I’ve a confession: I resisted broad leg pants for years. I believed they have been for tall 25-year-olds and runway fashions, not for a girl in her 60s who’s 5’5” and nonetheless instructing group health courses each week. Then I attempted on a pair, styled them the proper approach, and I used to be sort of obsessed. Now I put on them on a regular basis.
However right here is the factor no one tells you: broad leg pants are a silhouette that rewards the proper styling selections and punishes the fallacious ones. Get a few issues proper, and they’re genuinely one of the flattering choices you personal. Get them fallacious, and you’ll really feel swallowed by your personal outfit.
So let me provide the actual, sensible recommendation so you may skip the trial and error.
These fashion ideas for center age girls work for athletic broad leg pants, informal linen, denim, and the whole lot in between. And when you get this down, you will wish to take a look at my roundup of my favourite broad leg pants for ladies over 50, as a result of as soon as you know the way to put on them, you will have a number of pairs.
1. Spotlight Your Waist
That is an important rule, and I would like you to learn this twice: broad leg pants want an outlined waist. The broad leg creates quantity by way of the hip and thigh, which is definitely a beautiful silhouette on most our bodies. However in the event you add quantity on prime too, the entire look loses its form and begins to really feel boxy and heavy.
The repair? Present your waist.
Meaning a tucked-in prime, a fitted prime, or a cropped prime that hits proper at (or simply above) your waistband. It doesn’t must be a decent prime. Even a flowy shirt appears to be like ten instances higher while you do a full tuck or a half-tuck into broad leg pants.
The second you outline your waist, the broad leg reads as intentional and stylish as an alternative of outsized and unflattering.
A belted look can also be nice right here, particularly with broad leg trousers or linen pants. A easy skinny belt at your pure waist pulls the whole lot collectively and offers the attention a transparent anchor level.
2. Steadiness the Quantity
Huge leg pants have quantity by definition. The cardinal rule is: broad on backside, fitted on prime. Not broad on backside AND broad on prime. That mixture is the place issues go sideways.
Give it some thought when it comes to visible weight. The broad leg already does a number of work beneath the waist. Your prime must be the other: near the physique, easy, and clear.
A few of the greatest tops to pair with broad leg pants:
- A fitted ribbed tank or bodysuit (tucked in)
- A easy fitted tee (tucked or knotted on the entrance)
- A tailor-made fitted button-down (tucked in or tied on the waist)
- A cropped fitted cardigan or sweatshirt
- A smooth fitted turtleneck or mock-neck
What tends to not work: an outsized sweater, a unfastened flowy tunic, or an enormous billowy shirt worn untucked. You might be simply including quantity to quantity, and the outcome hides your physique as an alternative of flattering it.
3. Select the Proper Sneakers
Sneakers make or break the broad leg look, particularly for ladies over 50. Here’s what I’ve discovered from my very own wardrobe and from dressing this silhouette through the years.
For Flooring-Size Huge Leg Pants
You need a heel or a platform. Even a low block heel or a wedge works. The objective is to create a steady line out of your waist to the ground, with a bit of elevate that retains the pant from dragging and offers you size by way of the leg.
Flat sandals and sneakers may work right here, so long as the pant is hemmed to only graze the ground (not pool on it).
For Ankle-Size or Cropped Huge Leg Pants
That is the place flats, sneakers, mules, loafers, and sandals actually shine. The cropped size reveals the shoe, which suggests you need a shoe that’s attention-grabbing sufficient to face alone. An ideal white sneaker with ankle size broad leg pants is truthfully one among my favourite informal outfits proper now.
Mules and slides additionally look implausible.
What to Keep away from
Chunky, heavy boots that visually shorten the leg (until you’re
deliberately going for an editorial look).
A skinny-soled flat with floor-length broad leg pants, until the hem is completely tailor-made.
4. Determine on the Size (and Know the Distinction)
The size of broad leg pants utterly adjustments the vibe, and it is among the selections I see girls get caught on probably the most. So let me break it down.
Ankle or Cropped Size
Cropped broad leg pants hit wherever from mid-calf to only above the ankle. This size is extremely versatile, casual-friendly, and works fantastically with flat footwear and sneakers. It reveals a bit of pores and skin above the ankle, which really lengthens the leg visually. It is a nice place to begin if you’re new to broad leg pants, as a result of the proportions are a bit of extra forgiving and the styling is extra relaxed.
Cropped broad leg is the size I attain for most frequently in my athletic and informal pairs. It really works nice with a fitted tank and a white sneaker, and also you should not have to fret in regards to the hem dragging or heels being required.
Full Size (Grazing the Flooring)
Full-length broad leg pants that skim or graze the ground offer you a protracted, elegant, unbroken line. That is the dressier, extra polished choice. It’s gorgeous for an evening out, a piece occasion, or any time you wish to look actually put-together.
