The Wide-Leg Pants and the Set, a Story in Ivory and Black
The Wide-Leg Pants and the Set, a Story in Ivory and Black
Wide-leg pants with a blazer are the outfit women between 35 and 50 search for before a first day, a board presentation, and a holiday party, and the worry underneath every search is the same: will the leg look sloppy, will the waist hold, will I look bigger. The answer is the rise. A high waist at the narrowest point of the torso, a pressed crease, and a hem finished to the shoe. This is the story of three pairs, the Agatha in ivory, the Agatha in black, and the Barbara in black, and the two blazers that make them a set.
She is 43. Monday is her first day as chief operating officer of a company she did not build, and she is walking from the parking structure to a lobby where nobody yet knows her name. She is the woman who is taken seriously in a room she has just entered. She would like her clothes to say it before she does, and then to say nothing else all day.
Shop the pieces in this story: Pants and Blazers. Complete size runs are listed first.
Monday, 8:10 a.m., the walk to the lobby in ivory
She wears the Agatha high-waisted wide-leg pants in ivory. The waistband is deep and sits at the natural waist, closed at the back so the front is one uninterrupted panel, with a small metal buckle tab at the front of the band. A crease runs down each leg to the floor, and the leg is wide enough that it never touches the thigh. There are side pockets, and she has her hand in one. The pants are fully lined, which is why they hold that line in heat and after 40 minutes in a car.
Over them she wears the other half of the suit, the Agatha pearl detail blazer in ivory, a single-breasted jacket with three pearl buttons and pearl-edged pocket flaps, open over a navy top. The blazer ends at the hip, so the waistband shows in the V and the leg reads from the waist down: one line, waist to floor. In a lobby of charcoal and black, an ivory suit is the first thing the eye lands on, and it says what she wanted said.
The Agatha runs slightly generous with the waist at the natural waistline; between sizes, take the smaller. It is cut in sizes 2 to 10, and the model photographed is 5 foot 9 wearing a size 4, hem finished to a pointed heel.
The rise, settled once
The rise is the distance from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband, and it decides where the leg appears to begin. A high waist sits at the natural waist, just under the ribs, the narrowest point of the torso. A mid-rise sits an inch or two lower, across the softest part. That inch is the difference between a leg that starts high and a leg that starts at the hip.
| Rise | Sits at | Suits | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-waisted (the Agatha and the Barbara) | The natural waist, under the ribs | Short legs, a long torso, a petite frame, a midsection you would rather have held than skimmed | You want the longest leg and a waist that holds all day |
| Mid-rise | At or just below the navel | A short torso, long legs, a very tall frame | You spend the day seated and want the torso to read longer |
Three rules finish the outfit: tuck the blouse so the waistband shows, wear a hip-length blazer open or a cropped one closed, and finish the hem half an inch to an inch above the floor in the shoe you will actually wear. For which shape suits which cut, read the most flattering trousers by body type.
Thursday, the holiday party, in black
By December she has stopped being new. The company party is at 6:30 p.m., straight from a 5 p.m. meeting, and she wants what every woman searching for holiday party outfits with wide-leg pants and a blazer wants: to be dressed for the evening without changing. The Agatha in black is the same cut as her ivory pair with a wide, smooth waistband and no tab, a crease down each leg, side pockets, full lining, and a back zipper that keeps the front flat under a tucked satin blouse.
She wears them with a black V-neck top, a slim black belt at the waistband, and a long black cardigan that drapes open, so the line runs from the belt to the floor. A soft midsection is the reason most women hesitate over a high waist, and the hesitation is backwards: the wide band sits above the softest part and holds everything below it in one clean panel. A mid-rise would cut across it. The black Agatha is cut in sizes 2 to 10; between sizes, take the smaller.
February, the board presentation, the Barbara suit
Her first board presentation is on a Wednesday in February, and for that she buys the set: the Barbara tailored blazer in black and the Barbara wide-leg pants in black, cut from the same structured twill. The blazer has a notch lapel, four black buttons, flap pockets finished with a fine red piping, a waist shaped through the seams, and a hem at the hip. The pants sit high with a slim black belt edged in red at the waistband, a crease down each leg, a straight wide leg, and full lining, with a back zip that leaves the front uninterrupted.
