Casual clients who want to change things up from jeans and leggings but do not want to wear skirts and dresses are liking the Loft’s Cropped Skinny Chinos, and Caslon’s Cropped Linen Joggers this season. 

Loft’s cropped skinny chinos are available in ten colours, go up to a size US18, and are available in petites. They’re thicker than the linen joggers, but breezier than jeans. The pocket linings grin through the light colour options but are adequately opaque for the rest. Pockets that grin aren’t problematic when you wear untucked tops, nor are they all that noticeable in a more relaxed fit. 

The cropped skinny chinos are cut quite straight from waist to hip, yet they fit an assortment of body types. Curvier body types might need to go up a size, or have the back of the waist altered. Narrow hips might need to size down. They look best rolled at the hems with casual flats or heels. Sneakers look great with them too. The “vivid blush” and “Summer rain” (which are cranberry and pearl grey respectively), have been popular colours with clients. 

Loft

Cropped Skinny Chinos

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Loft

Cropped Skinny Chinos

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Cropped Skinny Chinos

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Cropped Skinny Chinos

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The Caslon Cropped Linen Jogger is less structured and a lot more lightweight. They’re suited to pant-wearers who need breezy yet covered casual clothing for very hot climates. They work on most body types, and are available in petites. The collection showcases all four colours with an assortment of flat casual Summer footwear. They are linen, so you have to be at peace with the crease. Good with a fluid untucked or semi-tucked blouse or tee. 

Nordstrom

Caslon Crop Linen Joggers

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Nordstrom

Caslon Crop Linen Joggers

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Nordstrom

Caslon Crop Linen Joggers

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Nordstrom

Caslon Crop Linen Joggers

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Both pants are machine washable, and a denim jacket is a great topper to wear with either of them.

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A new outfit from Jean Wang of Extra Petite, whom we introduced to YLF in October 2014.

Wearing wide-legged trousers in soft pink is a little unexpected and screams Spring. For this Business Casual look, Jean has tucked an on trend bell-sleeved sweater into the crepe trousers with invisible side zip that helps the front lay nice and flat. The full-length bell sleeves add a touch of dramatic flair, while the thin black stripe creates graphic interest. Patent pointy toe pumps in a similar colour to the trousers lengthen the leg line on our petite blogger. Jean’s structured caramel tote works beautifully with the soft colour palette and further enhances the dressy vibe of the outfit. For outside, Jean adds a fab stone trench coat. Oversized pink sunnies, pearl stud earrings, a silver ring and Jean’s long wavy ‘do are the polished finishing touches.

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Over the years I’ve written many posts on how to edit your closet. My process has changed very little over the years. It’s exactly the same one I follow when working with clients today. 

Essentially, you need to set aside a chunk of time and create six categories of wardrobe items: 

1. Keep: These are the items that you like, make you feel fabulous, FIT, and have earned their place in your wardrobe. Be careful not to pass on orphans because they’re lacking the support act that completes the outfit. If the item sparks joy, give it a chance by styling it correctly first. Items that have been orphaned for a while CAN fit into the keep category. You may have loved wearing certain pieces in the past, but they fell by the wayside when newer items took their place. Orphans do come out of hibernation and back into rotation. So if you still love a piece dearly — keep it.
   
2. Temporary Keep: These are the items that aren’t perfect but you need to hold on to them until they can be replaced. 
   
3. Alteration: All items that need alternation or repair – which includes shoes and accessories – go into this pile.
   
4. Holding Zone: These are the items that you’re not sure about letting go, or that don’t currently fit because of weight fluctuations. Instead of passing them on right away, you’ll keep them temporarily in an area that is out of sight. Pass them on if you haven’t reached for them in a year.  
   
5. Sentimental: These items are no longer wearable, but you keep them because they’re memorable in some way, and fun to look at. 
   
6. Pass On: These are the items that no longer work, or have never worked for your style. Items that are damaged, worn, dated or ruined go into this pile. Items that are ill-fitting, unflattering in some way, overly fussy, impractical, uncomfortable, the wrong colour, or are no longer in line with your style goals go here.

You might not need to create six piles. For example, I have clients who prefer not to have a holding zone or to keep sentimental items. Sometimes alterations are not worth the time and expense. And sometimes there’s nothing on temporary hold. 

