It's so interesting to read everyone's replies. So many don't like the Leith pants. I love mine and wear them every chance I get! Admitedly, they are not easy to style, and as with all baggy pants, you have to surrender the butt view, but I think they are funky and chic.

I think we need a silky baggy pants challenge!

Mine are the Bed Stu boots. They are ink but look black so I'm not sure which clolr to pair them with.

Great idea for a baggy pants challenge, Karie! You look sensational in yours, so it is no surprise you wear them often.

I don't have any problem with baggy butt. (I mean I don't care about it). And LaBelleDM, they do not bag out unattractively at the end of a day -- they are woven so they are actually incredibly ...what's the word...impermeable? No...that's not right, but what I mean is they retain their shape and they don't even wrinkle. BRILLIANT for travel!! (And I wore mine once on a short trip.) For me it has really been a question of the weather. They just aren't warm enough for the cool 60s temperatures we've mostly had here. Or not for me. Maybe Karie runs warmer than I do.

Shannon, I feel as you do about the portobello skirt. Our eyes have adjusted to longer lengths. I like mine okay with tights but not so much with a bare leg. But I didn't expect to wear this skirt much in the spring/ summer. I thought of it as a fall/ winter piece. You wore yours a ton during that season! (Way more than I did -- with my nonbusiness life.)

I bought a pair of mint green Gap broken-in khaki pants and they drove me bananas in a bad way. I bought them because I wanted to try a new color and I saw SO MANY WAYS to style them in the blogosphere. Well I wore them exactly once and I felt so weird in them. The color was so not me. I have the same pants in white and wear them a lot. So it's just the color, I think. I was feeling so guilty that I was developing a hate for them. I finally decided to put them on the donate pile and settled down. No more mint pants for me.

I have some thoughts on the Leith pants. I bought some and returned them. The zippers make them hang strangely. There was TOO much fabric in the back and I found the fabric cheap-feeling. It reminded me of those tacky button-front shirts in the 90's. I found a pair of simular pants at J Jill made out of crepe fabric and I like them a lot more. The fabric is richer feeling and has more drape. And less fabric at the back so they are roomy but not diaper-y. http://www.jjill.com/jjillonli.....;ac=search

And you cannot beat the price!

Suz, I run cold (frostbitten actually). Here's my secret: I wear Cuddle Duds (thin long underwear) under mine when it's cold!

Rae, thanks for starting this thread. Mia gave me some great ideas for my tomato red cropped pants. Maybe they're not a flop after all!

I just "had to have" the express leopard coat after I saw Kate Moss wearing one.

Well I haven't worn it once! Our transitional coat season is so short! We go practically from winter coats to sandals in a matter of weeks. I need to keep this transitional weather capsule very small in the future.

a printed silk blouse by equipment, i bought it an the end of last summer, and thought it would be worn a lot this year. but i haven't wear it once.

Hmm, this is a really interesting thread, Rae. It seems I'm not alone in trying something that I can style so it looks good in the mirror but doesn't get worn because the item just doesn't make me feel good about myself on the inside.

Here's my current thoughts about "wild horses". Wild horses aren't a bad thing if they (1) challenge you to get out of a rut, and (2) if they help you refine your personal style.

ETA: Much prefer the idea that a wild horse is something that is hard to tame. I'm musing over Angie's suggestion to wear those slouchy pants with a dressier top and heels--verrrry interesting...

Not dead, but limping, is my raspberry jean jacket. It is harder to style (to my eye) than I expected in terms of proportions, since it is short-ish, and with pants I tend to prefer jackets that are a bit longer. I'm not despairing though because I think it still has a role with a few of my dresses as an alternative to the usual cardigan, and the color is still on point.

Anything that requires a special bra. This time of year I always get sucked in by dresses and tops that show off the shoulders, but the thought of having to wear a strapless bra gets them left in the closet.

I have a white Tahari blazer that has aqua piping and I've only worn it once because I find it so difficult to style. It was part of a skirt suit and I've worn the skirt on its own repeatedly, so I guess all is not lost.

Am I the only one who is sad reading the words "dead horses"? Just like I'm sad when I hear the expression "killing two birds with one stone". Perhaps we can say "hibernating horses" !!!

It's important to remember that not everything in your wardrobe needs to be worn all the time. Picking favourites is inevitable. AND for many of us, the weather has only just started co-operating.

Gaylene, you need to wear that outfit around your husband who loved it so much! Or add a dressier top to the bottoms, perhaps.

Marlene, I often hear from my clients that olive bottoms are problematic. That's interesting.

