Hot pants as fashion wear instead of sports and summer wear came into play when most our parents were in their teens, so they had to stretch their imagination and budget. My great aunt was telling me about a time when teens were not allowed to wear pants to school unless underneath a dress to keep them warm in the winter. Can you imagine? Velvet then was a luxury reserved for special occasion dresses so the closest they would have come to something like this was by home sewing their clothes. We have a picture on our fridge of a young woman wearing an impressive jumper-skort dress out of corduroy she’d sewn herself, paired with tights and a turtleneck top to keep warm.
The tights-and-shorts combo in winter isn’t for everyone but those fearless Fashionistas out there should feel free to indulge in the luxury of such a kicking item of clothing. While this Wheaton College junior has flown away to Australia, those of us still struggling with the weird winter/spring mix should not fear to emulate to our hearts content. Just throw on a pair of warm leggings or tights, a pair of high Dr. Martens and this amazing faux-fur vest from Liz Clayborne over a great white T-shit. Personally, I’ve been a fan since forever and don’t see why not.
These Etsy high-waisted shorts brought me back to the late ’90s when crushed velvet was all the rage.