Fashion Friday with Kimberlee! Pick of the Week: Smarty Pants

This season, as shorter hemlines are bidding us adieu, I am challenging myself to free my mind and open my heart to love the change of scenery that has come to the world of the un-casual pant.  I invite you to challenge yourself with me.  When not donning my beloved denim or rock and roll skinnies, I have always come back to the gracefully long and lean straight leg or slightly boot cut black pant with a clean flat front and a highly sophisticated finish to feel entirely elegant.  The world of fashion, however, has taken my timeless favorite and added out of control details that must be recognized. 

The masculine trouser has been made feminine by reintroducing pleats and cinched in paper bag waists, fit through the thighs has loosened its grip a bit and instead has been nipped in at the ankle, and inseams now range from the traditional full length pump grazing to the significantly above-the-ankle length with a polished cuff finish (perfect pair with a stunning ankle boot).  If you are lucky enough to recall the Z. Cavaricci pant of the 1990’s, they have been resurrected and restyled into something completely wonderful. 

The result of the transformation is a softer drape in the fabrics, less ballooning in the thigh, and a perfectly proportional rise of the waist-slung paper-bag style.   The trousers of today are clearly yet another brilliant example of everything we loved about a style gone by, minus everything we wish we hadn’t. 

The Smarty Pants, from Francesca’s, feature a slightly higher waistline than I am used to hitting just below the belly button (I’m typically a low-rise kinda girl) and abound with plenty of pleats extending through the thigh minimizing the balloon effect.  The cotton/poly blend creates a luxuriously soft drape flattering everything in its path.  The khaki shade is a fabulously vintage tone, so deep and yet so neutral it can be paired with practically anything.  This papair of perfectly on-trend trousers are a remarkable steal at their everyday price of $38.00, and under the current Web Exclusive Sale they are priced at only $26 placing them prominently at the top of my MUST BUY recommendations of the moment. 

Free mind + Open Heart = Super fabulous paper bag waist trouser pant.  Love, love, love! 

photos from Francescas website and http://prahjeks.com/2009/04/03/prahjek-pants-shorts/