Don’t let the holding zone become a crutch. The point is not to avoid parting with items that no longer fit, were pricey, or to keep things for every “just in case” scenario. The goal is to streamline your wardrobe to the point where it covers your needs and wants, AND can be managed with ease and joy. 

Editing a closet — especially when you have a lot of stuff and want to pare down — can be a physically and emotionally demanding process. Here are some tips to see you through.

Don’t Compromise Too Much

You might think that you can successfully refresh your style, assess your needs, filter through trends, and review your wardrobe without editing your closet properly – but half measures do not work. You have to know EXACTLY what you have, how it fits, and how you currently feel about an item in your wardrobe before you can make a good decision. Start the new season clean, light and organized, and you’ll reap the reward over and over again. 

Edit ALL areas with wardrobe items. Don’t forget the stuff under the bed, in the spare room closet, in the coat closet, in all those drawers, in the garage, or in the basement. Be ruthless. Try to edit your closet in one session because keeping the momentum allows you to judge your closet contents as a whole. If editing in one go is not an option – tackle one item category or closet area at a time. 

Refit All Items

Your opinion about how an item looks or feels needs to be CURRENT, so do not base its fate on a past memory. For accurate assessment, re-fit wardrobe items that have gone unworn for a while. This is especially important if you’ve recently lost or gained weight, or are post pregnancy.  

Go in Groomed

Fix your hair and make-up before you re-fit wardrobe pieces because you’ll judge them differently if those parts of your outfit are off.

Get Emotional Support

If you find yourself losing momentum because you’re procrastinating, tired, short of time, or down on yourself for weight fluctuations and wasting money on new purchases that did not work — get support. Solicit the help of a friend, family member, a fashion forum, or hire a wardrobe consultant. Don’t beat yourself up about how your body has changed if you don’t like the changes. Do some soul searching, start again, and move forward. Get to the heart about WHY the item did not make you feel fabulous and try not to make the same mistake again. 

Be Realistic

We cannot create a perfect wardrobe over a set timeframe. It takes time, resources, patience, dedication, an interest in our current fashion era, and a little luck to create a fabulous wardrobe. But we can strive to achieve our wardrobe goals over a longer period of time. Just like our style is a never-ending journey, our wardrobes are a permanent work in progress. Enjoy it, and learn and laugh along the way. 

As with most things, practice makes perfect. The more regularly you edit your closet, the less time-consuming and easier the subsequent edits become. Monthly closet edits are a beautiful thing, and I highly recommend them. Start Spring cleaning!

There’s a lot of resistance to wide cropped pants, but I’m not giving up just yet. They can be the answer to a range of style needs, like wearing jeans less frequently, wearing pants casually, creating a silhouette that is neither body-con nor voluminous, and wearing comfortable shoes with trousers in a flattering way. 

The way the black wide cropped pants are styled below is an easy casual look that can be worn by most. Combine wide cropped pants with a T-shirt, and finish off the look with sneakers and a cute bag. Add jewellery, eyewear and watch as desired. Comfortable, on trend, fresh and casual. 

A few suggestions about the outfit proportions:

• Choose a T-shirt silhouette that works for you, which might mean a V-neck, scoop neck or boat neck, instead of a crew. Select your favourite sleeve length too.

• Keep the tee relatively short to visually lengthen the leg from the hips upward. Semi-tucking the tee is a great way to achieve a shorter length and add structure to the outfit. 

• Keep the length of the pants as short as you see on the model, which is two to four inches above the ankle bone.

• Keep the silhouette of the pants narrower rather than wider if you prefer a streamlined silhouette. 

• A white tee works well with white sneakers, but a low-contrast darker tee will accentuate the visual integrity of the outfit and offset horizontally cutting lines. 

• Substitute the sneakers with flats like oxfords, d’Orsay flats, sandals or loafers if that’s more your cup of tea. 

For my own version of this outfit, I’d wear a cropped white cotton pullover instead of a tee, white hi-tops or loafers instead of regular white sneakers, add a denim jacket and pearls, and throw in a bright bag. 

I have a hunch that in many cases, it’s simply a question of getting used to seeing and wearing the shorter and wider pants silhouette. I bet more of you will be wearing wide cropped pants next season!

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