Zap, I am so with you. Last years workhorses can be orphaned the next season. And the opposite holds true too. Hibernating horses can become workhorses again. I am just about to write a post on that.

Zap, I am not feeling my Nexx shirts, either, and wore them tons last year. I did even return two that got spots and changed texture when I spot-cleaned. You may be onto something for sure... it is possible I burnt out on the silk pants because I wore them so much before.

How about "renegade horses" or "wild horses" although the latter is using the same letters. Sometimes "dead" may be too final and there could be a little life left in something, don't you think? We can rein in our horses sometimes. (How cool! I just read Angie's post after I'd posted and we must have been writing at the same time! Love the way you think.)

You look so fabulous in your *filling in the blank* horses and I still love #3 on you immensely, Rae, no matter how warm or hot you get in silk. That's a perfect outfit to me IMHO.

I'd say I've been loving my skinnies less and less although yesterday I wore a white pair with my Equipment shirt and was quite pleased.

My red trousers and pinstripe navy trousers are seldom worn, because I just don't seem to have the proper place or event in which to wear them. (Please fill up my dance card!). Generally, I go for more casual wear.

Marley, could you sell your shoes on eBay?

I was unhappy with the phrase "dead horse" as well. Maybe more like "black sheep" items....things that aren't quite fitting in. Sometimes black sheep can spice up a wardrobe. Sometimes they are just annoying...like my mint pants.

Ok, totally changed the title to "wild horses"! Thanks, Vicki! The wild horse fights you and doesn't fall in line, while the workhorse is reliable day in and day out!

Well, my army green coat has become a wild horse. I love it, it works well, but I've sewn the buttons back on three times now and my will is starting to flag. I think there's something about the buttons that cuts the threads. Also, I have not taken out this wear-it-multiple-ways prison stripe topper that I got. I look at it and feel it's difficult - although I have another three-in-one that's very easy to wear. Maybe it's the stripes - confusing visual vibration.

High five, Vicki! Thanks, Rae! I like the wild horse analogy a lot

I loved the article that LBD linked to from Alterations Needed. It summarized how I was feeling about my collarless denim jacket, which I have already sent to consignment. I felt like it was a "little sister" and I needed to upgrade to a "big sister" one....longer, more iconic, with a collar, etc. However, after hunting down and finding the perfect denim jacket for me, I brought it home and tried styling it with my clothes. There was nothing wrong with it, I mean, a denim jacket is a no brainer, right? But I just didn't like it on me. I still can't put my finger on it, but somehow I feel like I've moved on, and that I want a different type of "go-to" topper--not sure what yet. Luckily I was able to return it for a full refund, but there are many, many other wild horses that I've lost money on. But I have to say that they are very good teachers. I've started writing down in my notebook exactly what was wrong with each culled item so I won't make the same mistake twice (or three times...or...).

Of the new (not thifted) items I bought this Spring that have turned out to be wild horses are two thin boyfriend cardis, one in cream and one in navy. The navy one is so dark that it just looks wrong with either black or navy and the cream one was so thin that the print on my blouses showed through on the sleeves and bothered me. I bought them to wear when I volunteer at DFS (since I can't wear a denim jacket--which I no longer have, lol!) and I wore the navy one the other day with a pencil skirt and something about the low V cut my small bust in half and the length (neither cropped nor long) of it really bothered me. It feels alternately sloppy, dorky or dowdy on me, depending on my mood. I wish I could figure out exactly what the problem is.

I don't really have any wild horses from that Australian summer just passed, probably because all I bought were two dresses!
just at the end of summer though I grabbed a sundress from the bargain rack at the op shop, tried it on over a top because it was the end of my lunch break and got home to discover it was so tight I can't fit a bra underneath. but hey, I can take a 50c loss!

Black and white floral sheath dress -- only worn once while I was away, and not even during my conference, which is what I bought it for.

White linen suit jacket -- only got worn once so I left it with my Mom. It looks better on her anyway! But I'm still keeping an eye out for a white jacket.

Orange faux silk utility shirt -- I love these on everyone else but they just look strange on me. The particular one I bought is oddly tight around the bicep, so maybe that is why I don't like it.

Cream faux leather tote -- it feels weird to carry a cream bag with pure white clothes, so I didn't take it to my conference. Too late to take it back, though!

My wild horse from this spring has been my red jeans, and I'm not sure why. They are comfortable enough and I have many styling ideas. It's not wearing bright jeans because my neon citron pair have seen lots of wear.
I suspect that the waist is too high for my short-waisted body (They are NYDJ), and that the bottom of the leg does not taper. It may also be that I see red jeans everywhere so they don't seem unique. They may get whacked off for clams before the summer is over.