When it comes to updating your look, pants aren’t usually the first place to start. It’s amazingly easy to refresh your wardrobe with a new necklace, scarf, or dress – but you can make even more of an impact with one of the newest summer trends: skinny pants in Crayola hues.
These may seem scary at first (especially considering how terribly wrong this trend has gone in the past), but there are a few key criteria you should pay attention to for a chic, easy look:
1) DON’T choose a gaudy color like neon yellow or pink. Stick to hues that are rich, rather than kitschy. Reddish melon, cornflower blue, dark pink, or burnt orange are chic and will be easy to integrate into your wardrobe.
2) DON’T feel the need to buy denim. Stores are offering tons of options for skinny pants in lightweight cotton, satin, ripstop, and lots of other materials that are much sleeker than standard thick denim.
3) Pair your bold bottoms with hyper-casual, simple basics – this will make your colorful skinnies extremely wearable, like your tried-and-true blue jeans.
Example A: I love the idea of mixing these cayenne pants with an oversize beige top – the color combination is classic and rich, but the proportions are incredibly modern and youthful.
A big chunky espadrille would look perfect with these slightly-cropped pants and voluminous top – but flat sandals would look chic as well!
Example B: I love these cobalt blue pants — such an easy transition from denim! Love them with a simple white oversize tee and metallic sandals to give the blue a bold, nautical feel:
Concerned about hot weather? This trend certainly applies to shorts — as long as they're tailored and refined (not super-short or distressed like those tried-and-true cutoffs). The scalloped aqua version below is both a fabulous spring color and a sophisticated, elegant cut! Try them with a lightweight gray sweater or navy striped tee.
