I am generally an advocate of saving up and dropping decent amounts of cash on quality clothing that will ultimately last, provided that you care for it well. For anyone who follows my Twitter, a fortnight or so ago I tweeted “I get a smug sense of satisfaction when I handwash my clothes. Look! I am prolonging the life of my garments! *SMUG*”. If you have the time, learn to love the handwash.
Anyway, I digress. As much as I love buying gorgeous, high-quality fashion, when it comes to seasonal trends, I’m perfectly happy to buy and cheap and cheerful garments. The best example I have of this recently is harem pants. I know, I know, we called them hammer pants or (ew) poocatchers for a reason, but hear me out! I have two pairs of harem pants, from Dorothy Perkins and – shock horror – Best and Less. Big W also have a pair that I have my eye on.
These are the Dotty P ones:
[img_assist|nid=118|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=450|height=600]
Tee: Uniqlo (JP)
Jacket: Nissen (JP)
Harem pants: Dorothy Perkins
Sandals: Birkenstock by Papillio
Necklace: Gift
Sour face: Courtesy of my job, I suspect
And these are the Best and Less harem pants:
[img_assist|nid=119|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=450|height=600]
Tee: Threadless (this is what a girly 2XL looks like on an AU18-20)
Harem pants: Best and Less
Shoes: Melissa
Wrist cuff: Gift
Sunglasses: Christian Dior
Both pairs are pretty different – the Dotty P pants come to a point just below the hip, which causes the drape to the tapered ankle. (I suspect these are actually supposed to hit mid-calf, but that’s the joy of being short). The ones from Best and Less, on the other hand, are pleated all around the waistband, and fall to fitted cuff mid-calf. So there’s harem pants and harem pants, it’s just a matter of finding the pair that work for you. I’m fortunate enough to be able to work in a very casual office, so I often wear mine with a Threadless tee and my Birkenstocks, but you can dress them up or down however you please! I recommend with choosing a fitted or tight top, to balance the volume of the harem pants. That said, I’m itching to try them with a baggy men’s shirt and this grey deconstructed vest I have – I shall report back to see if it works.
As a general guide, in my experience, the suburban versions of Big W, Best and Less and Kmart tend to have the best range of trendy clothing in plus-sizes. Big W also gets big props for having several straight-sized pieces reproduced in plus versions. Best and Less currently have wet-look leggings available in plus (!), and Kmart has a very cute retro-esque faux-tankini which I believe Sonya has purchased.
I don’t advocate getting all your clothing from these kinds of stores – the quality tends to be fair to middling, and there’s a lot of polyester. They still tend to make work pants cropped just above the ankle, an absolute pet hate of mine, and there are still plenty of fuggo graphic prints around. But all in all, for cheap, cheerful, trendy clothes, you really can’t go past Big W, Best and Less, and Kmart.
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