New York and London fashion weeks make it clear: trousers have earned permission to be feminine.
In women's high-fashion circles, top tastemakers such as Phillip Lim, Michael Kors, Behnaz Sarafpour and Tory Burch, and London-based designers Graeme Black and Matthew Williamson presented trousers in more than just basic Hillary Clintonesque styles. They were the sexy focus of outfits in shiny, lacy and ruffled splendour - a trend we haven't seen since the late 1970s.
"The pant has become more feminised and more detailed, like dresses," says Lim, whose presentation of his 3.1 collection opened with a sleek cherry-red pantsuit.
One of the strongest looks in Lim's recent collection was a pair of navy blue, slightly skinny trousers with ruffled tiers: cool, original and feminine. "Details like frills and bows usually reserved for dresses can now be applied to pants," Lim says.
Constance White, eBay's fashion director, raves about the feminine styles by Rebecca Taylor (metallic with elastic cuffs), Diane von Furstenberg (roomier bottoms with layers) and Marc Jacobs (sheer pantaloons).
"There were certainly a lot more choices than we've seen in a while," White says.
Although dresses still appeared on the catwalks, trousers took the spotlight, especially worn in new unexpected ways.
"Instead of being a foundation, we saw pants as a layering piece," says Sean General, womenswear buyer at Boyds. "Remember how women used to put a sweater over their shoulders? Now they are putting a skinny pair of pants under their dresses."
The focus on feminine detailing in trousers crept on to the fashion scene late last autumn as skinny jeans and leather leggings became standard under baby-doll dresses and chunky knits.
Leggings are back this season. Some are studded; others have glitter; some are liquid metallic. There are even lacy styles.
With retailers' focus on leggings combined with designers' focus on harem trousers - which debuted on the runway in February but have yet to find favour with shoppers - the runway was primed for trousers.
Fashion historians say that except for the smattering of decorative trousers seen 30 years ago, the new feminine detailing is unique to this time.
Of course, women have worn trousers regularly starting with the jodhpurs of the late 1800s. But according to Clare Sauro, curator of the historic costume collection at Drexel University, women have always appropriated men's looks.
There were the 80s power suits and, in recent seasons, the boyfriend trousers. Trousers were often a political statement. They were a way to be taken seriously in the workplace, or they were worn to relax and do physical work.
"Women have never claimed trousers as a feminine extension of themselves," Sauro says.
So this trend, now in its infancy, is one to watch. The good news: those detailed trousers you buy this autumn will be in style for a while.
McClatchy-Tribune
