Sandcastles to Snowmen

These pants. To say that I love them is an understatement. The first time I wore them was last summer in the French Riviera. Despite being tightly rolled at the bottom of my luggage for an 8 hour flight and subsequent drive through 5 European countries, they didn't have a single wrinkle. They also garnered more than a few "tres chic" comments from the locals, who spoke to me in French as though I were a native. Of course, "tres chic" was the only phrase I understood, so for all I know they weren't actually paying me a compliment at all... Still, I prefer to think the pants helped me look like a local even on an island where KDef and I were the only Americans. Oh yes, these pants...

 

A few weeks later, I was wearing the pants when I dropped a two liter bottle of Diet Coke on the concrete floor of my local Kroger and sent a geyser of the delicious but sticky caramel liquid spewing all over me and every patron in a 20 foot radius. Remember last summer's ad campaign, "Share a Diet Coke with...?" Let's just say I don't think my fellow shoppers appreciated my literal but messy interpretation of the concept. These pants, though. They absorbed most of the explosion, and I was certain that my "tres chic" palazzos were destined to become my next pair of permanently stained and dingy painting pants. Not so. I popped them in the wash and they came out good as new, still with nary a wrinkle. Oh yes, these pants...

Last weekend, I packed the pants for a quick warm weather getaway to Miami. I knew the weather forecast for Sunday called for brutal cold, but I didn't want to take more than a carry-on bag, and I definitely didn't want to lug a winter coat on the airplane. But, with a quick change from short sleeves to turtleneck and sandals to ankle boots, the pants were Winter ready and still wrinkle-free for the return trip home. I may not have been thrilled about going from sandcastles on Saturday to snowmen on Sunday, but these pants...

Monogrammed switchflops and a woven beach bag from 9 West were perfect for warm weather; ankle boots from Schutz and a coordinating bag from Charming Charlie transition the look for colder climes.

These pants. They must have cost a fortune. They must be made of some magical mystery material. They must have come from Meijer. Wait...what? True story. These pants came from Meijer, a grocery store that sells other stuff on the side (not to be confused with Target, which is a store full of other stuff that sells groceries on the side). I spotted them on my way to the check-out line (this has happened to me more than once at Meijer - their merchandisers must be wizards). It was May in Indiana (when black and white are prolific in the wardrobes of local Indy 500 fans); the pants reminded me of a pair of $98 Norma Kamali yoga pants from Zappos I'd been coveting; they were all of $16.99. If I could find another pair, I would buy them, too. These pants...  

I really wanted these Norma Kamali pants, but wasn't willing to spend the $98 for them. I'm glad I waited!

Fashion is what you buy; Style is what you do with it!

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