Real and faux leather pants are having their fashion moment in assorted silhouettes and colours. Most of the fabrics are faux leather, some of which are sustainably and ethically produced. Faux leather pants are more affordable than real leather, and easier to launder. Solid neutrals are the norm, but non-neutrals are gaining popularity. Styles range from body-con leggings, skinnies and streamlined straight legs, to roomier relaxed straights, barrel legs, joggers, paperbag waists, flares, and wide legs.

Here are some examples.

I’m building the solid components of my wardrobe and unexpectedly added a pair of orange faux leather cropped wide leg pants to my bottoms capsule. They are sustainably and ethically produced, and machine washable, which is compelling. I showed them to our forum here, and wore them to host Thanksgiving dinner. I LOVE them. As sensible and effective as it is to plan the purchases of our wardrobes, a dead right impulsive purchase that finds us is an extra fun addition.

The orange pants are easy to style because I will wear them with the red, shocking pink, burgundy, white, cream, blue, and orange separates of my wardrobe. I find that real or faux leather pants add an interesting textural dimension to an outfit. Personally, I like combining leather bottoms with a soft and cosy top, like a cashmere/merino pullover, and wool coat. So far, I have only worn them with dressy boots, but can see them with my hi-tops too.

Here are some easy leather pants outfit ideas to get the creative juices flowing. A range of leather pants silhouettes are shown, but feel free to wear colour palettes that are more to your taste.

1. Sweater, Sneakers, Scarf

Combine a pair of leather joggers with a comfy fluid or oversized sweater in a fine or chunky gauge. Add hi-top sneakers and a scarf that works in the palette of the outfit. Here the Winter white adds a crisp touch to the brown leather joggers. The scarf is seasonally fun in orange and olive. I can see a brown, orange, or cream bag in the mix.

2. Tee, Shacket, Stompy Boots

Combine a pair of leather pants with a tee or lightweight sweater. Pop a shacket over the top and finish things off with a pair of flat stompy boots. Here, the shacket is long and patterned, but a solid short shacket is fab too. I’d have preferred to see brown boots that pick up the brown of the plaid, but the black works well. I like the addition of the glam necklace.

3. Denim Shirt, Coat, Dressy Boots

Combine a blue denim shirt with a pair of leather pants. Add dressier boots. Top things off with a dressier coat and a bag to match. Browns look good with shades, tones, and tints of blue, and this look is a great example. Sub the shirt with a sweater if that’s more your thing. Or create a look in shades and tones of brown from head to toe.

3. Chunky Sweater, Dressy Boots, Crossbody

And last, combine a pair of leather pants with a chunky sweater or sweatshirt in a solid or pattern. With these wide leg pants, the sweater is semi-tucked to hint at a waistline to create a bit of outfit structure. Add dressy boots and a crossbody over the top. Here, the pants are sported at the new shorter full length to showcase more of the boots. I have grown to like this length and visual effect, especially for wet Seattle so that I can avoid soggy hems. Add jewellery, watch, eyewear and headgear as desired.

I recently ordered the three skirts in the collection below, but returned them because of fabric and function problems. Judging by the details online, they had great potential. But in reality they were far from perfect. 

The patterned skirt from Marni looked gorgeously voluminous and swooshy, albeit a little short. But since I’m shorter than the model, I pulled the trigger. It came and I was disappointed. The fabric was thin and there was no lining. It looked limp and didn’t have the heft to give it a good drape.

The red skirt from Nicole Miller was close to the red skirt of my dreams, and I was awfully excited to swoosh around in it over the holidays. I was ready to buy a tulle petticoat to wear underneath the skirt to accentuate the voluminous silhouette. Again, the fabric was a problem. It did not drape at all. It created strange right angles and crept up as soon as you touched the fabric to straighten the pleats. It looked like origami, and not in a good architectural way.

The burgundy skirt from Cinq à Sept was perfectly beautiful as long as I didn’t move. From the photo, I thought that the lining went to the hem of the see-through mesh fabric, but it stopped just above the first tier, and was not attached to the tier. So you could see through to my legs when I moved. It was bad when I sat down, because the lining crept up and became a mini skirt, while the rest of the see-through mesh skirt left nothing to the imagination. For me, who likes to be covered, this wasn’t a workable design.

I like to apply the triple P purchasing principle to new purchases. I’ve found that being patient, picky and practical when adding items to my wardrobe is key to minimizing mistakes. It’s hard to make the right online purchasing decisions when we can’t see, touch and feel the details. But at least we can be discerning in our dressing rooms at home.

Retail stocks are better than I expected them to be, and some of these items are on sale. If you’re shopping for yourself or others, you’ll probably get what you’re looking for. Order early if items need to go under the tree. Shipping is unfortunately not as fast as it should be. 