The trade-off: you actually do want the proper heel top to make the size work, and the pants should be hemmed appropriately on your top. If you’re on the shorter facet, that is the place a easy block heel or mule turns into your greatest pal.
Don’t let the pants drag on the bottom or bunch up on the ankle, that undoes the entire look.
Ethical of the story? Each lengths are nice.
The cropped size is extra informal and versatile, the complete size is extra elegant and polished. You’ll be able to completely have each in your wardrobe, and they’re going to really feel like utterly totally different silhouettes.
5. Hold the High Easy
I do know I touched on this within the quantity tip, however I wish to say it once more extra straight as a result of I see this error always: don’t attempt to make a press release on prime AND a press release on backside on the similar time.
Huge leg pants are already a press release. Allow them to be the assertion.
The perfect broad leg outfits I personal are constructed on boring tops.
- A plain white fitted tee.
- A easy black tank.
- A fitted striped long-sleeve.
- A clear ribbed mock-neck.
These tops will not be boring within the outfit as a result of the broad leg does all of the attention-grabbing work. When the highest is straightforward, the entire look feels intentional and polished as an alternative of busy.
The perfect half? Easy tops are additionally probably the most snug to put on and the best to pack. When you construct your wardrobe round broad leg pants and easy tops, getting dressed will get quite a bit simpler.
6. Type for Your Physique, Not the Development
Huge leg pants are having a second proper now, they usually deserve it. However I wish to be clear: there isn’t any one model of this pattern that appears good on everybody. There’s a model that appears good on YOU, and that’s what we’re after.
You probably have a straighter determine, a large leg with a barely increased waist and a tucked-in prime will create the curves you need. When you carry weight in your midsection (hi there, menopause stomach everyone knows), search for a large leg with a little bit of tummy management within the waistband and pair it with a barely longer fitted prime that hits simply on the prime of the pants.
You might be nonetheless defining your waist, simply not in probably the most cropped approach doable.
The objective is all the time that your outfit makes you’re feeling assured and cozy. If a pair of broad leg pants make you’re feeling such as you’re sporting a tent, strive a unique reduce or rise. Not each pair is for each physique, and that’s true for any fashion of pants.
Steadily Requested Questions
Sure, completely! The important thing for petite girls is proportions. Go for a high-rise broad leg that sits at your pure waist — this creates the longest doable line by way of your leg. Pair them with a cropped prime so you aren’t dropping your top in material. For size, ankle-length or cropped broad leg pants are usually extra flattering for petite frames than full floor-length, which may overwhelm a shorter determine. And a slight heel (even a low one) helps elongate the leg. Many manufacturers additionally supply petite inseam choices, which saves you from having to hem.
That is the query I hear most, and the reply is: styled appropriately, no. Huge leg pants are literally a really flattering silhouette for a lot of physique varieties as a result of they skim over the hips and thighs as an alternative of clinging to them. The error that makes broad leg pants look heavy or boxy is sporting them with an outsized prime. If you steadiness the quantity appropriately (fitted or tucked-in prime, outlined waist, proper shoe), broad leg pants create a protracted, elegant line. The key is the waist definition. Present your waist, and the broad leg reads as intentional and flattering each time.
Excessive-rise is nearly all the time the reply. A high-rise broad leg sits at your pure waist, which provides you probably the most flattering proportion and the best tuck-in scenario. Mid-rise broad leg pants can work, however you will have much less waist definition to work with. Low-rise broad leg pants are typically a tougher promote over 50 — they have an inclination to create an unflattering drop within the torso and are much less snug. Go high-rise and you’ll thank your self each time you place them on.
Huge leg pants are completely work-appropriate while you select the proper material and styling. A pair of broad leg trousers in a ponte, crepe, or tailor-made material with a fitted blazer or button-down and a low heel reads as polished {and professional}. The informal variations (linen, denim, athletic material) are higher fitted to weekends and errands. However a very good pair of broad leg trousers in a stable darkish coloration is a wardrobe workhorse that may take you from the workplace to dinner and not using a change.
When you take nothing else from this submit, take this: broad leg pants are one of the flattering and cozy types you may personal in your 50s and past. They’re beneficiant the place you need them to be, they appear polished with virtually no effort, they usually costume up or down relying on the material and your footwear.
You simply must know the principles, and now you do.
Able to Store?
I’ve pulled collectively all my favourite broad leg pants for ladies over 50, from athletic pairs to informal linen to dressed-up trousers, in a single place. Take a look at my favourite broad leg pants for ladies over 50 and discover the pair (or three) which can be going to alter your wardrobe this season.
PS. When unsure, tuck it in. That one transfer will make virtually any broad leg outfit look ten instances higher.
