3 Ways to Wear Harem Pants [and what to wear with them]

With summer and festival season fast approaching it's got me thinking about festival fashion...especially harem pants and the various wonderful ways in which they can be worn.

However, it's come to my attention that some people can be put off by the way harem pants look; seemingly due to either not knowing how to wear them, being under the impression that they wouldn’t really “suit” him or her and not knowing what to wear with harem pants. Well I’m here to tell you that one way or another they can indeed suit you and there are many different ways you can wear them.

1) Low on the hips

First off, and probably the most well known way, is low on the hips. I went for a full blown festival style and if this is the way you like to wear them then we think that’s pretty awesome. More and more festival fashion and culture is creeping out into everyday life, from anything as small as donning a bum bag or Lennon-style sunglasses, to more fully embracing the look by wearing mixed patterns head to toe. Here in Brighton people wear what ever they like and that is part of what makes this city great, but just because you don’t live here doesn’t mean you can’t introduce more colour and be more free with your style; even if it’s only in a little way. It’s been said many times that wearing bright colours can improve your mood, and we here at The Hippy Clothing Co. we couldn’t agree more.

What I love about this style is that you can just have fun with it; dressing like this always makes me feel like getting up to mischief. Wearing harem pants low feels so natural and looks so much more flatting then a lot of people initially think. It doesn’t have to be a super casual look; treat them like a maxi skirt, add some flats or heels and a pretty top and you’ve got yourself a date outfit. They come in such a wide range of styles, colours and patterns, that there has to be a pair out there for you!

For me this look is summer attire, but I have many friends who them like this is every day, and they always look awesome. You don’t need to go this bright and multi coloured, you could wear a plain top layer (but fingers crossed we have a scorcher of a summer and you won’t need it). Whatever you wear day to day, find a situation where you can feel comfortable to dress this way and I promise that not only will you be very comfy but fun times will happen, and who knows, it may become a way of life.

I wanted to put the main focus of this blog on smarter ways to wear harems, as it can be what people struggle with when seeking reasons not to wear them, and that’s a really shame as it opens up a whole new world of style options. I find the plain harems the easiest to style into a smart outfit, though this summer season we’ll be bringing some lovely patterned numbers that we picked up at the trade shows, as Stuart mentioned in his last blog post which I’ll do a short style post on over the next few months.

2) Wear them like a playsuit

The most versatile harem pants style is ‘low crotch’, as you can see in the outfit below; the playsuit has had resurgence over the last few years as the festival must have. In this outfit you can see how easily the harem playsuit can become a smart outfit, with the right accessories.

This outfit is great and could be worn to events or meetings, and by just removing the coat and adding a cocktail you could be at a night out with the girls, or a spending the day on the beach. Wearing harems as a playsuit has so many pluses, not only can it be dressed up and down very simply but it is also incredibly comfortable and easy to wear and with the draw string can fit from the most modest of chests to least. The low crotch style also has a lot a material, and worn as a playsuit can hide everything you would wish to be hidden while still being loose.

3) Worn on the waist

Next up is another example of how Harems can be smart with a high crotch pair this time worn on the waist. The high crotch harems aren’t as versatile as the low crotch but can just as easily be dressed up and down.

I love blue and red together and the slight eastern feel to this outfit really calls for mild evenings spent in the garden with friends or at an art show opening…either way wine is involved. Putting a light scarf with an outfit not only adds colour and interest but is great to wrap round your shoulders of an evening; also the awesome thing about scarves is that you can get away with wearing the same outfit time and time again just by changing the scarf it becomes a whole new outfit. My preference is to wear things on my waist; I find it both flattering and comfortable...it’s a great area to emphasize and elongate the legs.

I hope I have inspired you to give harems a go or shown you a new way of styling your favourite pair, they are a very versatile item of clothing and I hope you embrace them. Please send or tag us in your pictures of your new ways of wearing them or just generally enjoying them, we love to see our customer enjoys our clothes. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.