I tiptoed into the ankle pant trend (late as usual) and got 2 summery-weight pairs last year, one in a cognac and one in a sand color. Careful selection was necessary to get the right fit --it's a hard silhouette for me. I did wear them to work but somehow felt too casual--partly the color, partly can't do semi-tuck there, pne pair skewed too beachy even though it was just neutral, footwear should have been easy--loafers--but was still a bit off. However on a couple of occasions when I wore them for theater, smart casual I thought they were pretty great!

I was about to chuck them, almost out of frustration and "will I ever wear these" and also a gray cotton pair that I had tried to upgrade for work, when I had the great lightbulb moment that the problem is, this ankle length just tends to look not right for ME at work (I'm talking true above-ankle, not tapered longer pants that show a slice of foot) but it's still a good style for breezier but leg-covering wear for casual wear and smart casual in spring-summer-fall. I have more footwear options, including certain sandals, loafers and fun trendy summer shoes, even dressier shoes which help the look, and for tops I can do shirttail hems, semi-tuck, slouchy, casual or dressier fabrics. It's easier for me to do these than dresses because I don't need hose outside of work--can wear footies with closed-toe shoes, bare feet with the right sandals, and am fine with bare calves.

I wouldn't mind updating to new casual pants, but it's the fit--these made the cut, so to speak, like all of the HEWI pants-fit challenges, I'm thinking, hmm,
I now have sand, cognac, gray and also have the BF jeans and I've got the bottoms covered--will treat those more like a "basic" , not the star, and play with the other items in the outfit.

This minor epiphany was of interest to me as I am "tidying" and trying to separate the true "no joy" items from ones I still really like but was more stumped about what capsule or occasion they fit into. I decided I would thank them for instructing me in what capsule they belonged to, and did not have to thank them and send them away!