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NEW YORK
—
New York
and
London
fashion weeks make it clear: Pants have earned
permission to be feminine.
In
women's high-fashion circles, top tastemakers —
Phillip Lim
, Michael Kors,
Philadelphia's
own
Behnaz Sarafpour
and
Tory Burch
, and
London
-based designers
Graeme Black
and
Matthew Williamson
— presented pants as more than basic Hillary
Clintonesque trousers. They were the sexy focus of
outfits in shiny, lacy, and ruffled splendor — a trend
we haven't really seen since the late '70s.
"The
pant has become more feminized (and) more detailed, like
dresses," said Lim, whose presentation of his
stellar 3.1 collection opened with a sleek cherry-red
pantsuit.
One of
the strongest looks in Lim's 39-piece grouping was a
pair of navy blue, slightly skinny pants with ruffled
tiers. So cool. So original. So feminique.
"Details
like frills and bows usually reserved for dresses can
now be applied to pants," Lim said.
Constance White
,
eBay's
fashion director, agreed. Taking a break between
London
shows, she e-mailed me raving about the
"feminine" pants by
Rebecca Taylor
(metallic with elastic cuffs),
Diane von Furstenberg
(roomier bottoms with layers), and
Marc Jacobs
(sheer pantaloons).
"There
were certainly a lot more choices in pants than we've
seen in a while," White said.
My
favorite — and, of course, the least wearable for me
— was a Sunkist-orange ruched pant by designer
Tracy Reese
, who usually is more sensitive to the hippy chicks.
Still, she fearlessly showed the body-hugging legging. I
know I'd have to pair this with a tunic, but a shiny
three-quarter-length gold cropped jacket would be so
much cooler. The boldness was quite refreshing.
I'm not
saying this ends the era of the dress. Far from it. The
majority of spring pieces previewed for next year were
dresses and skirts — the shorter the better — in
bold, jewel-toned shades. In fact, my bet is next
summer's color will be a greener turquoise.
But pants
are stealing some of the spotlight.
"Instead
of being a foundation, we saw pants as a layering
piece," said
Sean General
, women's wear buyer at Boyds. "Remember how women
used to put the sweater over their shoulders? Now they
are putting a skinny pair of pants under their
dresses."
The focus
on feminine detailing in pants crept onto the fashion
scene late in fall 2008 as skinny jeans and leather
leggings became standard under baby-doll dresses and
chunky knits. (Remember the leather legging promotion at
Express last fall?)
This
fall, leggings are back. Some are studded. Others have
glitter. Some are liquid metallic. I've even seen some
lacy ones a la
Prince Rogers Nelson
.
With
retail's focus on leggings combined with designers'
focus on harem pants (which debuted on the runway in
February but have yet to be hits with shoppers), the
runway was primed for more trousers.
Fashion
historians say that except for the smattering of
decorative pants seen 30 years ago, the newfangled
feminine detailing is something unique to this time.
Of
course, women have worn pants regularly starting with
the equestrian pant of the late 1800s. But, said
Clare Sauro
, curator of the historic costume collection at
Drexel University
, women have always been appropriating a man's look.
There
were the '80s power suits and, in recent seasons, the
boyfriend trousers. Pants often were a political
statement. They were a way to be taken seriously in the
workplace. Or they were worn to relax and do physical
work.
"Women
have never really claimed trousers as a feminine
extension of themselves," Sauro said.
So this
trend, now in its infancy, is one to watch. The good
news: Those detailed pants you buy this fall will be in
style for a while.
But we
may have some trouble handling our trousers' new
identity.
Traditionally,
pants have been the go-to article of clothing for hiding
our shape. Eat a little too much cheese? Those cuffed
menswear trousers and a cute little top would hide your
girth.
And those
tight leather pants have always been about tough girls,
not girly girls. (Just ask "Grease" heroine
Sandy.) As for layering denim with my dresses, it always
was about keeping warm.
Am I
really bold enough to pair a dress with orange ruched
leggings? Will I look feminine or just loud? And how
will I disguise my one-night stands with bread and wine?
I feel a
fashion conundrum coming on.
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