Worn together over a black satin wrap shirt, it is a black suit that holds its line from the 8 a.m. rehearsal to the dinner afterwards, with a line of red at the pocket and the waist that she knows is there and the board does not. Worn apart, the blazer goes over her ivory Agatha pants in March and the pants under the pearl blazer in April. A set bought together is worn apart 40 weeks of the year. For wide legs against a matched suit in that room, read wide-leg pants versus the pantsuit for the boardroom.
The Barbara pants run true to size with the belted waist at or just above the natural waistline; between sizes, take the larger. They are cut in sizes 4 to 12, the blazer in sizes 4 to 14.
The questions we hear in the fitting room
Are wide-leg pants appropriate at a law firm or a board table? Yes, when the rise is high, the crease is pressed, and the hem is finished to the shoe. What reads as sloppy is a low waist and a puddle at the floor, not the width of the leg.
Will they make me look bigger? The opposite, if the volume is in one place: wide leg, held waist, fitted or tucked top. The eye reads the narrowest point, then the longest line.
I am 5 foot 2, and I sit for nine hours. The high waist moves the start of the leg up, which a petite frame needs most; expect to take the hem up from a 5 foot 9 model. The waistband is wide and smooth, so it does not dig when you sit.
Care and returns. All three pairs and both blazers are machine washable on a gentle cycle, air dried on a hanger, and steamed on low along the crease, which is what makes an ivory pant possible on a Monday and again on a Thursday. Every piece ships from California with 30-day, no-questions returns, so the hem can be pinned at home in the shoes you own.
What the price buys
Each pair is cut in small runs in our atelier in Pozarevac, where we have made trousers since 1990: a few of each size, no reorders mid-season. The Agatha pants are $595. Worn to a first day, a holiday party, and one day a week in between, they are $12 a wearing in the first year, with the lining, the crease, and the waistband still where they were. That is the sentence she says to herself on the second Monday, when she is no longer thinking about them at all.
For the first day itself, read what to wear on the first day of a new executive job. Then choose the ivory if your first room is a lobby, the black if it is an evening, and the Barbara set if it is a board.
Frequently asked questions
How do you wear high-waisted wide-leg pants with a blazer?
Tuck the top so the waistband shows, wear a hip-length blazer open or a cropped blazer closed, and finish the hem half an inch to an inch above the floor in a pointed shoe. The Agatha high-waisted wide-leg pants in ivory with the Agatha pearl detail blazer, open over a navy top, is the reference set.
High-waisted or mid-rise wide-leg pants, which is better?
High-waisted when you want the longest leg or a held waist: short legs, a long torso, a petite frame, a soft midsection. Mid-rise when the torso is short, the legs are long, or the day is spent seated. The Agatha and Barbara wide-leg pants are high-waisted, sitting at the natural waist under the ribs.
Are wide-leg pants formal enough for a board presentation?
Yes, when the rise is high, the crease is pressed, and the hem is finished to the shoe. The Barbara wide-leg pants in black with the matching Barbara tailored blazer make a black suit that is more formal than most narrow trousers, with a line of red at the pocket flaps and the belt.
What shoes go with wide-leg pants?
A pointed toe with a low or mid heel, a pointed flat, or a sleek loafer, and never anything bulky. The hem should stop half an inch to an inch above the floor in that shoe, so buy the shoe before the hem is finished. The models in these photographs wear a pointed heel.
Are the Agatha wide-leg pants machine washable?
Yes. The Agatha pants in ivory and black, the Barbara pants, and both blazers are machine washable on a gentle cycle, air dried on a hanger, and steamed on low along the crease. Only our coats are dry clean only. Wash the ivory pair with light colors and turn them inside out.
Decide which room comes first, choose that pair, and pin the hem in your own shoes when it arrives. The rest of the pants and the blazers that make them a set are one click away.
