Let's talk about capri pants

It's so much more interesting than Kate's whereabouts.

Mar 17, 2024

I have to talk about it here because nobody else will engage with me on this. When I’ve brought up the topic to my inner circle, the responses have been:

“I cannot support this.”

“No. Hard stop. Just no.”

“I can’t tell if you are kidding or not.”

Of course I’m not kidding. I’ve been thinking about capris ever since Tory Burch’s runway show last spring. I have not been able to get the look below out of my mind:

I’ve been patiently waiting twelve months for capris to make their way to the masses but so far they haven’t hit - at least in my less than cutting edge corner of the world.

Leandra featured a Donni pair here and Molly wore a Toteme version here - and I love their very different ideas about how to style them for spring and summer. I love imagining the outfits I would put together and how to work a skinny black pair without any athletic logo on them into my wardrobe. Meanwhile I’ve been hustling around trying to find a pair to try on in real life to see if I can make the outfits in my head work. I own the ruched TB skirt in black from last season which I have layered over a longer skirt and worn as a top but I would love to attempt to pull off a skirt over a pair of capri pants at some point this decade. Even if I only wear it to the grocery store. Not that I go to the grocery store (god bless my saint of a husband). I’ve stalked every shop I can think of in search of in hopes that I can try on a pair and it goes like this:

Walks into shop, sales associate cheerfully says, “Welcome in! What can I help you find today?”

“I’m looking for a pair of old school capri pants which are sometimes called pedal pushers. To wear under skirts.”

Sales associate furrows brow and looks dubious, “um, we have some cropped pants I can show you?”

I have not been able to source a single pair of capri pants in person so I’ve rounded up some options online.

Tory Burch Crepe Cropped Pant

These are the pants that sent me down the rabbit hole a full year ago. They have been on the Tory Burch site for a year and are on sale now but most sizes still remain. Not exactly a best seller so please mark them down more Tory! $399 is too much for an experimental style.

Gil Rodriguez Capri Legging

90% cotton and 10% spandex - these seem ideal for layering and the price ($98) is a tad friendlier if it’s a total disaster.

Mango Capri Leggings

These look more like the TB’s. 100% polyester. I like the styling.

Vince Slim Fit Capri

I love how polished this look is - for those of us who will not be sporting a crop top with our capris a la the Gil Rodriquez styling. But $245. I mean, geez.

Halima Black Capri Trousers

Available at Nordstrom, which has such a friendly return policy. $105

In case you need a tad more convincing, here are a few more images for inspiration.

Pat Field is the gift that keeps on giving.

Me, working from home after my new capris arrive

There are, of course, straight leg and wide leg capri options if the slim fit is not your thing and I’ve tried a few of those styles on. That’s a different fox hunt altogether. More like long shorts than short pants in my opinion. I will cover these options soon!

Never Not Shopping

I had dinner with my fabulous former boss and lifelong mentor in NYC last week and she was carrying this bag which she has owned for years. Swoooooooon.
In addition to shopping the Tibi boutique in New York, I tried on and loved these beauties at SJP’s West Village store.
While in Hartford, Daughter 3 and I popped into Gentle Bull Shop and discovered piles and piles of vintage Levi’s and an actual grocery cart full of vintage t-shirts for 1980’s prices. I can’t ever get vintage jeans to work for me but my daughter picked up a pair that she describes as The Perfect Jean.
Love these Ann Mashburn black sandals; I like the idea of wearing them with a pastel dress like this instead of the expected neutral sandal.
I’ve been stalking this green floral Mille top on resale sites for about a year and finally found it! I love to wear these wild balloon sleeve tops with jeans in the spring and they seem to pop up at good prices on the resale sites. This green print reminds me of Scarlett O’Hara’s party dress.

Post-Scripts

I have trouble sleeping if I don’t drift off to sleep listening to the same book on tape every night. If I wake up in the night, I have to start the book again to drift back off. Add a hot flash, the noise of teenagers coming in late (why must they stomp up the stairs while talking on their phones?), and a husband whose snores could wake the dead, and it’s no wonder we women of a certain age are all looking for the perfect under eye concealer. I’ve tried using my wired earbuds and my airpods so I don’t keep my husband up (as if) and the whole situation leads to a phone and airpods that perpetually have no battery life and one lost airpod that will never be found. Always the problem solver, my husband gave me this device for my birthday and, while I was doubtful at first because it seems bulky, it has been a godsend! The only negative is that it’s another tech item to charge, which is an area, like hanging up my clothes when I take them off, in which I do not excel.
Is it me or is American Riviera Orchard, Montecito the opposite of a catchy name? I do not have experience in this kind of thing but the name doesn’t draw me in. Maybe that’s the point? We will see. Excellent brand names, in my opinion, include Rag and Bone, Golden Goose, Dorsey, Frances Valentine, and Saltyface. While we’re at it, I’m not sure where I stand on (the names, not the brands) Psycho Bunny (embarrassing words to say out loud), Free People, Aritzia (hard to pronounce), and Doen (hard to spell, hard to say).
I am intrigued by the potentially life changing product recommendations on Air Dried Hair Chronicles - when I air dry my hair it looks like this: