No. 12 My Summer Pants
A roundup of what I've been living in
I want to take a moment to let you know that I’ll be turning on paid subscriptions in the coming week. First as a way to keep me accountable to you and get my ass writing here regularly, and also to give you an opportunity to support this newsletter if you find value in it. To start I’ll be keeping all posts for free, and will start putting up paywalls as I get into a regular publishing groove. The minimum monthly payment substack requires is $5 a month, but I’ll be making a lower cost for yearly subscriptions for flexibilit. I’m planning on sending out newsletters full of shopping, lifestyle, design and interiors that I’m loving once a week once I get my cadence up. I hope you join me!
Now, onto pants! An incredibly fraught topic this time of year. It’s too hot to wear them, but loose and longer leg covering help to keep your body out of the sun and cooler. It’s incredibly hard to find good ones that fit to your body, style, and make you not feel like a walking puddle of sweat. After a few years of summer pants limbo, I’ve finally collected a wardrobe full of comfortable and cool cotton and linen summer pairs. I haven’t touched jeans since the weather hit above 72 and I’m so much the happier for it. My summer uniform has coalesced into one of the below pairs + a Flore Flore t-shirt + one of my many rotating pairs of ballet flats + silver earrings. Sometimes I throw on a big button down if I want to feel extra cozy.
I prefer my pants cut high-waisted with a straight-to-wide leg. I’ve proportionately got a tiny waist that I want to show off, and I can’t stand when pants taper in substantially at the ankles. It’s probably because I’m ever-so-slightly bowlegged and a wider leg hides it a bit.
Please excuse all of the below being taken at my work selfie mirror! It’s not the best lighting, but I always feel like I’m running late until I get to the office. But, it’s also proof that I really do wear all of these pants to the office when it’s 90 degrees out and 100+ on the subway platforms.
I purchased these Saks Potts Cherry pants on sale during my recent trip to Copenhagen in two different colors. I’ve never been so quick to purchase duplicates of the same item, but the cut was just so perfect I instantly knew I’d be wearing these until they fall apart. They’re on sale right now, and just got discounted even further than what I paid for them. RIP to the VAT back I was planning on getting for them and fuck British Airways for having the most inefficient systems that take 3 hours to check in. Anyone know how to get it back when you’ve already left the country without the stamps?
The Djerf Avenue Broderie Anglaise pants in white and Linen pants in brown are cut exactly how I want for each of their respective fabric types. The rise on both is perfection for my long torso and the drape-to-width ratio is dramatically different yet perfect on each. For the stiffer broderie anglaise I love where they hit right at the top of my foot, and the linen pair are loose just on this side of being unmanageably voluminous. I know this is an Influencer brand, but the pants are good enough to stand on their own. They know how to make a great simple pant for someone with curves. The linen are extra long, so better designated for a house pant, but the ease and flow I feel when wearing them has turned them into outside pants with a slightly dirty hem.
I discovered the Modern Citizen Paula Smocked Waist Pant from an old coworker’s substance (thank you Harling!). These have two layers so they thankfully don’t show your entire ass to the office. They currently only have them in black and an almond beige, but both are on sale. I’ve wanted a second pair for ages and the almond seems just different enough in my pants collecting delulu to be worth it. I might get a size up if I do buy a second pair, so they gather less in the torso/crotch area.
I have the brushed cotton Comme Si pant, which is admittedly much better in winter, but the cut is too good not to merit a mention here and they do come in hot weather friendly fibers. The bright blue cotton pair are near the top of my to-buy list as well.
Side note: I often find with cotton pants and shorts made by the same brand, the short versions are cut a bit closer to the thigh so I love the pants but hate the boxer shorts. I gave all my shorts to my fiancé to re-up their underwear drawer and am benefitting from their cuteness on them. If you’re thick-of-thigh like me, be warned if you too fall in love with the pants and want to try the cute boxer short version: they might not fit.
Brooke Callahan makes a great lower rise cotton pant that has been floating around the Instagramer/Youtuber/Substacker universe lately. While not my usual style, the width of the leg is so good I couldn’t bring myself to return them and have branched out of my own high-rise comfort zone. I bought an XL but wish I’d gotten an XXL. I currently have an XXL in a lighter brown in my cart…
My dream pair of pants is now the Bella pant from Egg Trading, as seen above from when I tried them on in their beautiful London store. They’re so big and courtly and really give a feeling of an 18th century dress or petticoat. They’re giving: where’s my lamb, but also let’s dance the quadrille. The cotton is the perfect weight to hold itself up far from the body while staying light and thin. The price tag is way above the rest of the pants listed here, but my god do they seem worth it to me. I kind of want to challenge myself to make a pair for myself before I spend that kind of coin on something so seemingly simple to construct.
SHORT PANTS
My absolute favorites of all time are the Stacey Nishimoto sporty bloomers. They’re both work appropriate and kind of look like a nice bubble skirt but also are so comfy and breathable on a hike. I have them in black and navy (she was kind enough to gift me the second pair!) and I’m so happy to have them both. I recently bought her new shorter style, but have yet to figure out how to style them outside of the house. I’m currently eying the white ones on sale… There is way too much in my various carts sprinkled across the internet.
In Denmark the cool girlies were wearing knee length shorts in a way that was incredibly inspiring and felt NEW in a way I haven’t seen in a while. Some were like 90s board shorts that I wore as a kid, and others were a more modern slim straight dark weight denim, but all were styled in an incredibly polished way. I emergency bought some great COS cotton board short style ones in Copenhagen when the thigh rub got the best of me at the end of the trip. I’ve been hunting for a pair of knee length dark denim shorts to fulfill my polished Copenhagen fashion girly fantasy and found them after weeks of weighing price vs cut vs color. I went with the Studio Nicholson Bode short and wore them for the first time today! I’m very excited to wear them to the office the rest of the summer with some bright red pointy-toe kitten mules or ruffly tops.
Thanks for reading and hope you found some pants that suit your fancy. And, if you haven’t already subscribe below!
xx