Drumroll, please, for the new star of your wardrobe: the Personality Trouser. Also known as the Ambitious Pant. Or the Character Jean. Are you getting the picture? The one-fell-swoop way to update your look is to make your trousers the centre of attention.
The Personality Trouser could be silver – I’m quite smitten with this silver pair myself – but it could just as easily be an elegant wide-legged white tailored trouser, with a knife-sharp front crease and a hem that hits the top of your shoe. Or it could be a voluminous pair of swaggering barrel-legged denim jeans. It could be anything leather, or as simple as a satin-striped tuxedo trouser.
The personality trouser takes a bit of getting used to. I don’t know about you, but I’m not used to a look-at-me trouser. My idea of a great pair of trousers is a wardrobe anchor, something neutral and flattering and versatile. The trousers I love – my longstanding favourites are mostly from Jigsaw, Reiss or Me+Em, all reliably brilliant for tailored trousers – are the workhorses of my wardrobe, not the show ponies.
I often wear trousers to go out of an evening, when a dress feels a bit too formal or, to be honest, just a bit too much of an effort. Even if you are in a tuxedo suit and heels, there is something modern and laid-back about going out-out in strides that makes the whole going-out vibe feel more doable and less of a faff. But usually, trousers as part of a dressy look are there as the sidekick to my fancier top half, whether that’s a posh knit or a silk camisole or a snazzy jacket.
The genius of a personality trouser is that you get all that modern, laid-back trouser energy, but flipping the emphasis upside down is unexpected. This makes you an interesting dresser, and interesting dressers look like interesting people. Never underestimate the power of looking interesting. It is lovely, obviously, to have people look over and think how elegant or chic you look but on the whole nobody will make a beeline to tell you a joke or swap gossip because you look elegant or chic. A personality trouser doesn’t just make you look fashionable; much more importantly, it makes you look like an intriguing human being.
