White Pants

I never thought I would wear white pants. I never thought I'd WANT to wear white pants. I've never in my life owned a pair of khaki pants that I wore more than once, so white pants would be pretty dramatic for me. I'm pretty pear shaped so the whole thing used to seem like a very bad idea but this summer I couldn't stop feeling like I was ready. So - the search began.

Initially, I was very encouraged by my white pants expedition. I found a pair that I thought looked amazing in Ann Taylor Loft (which I purchased on my "chris is away so I will play" shopping spree") and proceeded to buy tops to go along with my trendy new pants. However, when Chris got home and I showed off my new discovery his reaction was less than enthusiastic. Now, he's a sweet guy who is very sensitve to my self-esteem, but he's also very committed to honesty - so the tell-tale negative reaction from him is "Huh, ok" or just silence and sad eyes. Seriously. When I finally pressured him into explaining what he hated about the pants he quietly said "they make your legs look...um...enormous." (Or at least that's what I heard. He probably said "they make your legs look slightly larger than they are"). Then I took a good look in the mirror and discovered that he was right! What happened to my slimming Ann Taylor Loft white slacks? They had become this:

Well, not actually these pants, but that's how they looked on me, except worse. I was mortified and was immediately convinced that the mirrors in Ann Taylor Loft should not be trusted (I still hold that opinion).

I rushed to return the heinous pants and proceeded to order three different pairs online (I knew I'd return the ones that didn't work, I'm not ridiculous.) And the winner?

Martin Refined Cuffed Chino in Tall by Banana Republic. They are all that Ann Taylor Loft's white pants seemed to be in the store, but are actually flattering! What made the difference? Well - the B.R. pants are just straight legged enough to be slimming but just bootcut enough so that you still have legs in there. For some reason, they work with my hips and I love them for that.

New pants (especially in a new color) are great because they completely expands your wardrobe! The rust-colored top I'm wearing today looks completely different with white pants than it did with my normal brown slacks (I guess less halloween-y too).

Yay for white pants (except that I'm now a little paranoid about getting too close to anything that might make them dirty! Chris wasn't paying attention to how he repacked our bag for our weekend trip and put his shoes soles down right on top of them! AHHHH)! By the way - the losers were different pairs of white pants from Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft. Apparently white pants are not their specialty. At least for girls who got back.