Work Pants Woes – Makeup and Beauty Blog

My friend, why is it so hard to find decent work pants?

I did the math recently and realized it’s been 15 or so years since I’ve had to buy a pair of work pants, and you know what? Right now it’s very challenging!

I don’t feel like it’s too much to ask for pants that are comfy, not-too-tight, professional looking and have fabric that feels good against one’s skin.

Oh, and as a petite person, I also have the additional challenge of finding pants that aren’t too long. Side note, I know from experience that if I need to get pants hemmed, I will never, ever take them to the tailor, and they’ll stay that length for years and will never get worn. Sigh.

How about pockets? Normally, they’d be a prerequisite for me, too, but I’m at the point where I’m willing to let it go because it’s been that hard finding a pair of pants that I don’t hate! LOL.

(By the way, I start my new job next week.)

Anywho, a while back I ordered a bunch of seemingly cute petite pants from a few different places (GAP, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor and some random brands from Nordstrom), but I returned them all because they were either too short or too long, had itchy fabric and/or had funky pockets.

I ended up ordering a few pairs of trousers and dark jeans online from Madewell and am going to keep my fingers crossed in the hopes that they fit okay.

I bought a pair of jeans from them about 6 months ago, and they’ve been the only pair of pants I’ve tried in the last few years that fit me perefectly.

I purchased the Madewell pants below in petite sizing, but FYI, most of their cuts are also available in standard, plus and tall sizes, too, in case you’re interested.

• The Petite Harlow Wide Leg Pant – I like how these trousers look like I’ll be able to easily dress them up or down. They’re machine wash and dry (yay), and there’s a lot of colors to choose from. I opted for a dark navy and a dark grey plaid.
• The Petite Perfect Wide Leg Jean in Caronia Wash – Last time I worked in an office, dark jeans passed as work pants, just as long as you had a professional looking sweater, shirt or jacket on top. I like the color of these jeans, the loose fit and the wide leg.
• The Petite Perfect Vintage Jean – Another dark jean! I bought this mostly because a lot of comments mentioned how soft and comfortable they are.

I’m hoping something in this crop of work pants will fit decently and won’t look too weird on me. They should be coming in the mail soon, so fingers crossed that they work out. If they don’t I’m showing up on my first day in black stretchy pants and a blazer.

If you have any work pants suggestions, please help this currently pantless cat lady out!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen