Fashion // Palazzo not Pajama

Oh, boy! Do I have a fun topic to share with you all today! Some of you may or may not have heard of the new summer trend of wearing Palazzo pants. If you are anything like me, you may have realized that there are several different takes on what Palazzo (pronounced palatso) pants are actually supposed to look like. Well, I am here to dispel the myths, and present the facts, and point you all in the right direction if you are considering supplying yourself with a pair of these stylish trousers.
Shall we begin?

Not Palazzo

No, these are not palazzo pants. These are merely frauds. Let's deal with the culprit pair on the left first: they have the full legs characteristic of palazzo pants, right? The problem is the fact that they have a gathered waistband, and a  pretty straight leg from the waist down, making them look more like Pajamas than stylish Palazzo pants.
I won't even deal with the ones in the middle. Those just are NOT Palazzos!
As far as the pair on the right, the manufacturer was obviously trying to skimp on fabric, and did not do a good job of it. Not only do the pants end up looking like a crazy mix of sweat pants and the latest funky fabric, but they are also about two inches too short! Good palazzo pants should come within at least a half inch of the ground, if not skim the ground if you wear them with heels.

Pajama

Just to show you all how much some of the frauds above fail to comply with Palazzo pants standards, let's compare them with pajama pants. The whole point of Palazzo pants, is to have the comfort of pajama pants, without them looking like pajama pants. They should have a gradual flare, that extends into an extremely wide leg, from the waist to the floor, rather than remaining straight from the waist down (pajama pants), or fitted to the knee and then flaring (bellbottoms). They should have the elegance of a maxi skirt, while still retaining the freedom of pants. Shall we see what that looks like?

Maxi-Skirt Style Palazzo

If you love maxi skirts, then you will love the free flowing rendition of palazzo pants. Make sure that they are high waisted, or at least have a fitted, tailored waist (as opposed to a drawstring or elastic waist), and have a huge flare to them, in order to achieve  the illusion of wearing a maxi skirt. A really good pattern that could be used to make your own, with some alterations to length of course, would be Megan Nielsen's Tania Culottes. I am actually planning on making my own from Megan's pattern, hopefully, so keep an eye out for that.

Structured Palazzo

The last, and I would say most chic way of wearing palazzo pants, is to wear them like the trousers that they are, with a gorgeous tailored high waist, with, as I have said before a huge amount of flare to the leg. And just as a fun side note, see that picture on the right? That is from the 30's, the time when palazzo pants were first introduced, although they were called lounging, or beach pajamas* at the time. I would love to try on a nice pair of tailored palazzo pants like these, wouldn't you?

Which style of Palazzo pants are your favorite: Tailored or Maxi?

Would you wear palazzo pants?

Have you come across any Palazzo frauds?

Blessings,

Brigid

the Middle Sister and Singer

P.S. All images are from my Palazzo & Not Palazzo board which you can view here.

P.P.S. Palazzo pants were revived in the 60's and 70's, so if you're looking for a vintage pattern or a vintage pair, make sure you type that in the search engine.

*they could have been called by other names as well, I just don't know what they are; also the word pajamas had a slightly different meaning in the 30's than it does today. Check it out here.