Every year I say this, and it still stands to be true – a great fitting pair of wide leg pants is a style that I cannot and will never get enough of. I always gravitate towards wide leg pants, as they are a staple in my wardrobe and a go-to for every occasion, which you can see here, here and here. It’s a fit and style that I’ve found both flattering and feminine, along with being comfortable and simple to style. But recently, I received several questions and comments after posting a picture on Instagram, which featured a pair of blue and white wide-leg pants, about how to wear wide leg pants for summer. Today, I’m sharing my tips and tricks for styling wide leg pants and everything you need to know about this silhouette. Shall we…
Well, let me first start off by saying that this is my favorite time of year to wear wide leg pants and here is why. During the spring and summer, stores like Anthropologie (which carries petite sizes in a lot of styles), Club Monaco and Mango always release tons of options from high waisted to cropped wide leg pants and the styling possibilities are aplenty. This peach and white striped style from Club Monaco is my current favorite pair that I have been wearing non-stop. This particular style and silhouette is the perfect addition to every woman’s wardrobe because they help to lengthen the appearance of the leg and draw attention to the ankle, which helps creates narrower looking hips. I don’t know any woman that doesn’t want that, am I right? I love the cut and movement of these Club Monaco pants, and the vertical stripes help to draw the eye up-and-down, to further drive home my elongated point. Naturally, the high-waisted silhouette of these pants accentuates the smallest part of your waist, and the matching belted sash aids in drawing one’s eye to your itty bitty (and soon to be sun-kissed) waist.
When styling wide leg pants, it’s important to think about proportions. This can either make or break your look. You want to balance out the volume on the bottom with something sleek on top, like this fitted white blouse from Alice and Olivia. I always look for tops that sit right above the waistline, for a more youthful summer look. A white cropped shirt, a fitted blouse or even a white fitted T-shirt are all perfect options for wide leg pants. If you wanted to style these pants for work, I would recommend tucking in a lightweight sweater and pairing them with a simple heel for a polished daytime look. Your shoe options are endless with these pants. A white sneaker, espadrilles, slides, mules, block heels would all compliment these pants beautifully for both spring and summer and day or night. Also, a lot of wide leg pants these days have a top in the matching color or print, like this top to match my CM pants. This is always a safe way to go if you’re in need of some styling help or not sure of what would work best for your chosen pant!
Outfit Details:
Alice + Olivia Top | Club Monaco Wide Leg Pants | Club Monaco Sandals (similar pair here) | Free People Bag
I get asked a lot of questions about how to wear wide leg pants if you are on the more petite side. Well, my answer to that is to look for cropped wide-leg pants, like these, these and these, that flare out from the mid-calf. That way, you are still getting the same wide-leg pant effect, but in a silhouette that works best for your petite frame. Or if you’re willing to spend a little extra dinero, you can have your favorite flowy wide leg pants alerted by taking them to your local tailor and asking them to bring up the pant hem just a bit, so they a just above grazing the floor while wearing your shoe of choice. The wide leg pant is an all-inclusive silhouette for almost every body type, height, and shape. Just like anything, it is essential to try on several styles until you’ve found what looks best for you. What you will see is that most long and flowing wide-leg pants need to be accompanied by a heel, whereas cropped wide leg pants can be effortlessly worn with white sneakers or flat without alterations. My go-to heels for wide legs pants are these Club Monaco heels and my wear-with-all Castañer espadrilles, that seem to be my spring summer MVP shoe.
I hope you enjoyed this post and learned a thing or two about how to wear wide leg pants for summer! Feel free to shop some of my favorite wide-leg styles and accompanying tops below:
Love,
Liv
Wide-Leg Pants:
Tops:
