (but of course I only found this out after wearing them for a day), I do like the look. As well because stripes are such a strong trend this spring, I still am glad I bought them. 

Need:  A belt to keep my Hudson Leeloo cropped pants up!

Note-Worthy 2:  I bought a beige pair of skinny pants for a Costco purchase of $24.99. Of all, these are the easiest to wear and certainly fall into that "comfortable casual" category since they have no front or side zippers, except to act as fake pocket closures, and are simply a pull-on. What's note-worthy is that when I wear any one of the three, the "look" is essentially the same. Alfred Sung is a Canadian designer who is responsible for the Club Monaco label (with Saul and Joe Mimran - of Joe Fresh fame).

What shoes to wear with skinny pants: 

Professional stylists tend to put heels with skinny pants and I have done that. In the winter, flat or heeled boots are so perfect but in the summer, the ballet flat is my preference.

Care for cotton based clothing with elasticine or polyesters: 
The Theory label suggests the need for drycleaning. Yet the content of the Theory pants are over 60% cotton with nylon and elasticine. Sticking that drycleaning label on their clothing is a default action to defray any liability for fabric destruction by customers. Essentially they don't trust us to know how to care and clean our clothing. For the most part, when it comes to pants, the only ones I dryclean are those that are 100% wool (or the majority percentage is wool) and could be described as "dress pants" or "suit pants" - professional pressing and cleaning is a combination I cannot duplicate for those pants. The Hudson pants are 90% cotton and the Alfred Sung Costco pants are polyester and elasticine. Their labels both suggest a delicate cold water machine wash with similar colours, hanging to dry or tumble dry and ironing with a low iron if needed. If your iron has a "synthetics" setting, that would be considered "low". The Alfred Sung pants appear not to need any ironing and I would modify the "ironing" to inside out on the Theory and Hudson pants. I just washed the Theory pants, nothing bad happened and they look fine.

One of the reasons I iron my pants inside out is to prevent that "shine" which occurs when your iron is too hot for the fabric composition. To be on the safe side, anything that has nylon, elasticine or spandex in it should be ironed inside out. My guess is that the nylon, etc. has a lower melting point and those fibres will melt and create the shine. I may be wrong but it's a thought. Some will suggest using an ironing cloth, a cotton or linen piece to place on the fabric you are ironing so that the iron does not touch the clothing item directly. Good use for an old linen shirt or cotton t-shirt.

Another inside out ironing tip is to iron the zipper area and the seams open flat (if they aren't stitched together that is). This provides a flat finished look rather than the crumple you sometimes see at the seams or zippers.