What are the summer equivalent of my skinny cords?

April 30, 2015 8:48 AM

I'm looking for some new women's pants to wear to work in the summer. Specifics inside!

I work in a casual office, and I need some new pants to wear now that the weather is getting warm. My go-to pants for winter were Loft's Modern Skinny Corduroys (sorry about the pinterest link: they're discontinued, so I can't link to the Loft site). Does anyone have any thoughts about what the summer version would be? In the past, I've worn Lands End khakis, which are perfectly serviceable but not especially stylish or flattering. I need to replace them, and I'm looking for cuter alternatives

I'm not looking for skirts. I'm set for those.

About my body: I have short legs but a long torso, so petite pants don't really work for me. I usually get regular pants and then hem them to my short, short inseam. I'm average sized (I wear a 4 in Lands End and an 8 in the Loft skinnies), and I'm an apple shape. I have relatively slim hips and not much of a waist. I prefer a mid-rise and really can't pull off very low-rise pants.

About my pants needs: I need something machine-washable, but I'm happy to air dry them. I'm not very good at ironing. I ride my bike to work, so a slim fit or something that can be rolled without wrinkling would be ideal. I can spend up to about $80 and might go a tiny bit higher for something that was really cute and high-quality.

Thanks!

posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

Oh, hi, you're like a skinny version of me! I have several pairs of the Loft Riviera fit pants in various fabrics (they have several now and my only regret is that they are all sold out in my size). When I got all of them, they were a little loose/long, but they shrank up and in with the first wash. They don't seem to wrinkle and I wear them on my bike.

In the past, I have liked J Crew pants slim pants - the stretch cotton ones tend to wash well. They have nothing with belt loops this year, so I can't speak to what is in stock.
posted by Frowner at 9:03 AM on April 30, 2015

I'm a big fan of Old Navy's pixie pants (in solid black only, I've found that many of the other colors wind up looking cheap and shiny after a wash + air dry but the black ones are awesome). I'm built pretty similarly to you (less of the long torso issue though) and I find them very flattering, plus they're good for shorter people and never need ironing.
posted by snaw at 9:04 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Loft's skinny cropped chinos are nice, and 50% off today!
posted by baby beluga at 9:11 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

What about some pants like this? I'm really short, and they are supposed to be ankle length but fit me as a normal length perfectly, haha. You can order online (free shipping over $50) and then return what you don't want in-store.
posted by AppleTurnover at 9:24 AM on April 30, 2015

My new favourite work pants are the Sloan pants from Banana Republic. They come in a variety of styles, but many are ankle-cut, which works out to about normal pant length on me, and I've got one pair that has S on the end of the size for Short, which is different than petite though I'm not sure how. They are usually more expensive than you are looking for but BR has been sending out a lot of 40% coupons lately, if you sign up for their emails, and they seem to have a pants sale on now.
posted by kyla at 9:37 AM on April 30, 2015

How about Lisette pants?
posted by Snazzy67 at 6:26 PM on April 30, 2015

Response by poster: Oh hai, I realized I never replied to this! The winner turned out to be these Uniqlo pants, which are supposed to hit at a weird, unflattering ankle length, but which are normal length on my ultra-short legs.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:26 AM on March 5, 2016