The Pants Experiment, Part 2

I recently finished Marc Maron's book, Attempting Normal. In one essay he details his purchase of a pair of jeans from the ultra hip Levi's store in San Francisco. He's told by the sales guy (who has a handlebar mustache) that the only way to truly get the perfect fit for these jeans is to sit in a bathtub in the jeans and then wear them until they dry. The bathtub scene also makes an appearance in season one of Maron. Levi's even has a blog about this and it's apparently very common for people to sit in their bathtubs to get the perfect fit jeans. I guess I'm not the only one who will do anything for the right pair of pants.

I was thinking about this essay and episode as I awaited the arrival of my dress pant yoga pants from Betabrand. I've been searching for a pair of comfortable and stylish work pants forever and finally decided to buy a pair. Despite my excitement I hesitated to wear them immediately so I waited until today. I should not have waited to wear them; I may have found my new favorite pair of pants.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the dress pant yoga pants are made out of the same type of material that yoga pants are made out of but they're cut like dress pants. The design includes the sort of fake pockets that are common in women's pants, a decorative button, and functioning belt loops (if you're into belts; I am not). They're well made and machine washable. I prefer not to dry clean anything so this last bit was of the utmost importance.

After spending a portion of my morning cleaning my car off and possibly getting mild frostbite, I put on my new pants and made my way through the icy streets of Arlington to work. I was ready for comfort and fashion. The pants were warm enough; the weight is heavier than normal yoga pants but not heavy like some dress pants can be.I hemmed the pants about an inch and half which ended up being the ideal length since I was able to wear my boots and then switch to flats for the office. I felt ready to tackle my day.

What had concerned me at home was how much more form fitting the pants are but honestly, I didn't notice as much once I was at work. I'm sure it was because I was working so I didn't have time to think about it but I also know that I was probably putting too much emphasis on this in the first place. Crawling under conference room tables to set up to set up projector cables was a snap. I had the feeling that I was lounging sitting at my desk or in the conference room. Several of my co-workers knew about the pants and agreed that you really couldn't tell that they were yoga pants. One of my other co-workers was completely surprised when she overheard us talking about them. They just looked like dress pants to her. When I got back home, I didn't immediately change into lounge pants or regular yoga pants because I was just so darn comfortable. I consider this entire experiment a success.

The verdict: these are excellent pants. They're comfortable, not as obvious as I thought they'd be, and worth the investment. I would wear these pants everyday if that wasn't weird. I'm considering buying a second pair. I only have two "complaints" and they're not really a big deal:

1. The length - I wish they had a shorter option. I don't mind hemming pants but it's be awesome if I didn't have to.
2. Pockets - seriously, when is someone going to figure out how to make women's pants with pockets? These pants have no pockets which is a challenge but one that I got over. 

They're a great addition to my wardrobe and I'm excited to plan my next outfit. Comfort and fashion don't have to be separate ideas. There's no reason to sacrifice one for the other. That's really what I like most about these pants. And I didn't have to sit in a bathtub or wet jeans all day to make it happen.