Style Shift - YouLookFab Forum

I have a wardrobe that includes a lot of very nice button-down blouses. I've worn them in the past, but this year I rarely reached for one to complete my work outfits. I've wondered why since I do love them and couldn't bare to part with a single one of them.

Then it hit me. I always wore the button-down blouses with trouser-style pants or skirts. With the discovery of ponte pants I don't reach for my trouser-style pants any more.

So the question became why don't I wear the button-down blouses with the ponte pants? I think the reason is because I don't tuck into ponte pants. When I wear a button-down blouse with the ponte pants, I leave it untucked. I feel sloppy in an untucked blouse at work (I'm fine at home). So the blouses remain in the closet and instead I wear a sweater and cardigan.

I commented earlier about a style shift away from my bright "happy" colors to more grey, black, and white. I thought my style shift might have been related to seasonal changes. I am now wondering if the color shift isn't also related to the ponte pants.

I own ponte pants in black, charcoal, grey, and brown (looking for white or cream). I have been coordinating them with similar, more relaxed colors. The relaxed colors speak to the somewhat more relaxed fabrication of the pants.

I feel relief understanding why my blouses are not being worn. I can possibly put them away until the desire to resume wearing them hits again.

You might question whether I could incorporate more different silhouettes (or uniforms). I could, but the trousers just don't speak to me today. There is always something I want to wear so much more then them.

9 years ago

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

What a great insight into your new habits. I wonder why you don't feel like tucking blouses into the ponte pants? Is it the style or the fabrication or both?

Elizabeth P

Oh, interesting connection, and one I think I need to explore a bit further in my own closet. Don't you love these light bulb moments?

carter

I gave away ALL of my trousers! Every. Single. One. I don't tuck into ponte either...I have enough lumps and bumps of my own. No need to add more with fabric;-).

I've been wearing button front shirts and blouses with jeans instead. I know you don't do jeans very often, so perhaps just putting them away for awhile is the right answer.

Alassë

Congratulations on pinpointing the problem and the fix!

Anonymous

Hi Firecracker. Tucking into ponte pants seems wrong for the reasons Carter cited. To many lumps and bumps. I just cant get a nice smooth finish like I did with the dress trousers. However, this said, I haven't really tried either. Perhaps I could do a half-tuck with less crisp fabrics like silk.

Meggie

Active Member

I am recognizing that I am going thru a style shift as well. It's such an odd feeling. I no longer love the style I have been wearing for the past 6 years; but I am not sure what style I want. It's almost like losing the taste for your favorite meal but not being sure what to order instead. Time to examine...

catseye

I like the look of longer button downs with Ponte pants. Or even a pair of substantial leggings. A longer button down untucked feels somehow more intentional.

Suz

(website)

This is a useful insight.

I tuck (or semi-tuck) into my ponte pants -- lumps and bumps be darned. There are ways of doing it, though, that make it easier.

Fluid fabric in the top. (E.g. silk or poly or viscose or modal or some blend or soft cotton/ linen vs. crisp cotton).

Wear a bum-covering third piece, be it jacket, vest, or cardigan. (I am wearing a vest today).

Peri

I think you've also explained why I've never been into button downs...I have refused to tuck since childhood. Something I knew without knowing even then, it is just all wrong for me. And button downs do tend to want to be tucked. Good insight.

Carole

I'm just getting a renewed interest in Ponte pants and was thinking today about several button down tunics/shirts I have that will work perfectly with them. I like to cover my ---, IYKWIM. Is that a possibility for you or fm I off base?

Beth Ann

I think it's fine to put aside some old favorites for awhile --- sometimes it makes us happier to return to them later. I have some ponte pants with belt loops -- I sometimes tuck into these, and blouse the shirt slightly to create a prettier silhouette on my frame.

My blouses are too short be a tunic. Yet they are long enough to tuck into pants or a skirt and not work their way out. They look very much like an untucked shirt. Not intentional at all. More like I woke up and ran out the door without my coffee.

It seems to me you should be able to have a blouse shortened. I think I would get a lot of wear out of them IF they were a shorter, more intentional, length. Here is the problem. I don't know a good tailor and these are Brooks Brothers. I am fearful of experimenting on them.

I do have one cheap Gap shirt I could experiment with ......

unfrumped

Great insight--doesn't that feel good?
And may also give you ideas about how to make more outfits with your ponte pants.

I love untucked button-front shirts with jeans and shorts, but almost never wear to work because they just look too casual for my "environmental norm"
Exceptions are: one type of high-low blouse; popover styles, because the lack of full placket seems to make the shirt/blouse look more like a "top".
I also found some other woven tops that look good untucked, IMO.
These gave me some woven top options as an alternative to knits. I don't exactly have ponte pants but I have some slimmer trousers that I would wear these with, and also some of them work with pencil skirts.
So, my lightbulb moment was, tops that look more feminine and polished than a typical button front; lack of the dividing placket at the front hem. The finds below are shown tucked/semi-tucked but work for me untucked if I wear the slim pants. Most have either high-low or curved shirttail hems or sometimes both.

You might look into something similar, more polished woven blouses that work with your ponte pants.

Ann Taylor

Mosaic V-Neck Blouse

View Info

Top Pick

Aida

A great insight Sterling. Sounds like they are higher quality shirts, and I agree with your inclination to put them away versus simply purging (especially if they still fit well). I love the look of a soft button-front blouse, in a longer length, over ponte pants. Perhaps that's something you could experiment with. Also, I find those types of blouses look best in that type of outfit when they have a curved hemline.

Adelfa

I don't wear my trousers either. I wonder what's going on. Instead I wear jeans almost exclusively. In gray or burgundy I can get away with wearing them to work if I style them carefully. I would love to get into ponte pants. How cool does it have to be for them to work?

Joy

What a great insight. I'm also wearing button downs much less. There are even 2 brand new ones in the closet from NAS that have not been worn yet and still have tags. When I do wear a button down, it is usually under a pullover and the shirt tails are left out to show under the sweater. This covers and breaks up the apple bits. I'm reaching for silk shirts the most
Sterling, let us know if you find a great pair of ivory ponte pants.

Adelfa? Do you mean how cool, temperature-wise, to wear ponte pants to work? If that is your question, you are right. Ponte is not a four season fabric for me. I only wear them in cooler months. I like 60's and below. They seem perfect for this season.

dakotacheryl

We're on the same path here Sterling, both fabric preference and color preference. Ponte pants are such a staple for me that I have 4 pairs of identical ones from Eileen Fisher. Just picked them up as they went on sale over a period of a few years.

Is this excessive??...nope...I'm still covered if a couple of pairs are at the cleaners. I tried hand washing a pair one time....shrunk enough in length that they are only worn tucked into boots.

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