1. Franco Sarto Waxton Chelsea Boots

These boots have a roomy square toe box that is more pronounced on the foot than in the photos. Clients and others find them very comfy. I found the heel too high, and the footbed needed a cushioning insole because I like VERY soft shoes. But the leather is soft, and does not rub on the ankles. The turquoise, burnt orange and purple options are unique.

2. French Connection Mozart Popcorn Cotton Sweater

I bought this at the NAS in cream and love it. It’s white in the stock photo but cream in person. It has a fantastic architectural drape to it, and looks like a COS item. Just enough volume and structure in the right places. It’s very comfy, layers well under puffers, 100% cotton, and semi-tucks well too. It launders beautifully in the machine. Crisp and substantial.

3. Everlane Cashmere Beanie and Scarf

These are the bomb. Gorgeous quality, sustainably and ethically produced, super soft, and flattering. I could not believe my luck that the beanie fit my small head. It also fits larger heads well. I got the orange and wore it right away. None of the photos show the beanie worn slouchy without the folded edge, but that’s how I like to wear it best. It has a darling shape, and scarf to match.

4. Everlane Cashmere Crew

Sustainably and ethically produced, super soft, and heavenly on the body. I like the interesting front shoulder seam, and the fluidly tailored silhouette. An excellent simple sweater that can be used as an effective colour vehicle. They layer well under jackets and coats, and provide a fab back drop for a statement scarf. You might need to size down. Hubs Greg was enamoured with the orange that matches the beanie, so it followed me home. The orange is the only colour with a bit of cream tipping, which perfectly matches my pearls.

5. Hobbs Dresses

I’m a Hobbs fan because their items are clean, crisp, colour-rich, trendy classic, fit well, lovely quality, and the fabrics are substantial. Items are generally tailored and drape well. I enjoy the subtle playfulness in their pattens too. I do well with their jackets, coats, knitwear, and more recently with the dresses. I appreciate that the brand offers dresses that keep me warm and covered in midi lengths with sleeves. Clever forum member Tanya alerted me to the first horse-printed navy and chartreuse dress in the collection. She thought it could work in my horsey capsule. It does! I got it on deep discount and it fits perfectly. It’s gorgeous, swooshes when I stride, and I feel fabulous in it. I tie the tie in front and not the back, which gives it more of a ‘70s vibe.

6. Casual Holiday Sweaters

Last, if you like to wear cosy, very casual, and festive warm Winter knitwear between now and the end of the year, here are some options. Some are subtle and others hectic. You can dress these sweaters up a bit if you like. Utterly besotted with Yorkshire terriers, I got the first red Yorkie sweater. I’m wearing it here with jeans, but plan to dress it up with a pair of orange faux leather pants, pearls and cream boots.

I mentioned in this season’s trends post that all sorts of matching sets are on point. We covered fabulous twinsets or sweater sets earlier this year. Today we’re covering a not-too-distant relative: a set made up of a matching sweater and skirt. Just like the two-piece sweater dress beautiful Assa showcased on YLF a few weeks ago. The look is fringe, and reminds me a bit of the ‘70s.

Matching knitted sweater and skirt sets are usually chunky in texture with stitch interest. Most are solid, but some are patterned. Some have intricate cable and Fair Isle designs. Most of the sweaters are fluid or oversized, have long sleeves, high necklines, and are very cosy. The skirt component is midi or midaxi in length, and narrow in silhouette. Sometimes they are flared and shorter. The sweater component is usually worn over the skirt untucked. It can be belted to create some structure. In some instances the sweater component is a cardigan with a V-neckline, and the skirt is a dress or A-line silhouette. But more typically the sweater is a fluid pullover with a high neckline, and the skirt is streamlined. Here are some examples.

The set is an easy pull-on-and-go option. Add a pair of boots, topper, bag, and you’re good to go. It can be awfully cosy, comfortable, warm, and has a relaxed elegance about it. As a fringe trend, it’s quite a unique look right now.

Finding a set that fits to your liking can be tricky. It’s a delicate balance between finding a fluidly structured silhouette that is neither too clingy and body-con, nor bulky, unstructured, and blocky. The chunkier the knit, the more substantial, forgiving, and camouflaging the fabric, which creates less of a clingy silhouette. But chunky knits can also feel bulky, widening, and unattractive.

Personally, I like the trend. Visually, I am drawn to the chunkier versions with lots of stitch interest, fluid fit sweaters with high necklines, and streamlined longer skirts. But the straight silhouette of the long skirts gives me pause because I cannot comfortably go about my day in them, and prefer a skirt with movement and swoosh. But you never you know. Maybe the knit has more movement than I give it credit for. I’d have to try one on, walk around, and make a decision.

Over to you. What do you think of this trend? Do you like it, and would you wear it?