New lives for "old" ankle pants

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!

9 years ago

Olivegreen

Active Member

Yes, love repurposing items to another use. Lending an upgrade to the casual capsules has been fun, as then the look has a polished item rather than all of it casual and perhaps a bit drab.
That tidying with attention to joy did change up my intentions for summer, much brighter colors, adding in bright white with stripes and a bag, higher contrast casual wear. Usually my professional and classic capsules benefitted from high contrast and luxurious texture.
Unexpected benefits, nice to hear from others about how it changes minds and category-sorts.

Alassë

Veteran

Another excellent summary/analysis; you must be making great strides in understanding yourself & your style! Anything else interesting from the "tidying" process?

unfrumped

Alasse, ha, learning that it is difficult to get to all the categories and hard to stay focused or in order. And for clothing I have to try things on before deciding, so that's slow.Also learning I am NOT ready for tailored fit tops--or not very tailored. I have a couple of good quality wool sweaters with nice boat necks that I am not tossing out yet because I'm wearing things looser, and although these are not tight, I cannot bring myself to wear them right now. One is in a very desirable color. May have to put in holding zone so if fits swing back quite a bit, and "my eye" feels differently, I might wear them.
Possibly these are the types of dilemmas one is not supposed to fall into--just react and toss out. I've been able to do that with most things but I'm so cynical about the range of top fits and where that might go.

Gigi

I'm glad this worked out in the end. It is indeed sometimes tricky to find out why something seems to work one time but not another. Usually I think in terms of the outfit components themselves: what did I wear this with last time that made it feel great?, etc. But in this case, it turned out to be the occasion that was the problem. Good to keep in mind when thinking about new purchases!

Summer

That's very interesting, Unfrumped. I'm so glad you have found a way to wear these ankle pants after all your diligence in finding the right fit.

I think these light -bulb moments often strike when we are re-organising our wardrobes in some way. It causes a shift in our thought process somehow. I know that I often get much more wear from a particular item once I've moved it into a more casual capsule.

You've inspired me to do some experimenting in my own wardrobe now, so thank you.

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