Bekah and the Business/Casual/Dress Pants

It's been a while since I shared a capsule wardrobe post, but the concept continues, alive and well, in my life. In fact, after we moved, one of my friends came over to see our house, and when I showed her our big walk-in closet, she said, "Do you HAVE clothes? Because all I see are Ryan's!" I showed her the little corner with my stash and realized it's working! Having just a few things really, really works for me. Of course with all the painting and moving and organizing, I feel like all I've worn for the last two months are workout clothes, but still...

Also - if you're thinking about capsule wardrobes, and you're not sure yet if you like the idea, here's the link to my Pinterest board about them, which has the posts I've pinned to gain my own inspiration, as well as other posts I have written about my own adventures. 

Today I want to tell you about the three pairs of business/casual/dress pants I own that work splendidly for me in concept and yet this part of the capsule needs HELP in actuality.

When I worked at the college, I had to wear business casual clothes every single day. Then I went to the radio station, where business casual was required only if we had a meeting or some sort of reason to dress up. The rest of the time? Jeans. And now that I work from home? Yoga pants!!!!!! Just kidding. {Kind of.} I do try to get up, get ready, and wear real clothes as many days as I can, because I feel more productive in real clothes. But I confess the winter months {followed by the moving weeks} stretched my desire to leave the yoga pants!

I tell you all of that not because you care about the dress code at all my work places, but because dress code drives a wardrobe - even a capsule wardrobe. When I worked in the business casual environment, MOST of my clothes were dressy, and I owned just a couple pairs of jeans. Then when I went to the station, I flipped that: I stocked up on jeans and let go of my dress pants when they wore out or stopped fitting.

So now, I've decided that three pairs of business/casual/dress pants are all I need to get through this season of my life. Pants that are dressy enough for meetings, church, speaking engagements, dressier dates, any of that. But I don't need a ton of them, because my every-day life is extremely casual now.

I will also tell you that this section of my wardrobe needs some serious work. But this is a keepin'-it-real blog, so I will share what I have.

One.

These black pants may be the most embarrassing article of clothing I own. Let me tell you the story behind them. I bought them TEN YEARS AGO when I was choosing an outfit for my ten year high school reunion. I bought them to go with a black shirt {which I only got rid of last summer, embarrassingly enough} and think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty bucks for them. I got them at Fashion Bug, which is no longer even in business, at least around here. Why I remember all these things, I do not know.

But these pants need. to. go. They no longer fit well, especially after the weight I recently lost. They're big - especially in the rear end. So baggy. {Ironically that's one reason why I still love them so. They make me feel skinny!!} They are a bit long, and over the decade of wear, the ends have become frayed. They have no pockets {grrr} but the reason I keep them and love them SO MUCH is that they're stretchy like jammie pants, and they don't have a bulky clasp at the waist, so they lay flat under shirts. I don't need extra bulk there!! I have looked for a pair to replace them MANY times over this decade, but have yet to find something that lays flat like they do. Maybe this is my year?

Clearly I have gotten my money's worth out of these pants, and because they made it into my closet WELL in advance of the capsule project, the entry fee is ZERO DOLLARS. {Side note: the tag is so faded from a decade of washing, I can no longer see the size on these, but knowing the level of fluffiness I was ten years ago, I'm going to guess these are a large.}

Two.

The second pair of pants I kept in this adventure were the brown pants. These were among the first of the new clothes I got six years ago when I lost weight and nothing I owned fit anymore. I got these at Cato, and they are much like the black pants in that they have an elastic waist and therefore no bulky clasp. WHY DID THEY NOT HAVE THESE IN BLACK??? I could be six years ahead of the black pants I own! :)

While I don't wear brown as often as I wear black {at least in dress clothes}, I kept these pants because I felt they were a good basic staple. They still fit well and the construction is holding up nicely, even though they are six years old. And of course, I appreciated the entry fee of ZERO DOLLARS.  And these are a size medium - one of the first medium pieces I was ever able to fit into after my first weight loss!!

Having said that, I truly hardly ever wear these, and you know what I think I might actually wear more of if I had them? White pants. Dangerous, yes, for a klutz like me. But I wear so much blue and black, that I think white pants would be a way better staple than these brown ones. So I will keep these for now, but I think I'm going to keep my eye out for a good pair of white pants.

Three.

 I started the capsule with just the two pairs of pants but had been on the lookout for a good khaki-ish pair of pants. It seemed like every pair I had tried in the last few years just didn't fit right. And while I realized this was a lot to ask from a single pair of pants, I wanted something that wasn't too dressy, but also wasn't too casual. I wanted to be able to wear them around the house without feeling like I was overdressed for my day, but I also wanted to be able to dress them up when necessary.

When I was out in Virginia Beach this past fall, Lynnette and I spent a morning at her Cato, and that's where I found these khaki colored linen pants. They have an elastic/drawstring waist, which I like {because apparently that is the key to my dress pants!} and I could see myself dressing them up or down pretty easily. They only had one pair, which happened to be a medium, and they were on sale for $9.99, half price from the original $19.99. I felt like I couldn't pass them up, so I grabbed them and have really liked them! They really are ridiculously comfortable, and they work just like I imagined - easily dressed up or down.

So I have a working-completed section of the wardrobe with these pants. They get me through the occasions where I need to do better than a pair of jeans, and other than needing to replace one {maybe two} of them, I feel that owning these three articles is completely sufficient for this season of my life. {Full disclosure note - those khaki pants are very wide leg, and my legs are much skinnier now than they used to be. So if I found a pair of khaki pants that had a more tapered leg, I might add those as a fourth pair just for days when I want skinny pants.}

Three pairs of pants for the capsule wardrobe: Check{ish}
Total cost for pants: $9.99
Size Breakdown: Large{?}, Medium,  Medium
Color Base for Capsule: Black, Brown, Tan
Bekah: Not thrilled with the current state of this section of the capsule...needs perfection, and possibly completion.