Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Harem pants

Gucci has it this Fall/Winter '08, YSL has it this season and the trend spills to Spring/Summer '09, LV also has it in the current collection.
I would never imagine myself seeing anybody wearing it on the streets though.

The harem pants, also what Singaporeans call "Ali baba pants", are cut VERY loosely from the butt down to thigh area and
depending on the length of pants, it is usually tapered at the end, fitted at either the calves or ankles.

Like I said, I would never expect any usual girl on the street to don these pants, unless they had the height of Elle Macpherson or the waif figure of Kate Moss.

Two of my friends proved me wrong.

The first friend, was Irenaus, an interior designer. She had on a pair which was three-quarter long, with a basic tee and sneakers. Totally casual, and none of that OTT -ness like what you see on the YSL FW'08 runway. She carried it off real well and she's the average Singaporean girl size! Not too skinny, not too big, not too tall or short and definitely not Supermodel! Very cool. She was going for the comfy, yet
unconventional look.

She got them at Tiong Bahru Plaza apparently - I didn't think I could find another friend wearing harem pants after that.

I was so wrong.

Alex bowled me over, leaving my eyes glued to her bottom when I met her for lunch on Friday. I couldn't take my eyes off her pants and I finally convinced her for a picture!



See her shoes! Perfect for the pants


Even the Uncle looking la..

She's shy.. The pants are not just the usual lycra, it has this shimmery sheen, a nice touch to the look.
From afar, I thought she was wearing really a nice long skirt.




I was quite surprised when Alex said she got those pants from Zara at $39 last season. Overall, her look was like a mystic fashion rebel with great taste. After all, she IS a fashion marketing student from La Salle.


So I wonder now, when's the next time I'll spot another daring soul sporting these Alibaba pants. Incidentally, both Irenaus and Alex are from design colleges. Maybe it is an arty-farty thing to carry it off, so the next time it might be some bold arts student or professionals in the creative field wearing these quirky pants.

4 comments:

Harempantsgirl said...

I love those pant. I bought a few from various shops, which includes Zara, Topshop, Ebase and some are from Taipei (wufenpu).

In general these pants are called hammer pants or drop-crotched pants. I have 2 of such pants. I have some which come with drappy flapes at both sides of thighs and tapered till the ankle (elaborated jodhpurs) those look good in sheen-high Eldo boots (with heels is a must).

Unknown said...

wow this is interesting. thanks for ur comment on harem pants

Anonymous said...

Il semble que vous soyez un expert dans ce domaine, vos remarques sont tres interessantes, merci.

- Daniel

Anonymous said...

Hey, I am checking this blog using the phone and this appears to be kind of odd. Thought you'd wish to know. This is a great write-up nevertheless, did not mess that up.

- David