The summer season may be coming to an end, but its warmth won’t completely abandon us until mid October. It’s during this transition of summer warmth and autumn chill that we see the blending of seasonal styles. Our peers begin matching tees with pants and sweaters with shorts. This makes it the perfect time to try out these two trends – the print pant and midi skirt.
When observing the evolution of our pants over the past decade, it’s a no brainer why print pants are so in right now. In the early 2000s, we had low rider jeans, the late 2000s brought about skinny jeans and the 2010s introduced us to super skinny jeans as well as the jeggings while also bringing colored pants back in style. Now in 2012, we have print pants. There are undoubtedly thousands of prints to choose from. Have a thing for tribal print? It’s in stores! A fan of nebula clouds? They have that too! However, the most common prints you will find on the racks are dots, stripes, animal and floral. Floral print pants are unquestionably the most popular design with retailers from American Eagle to PacSun to Urban Outfitters stocking up on this trend.
The midi, known to our grandparents as tea length, is a skirt in which the hemline is between the calf and knee. This style is a long time favorite of designers and vintage connoisseurs alike and has been slowly emerging into our fashion market. The midi skirt is considered so fashionable because it is appropriate for any occasion and matches most styles of tops and shoes. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Carey Mulligan and Eva Longoria are often seen wearing midis. Even younger stars like Emma Stone, Taylor Swift and Kelly Osbourne have worn midis to the red carpet.
Now that you know what to wear, you might ask, “But how to I wear it?” Let’s begin with print pants. No matter what your print may look like – minimal or busy, bright or dark – you have at least three solid looks you can rock – basic, feminine and glam. Basic implies just what the style is, simple and sweet. A plain tee paired with print pants is not only stylish but very collegiate. White and black are staples so they will match any print you have, but if you want a little color in your ensemble, find the most subtle shade on your print and match according. For instance, if you have floral print, choose the color of the leaves or outer/loose petals and match to that. Next we have feminine. Feminine is all about making you look (you guessed it!) gentle and elegant. Pairing blouses and flats or heels with prints creates this look. Also, the looser the blouse, the more romantic your look will become. Finally we have glam. Glam is all about the party rock lifestyle. Tops with cut-outs, studs, statement collars and other edgy features as well as shear tops paired with print makes you look like you’re a rock star. A word of caution however, the pants are the statement item in this outfit so do not let your top compromise this. Your shoe options for this look range from glitter flats to sneakers to combat boots.
Styling the midi skirt presents both tremendous flexibility and undeniable frustration. Again, the midi looks great for any occasion. A midi paired with a sweater is a cute look for class, hanging out, date night and even work. Did I mention it matches most tops? Meaning you already have your pairing pieces in your closet! The frustrating part to midis is finding the right length for your height. As mentioned before, the midi offers no specific hemline, but generally falls on the calf area. Because of this, there is no universal rule to finding the right length for your body meaning you will have to try on a midi length skirt every time before you buy. If you are particularly short or tall, this presents an especially challenging shopping trip. Notice I said challenging, but not impossible. The trick to finding your perfect midi is finding a length that doesn’t hit the thickest part of your leg. Shorter girls, this probably means a skirt that hits right at or slightly below the knee. Taller ladies, anything from mid-calf to your knee is a safe bet. But in the end, you know your body best so experiment with different lengths to find which is best for you.
