anyone remember mc hammer and the painfully terrible trend of harem pants other than me? they were generally brightly colored or glittery as shown in the above picture of a simplicity pattern from 1990 back at the height of hammertime fever. harem pants had a low extremely baggy crotch and tapered at the ankle often bulging at the hips. i was far from sylish as a teenager and definitely never owned any harem pants as a 6th grader when they were hip. in my hometown, i don't remember anyone else pulling off this fad either. even in my teen magazines, i remember this as a trend only guys were wearing. but, who can forget mc hammer and the hammertime video.
imagine my surprise as i opened up the latest issue of marie claire this afternoon and to my chagrin, there is a whole section devoted to harem pants as a big pant trend for spring 2009. this trend is frightening to me on 2 levels not only do i think it looks hideous but it is also a trend i have lived through and is now being recycled. marie claire showed pictures of pants by loeffler randall and nicole miller. perhaps this was an anomaly. just a quick internet search showed me this was certainly no anomaly. i did a search for harem pants spring 2009 and every site from foxnews to blogs by everyday people seemed to be discussing numerous designers featuring harem pants in their spring 2009 collections. msnbc has photos from phi's spring 2009 collection http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26664922/ according to numerous sources reasonable priced and always on point with trends h&m even has some in their stores now according to numerous sources though sadly as a european based chain that just happens to have stateside stores their website does not allow you to view their clothes sold in u.s. stores online. the uk version of vogue even lists them as their pants silloutte of the season with photos from several top designers runway shows http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/trends/2009-spring-summer/090106-harem-pants.aspx including chloe and diane von furstenberg(one of my fashion hero's for her invention of the wrap dress a dress considered almost universally flattering.). new york magazine even has an online article on how to wear them and look good http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/11/harem_pants.html.
from my searching, i have gathered in 2009 this trend is meant mainly for women. this time around for a more sophisticated look neutral colors are available and apparently more the way to go. depending on the designer the bagginess level seems to vary from just a slightly looser crotch to the extreme almost hammeresque circa 1990 look. most photos show the models and celebs wearing the harem pants with heeled gladiator sandals or booties often with cutouts.
i could perhaps see carrie pulling these off in an episode of sex and the city, but are real women going to do wear them. maybe, but i hope not. how many women want to look like their hips are wider? and tapered legs means that you may have skinny ankles but skinny ankles tends to make you look like an upside down ice cream cone with big hips and thighs. as for me, this is one time i am glad that they say if you've lived through the trend you can't do it the second time around.
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