How to Wear Wide-Leg Pants Like Katharine Hepburn

When I was 18, before I knew better, I thought I hated wearing pants. While my peers waffled between True Religion jeans (for going out) or Soffe shorts (for everything else), I was smug in my “quirky” dresses and skirts—like the vintage-style ones Zooey Deschanel always wore on New Girl. In the winter I’d add leggings and pretend I wasn’t freezing. My summers were spent worrying that a random breeze would swirl in and reveal my bits to the world. I was both desperate to be seen as a unique, creative type and anxious that, oops, maybe I was overdressed.

I eventually chilled out and learned the reason everyone loves pants: They’re the best! Pants are usually comfortable—and if they aren’t, just undo that top button and you’re good. They have fun nicknames like trousers, slacks, and clam diggers. You can cross your legs in pants and not wonder whether the perv sitting across from you saw anything. Pants can be worn in any season and to any occasion. A business meeting, a screening of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, a daytime cocktail party, Coachella—I’ve worn pants to all of ’em. A friend recently asked me what to wear to a job interview, and my advice started and stopped at “Pants.”

A few months ago I decided I wanted a pair that told the world, “I mean business!” The kind of pants in which you actually feel the power coursing all over your stubbly legs. (Oh, that’s another thing I love—no shaving. I’m not actualized enough to rock hairy legs with shorts or a skirt, but I will embrace anything that helps me cut down on shower time.) Now a 30-year-old woman who has seen some things, I needed grown-up pants that communicated that.