white-pants_garance-dore_

9 Commandments of White Pants

10 years ago by

We wear a lot of white at the Studio. Sometimes we forget, and we sit down on a dirty bench, we eat Chipotle, and we end up regretting it. (Damn burritos).

So, we’re still perfecting it, but here are some of our tips/guidelines/rules for working it in white…

1. Choosing underwear wisely. No matter how cute they are, this is not the time to show them off. Wear something close to your skin tone.

2. White leggings are not the same as white pants. Avoid them.

3. Be careful where you sit. They will get dirty (be on extra look out for wet paint signs). Or sit your ass anywhere like you just don’t care – this is what G does on shoots. (I know, she’s brave). Her motto: When they’re dirty, wash them! (Duh.)

4. If you do spill, embrace it. Keep spilling. Jackson Pollock them.

5. Be somewhat careful about when eating. Avoid things like spaghetti, hot dogs, kool-aid… or stay very very close to the table. If we must have a hot dog, we always ask for for extra napkins to cover your lap. Ignore the looks of your friends.

6. White jeans? Don’t use a chlorine bleach. It will yellow the denim over time. Yes, this is the one crazy rule lost in the middle of very serious rules.

7. We don’t care about wearing white after labor day. Yes, a rule to break another rule.

8. Watch the spandex factor. Emily buys her pants a size bigger, because tight white pants are FMO (for models only).

9. Try your pants on in natural lighting. It’s the only way we know how see through they really are…or aren’t… ?

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50 comments

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  • Great advice, especially point 2!!
    Kiss!
    Passa a trovarmi VeryFP

  • white pants are so scary! :)

    http://littleaesthete.com

  • J’adore la couleur blanche! L’une de mes couleurs préférées pour l’été!!! <3
    Par contre, c'est tellement difficile à entretenir!!!
    Des bisous

    Le monde des petites
    http://www.lemondedespetites.com/

  • J’avoue, trop dur de trouver LE pantalon blanc pas transparent!!! Pcq ça serait tout de même bête de faire cagole marseillaise alors qu’on avait prévu d’être hyper élégante!!! ;-)
    Alixxx

    http://alixdebeer.com

  • Hey!
    So funny I wear a total white look today!!! My day is supposed to be calm and no durty atmosphere… My worst concern with white look is that there is tons of different white!!! How difficult to manage 2 differents white…
    Thanks for your tips Alex !
    Have a nice weekend and don’t forget to check my post about French technique of flirting at http://www.blushandbeyond.com
    Xoxo
    Alix

  • Martine June, 3 2014, 9:11

    It looks better if they don’t match. White and off white look excellent together too.

  • So what a secret!! FMO white pants!! That’s a great news!!
    xox, Gap.
    http://www.gaptoothedgirl.com

  • Mais j’ai trouvé le truc pour pas tâcher un jean blanc: s’en foutre! Si, si! J’en ai un depuis des années (euh, donc 2, le même…si, je vous assure c’est faisable), et si au début je faisais gaffe, j’avais systématiquement une tâche, mais depuis que j’ai passé l’épreuve purée de carottes (oui bon cette référence ne raisonnera que pour certaines…), et que j’ai réussi à rattraper le coup…ben j’ai plus jamais de tâche…ou tout de moins je m’en fous tellement, que personne ne remarque la trace de poussière (et non c’est pas juste moi qui me fais un film car on m’a déjà demandé comment je faisais pour garder mon jean blanc blanc (yuks, quelle horrible formulation) dans une journée).
    Quelle phrase à rallonge alambiquée…bravo si vous avez compris!

  • i keep thinking that i will try and market a white shirt with coffee and/or wine stains already present on them, as you own it you would just add to the patina….
    :)

  • Great rules, I follow all of them.

    xo
    PinkSole

  • Yes to Rule #8! I just had to exchange a pair of white jeans to the next size up–my legs looked like a pair of boudin blancs! Not nice…

  • Sunny Side May, 30 2014, 11:10 / Reply

    The ten Alex … the rain, the dirty, greasy rain !!! Je fais tjs des taches là derrière quand je marche et dès que j’arrive chez moi je le lave immédiatement, sinon ces dirty taches s’inscrutent ds le tissu. Tellement de saleté pollution de la pluie. J’ai plusieurs pantalons blancs et c’est le souci majeur pour moi. Laisse un plastique blanc dehors quand il pleut et regarde !

  • Love the Blue TOP!!! Just bought it online at Trademark! So drawn to blue this Spring!! Thanks Alex and Garance.

  • Dis donc, t’as pris du poids, toi? – Nan, j’ai mis du blanc. – On se tape un kébab? – D’accord.

    Règle 10, sine qua nix: régime préemptif.

  • Le blanc, avec le gris sont mes couleurs préférées ! <3

    http://les-aventures-iscomigoo.blogspot.fr/

  • This photo is GORGEOUS and exactly what I want to look like this summer!! I loooooove it. (As for the commandments, I have nothing to add. They sound good to me.)

    xx,
    Ali

  • princessglee May, 30 2014, 12:20 / Reply

    White pants are a bitch for me. Ample thighs just aren’t that cute in white pants. But seeing these in a relaxed fit…I might have to give those bitches another try.

  • Je ne portais presque jamais de blanc avant de vivre dans le sud de la Floride. En ouvrant mon placard, c’est la couleur dominante : chemises, tuniques et pantalons, le tout en coton ou en lin. S’il y a des taches en fin de journee (pratiquement jamais !), je lave tout de suite. Vive le blanc ! (et le marine, le gris, mes couleurs preferees.)

  • Perfect trend. i like white pants too. xaxa

    http://www.fashiondenis.com

  • As an addendum to #2 “White leggings are not the same as white pants.” Can we just extend that to ALL color and make of leggings? Leggings are not pants, use them appropriately!

    http://www.enduringethereal.com

  • Your picture was my white pants inspiration to run out and get a pair with a similar fit
    http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/on-the-street-garance-on-ninth-st-new-york/

    Where are those from ? are those DIY splattered ?

  • Thanks for the tips!

    I really adore her outfit in that photo, such good pieces!

    http://chaloth.se

  • I loooove white pants! These remind me of the merchant archive ones. Pretty nice! I like the outfit, it’s really classy.

  • My girlfriend sent me a link to your article after I wrote one advocating white pants for moms. I love them and wear them all the time even with three kids. Life is short and there is always bleach! :-)

  • yes to all of this!

  • A resounding yes to number four! If you can’t beat it, embrace it. :D

    ? lovetotalknyc.com

  • Truc de grand-mère… Il paraîtrait que le bicarbonate de soude (dans la machine à laver) est souverain pour rerendre le blanc…blanc (pas pour enlever les tâches, non… Juste raviver le blanc). Quelqu’un a testé ?

  • Garance a raison: quand c’est sale : on l elave! Et Emily a raison : des slims blancs sont super sur les filles de moins de 25 ans. Et on est d’accord; un jean blanc en hiver c’est carremment cool)) (mais ça se salit encore plus vite… mais c’est pas grave – on le re’lave))

  • Connie Tam May, 31 2014, 12:29 / Reply

    Great tips! Thanks

  • Lansky May, 31 2014, 3:24 / Reply

    Je n’ai qu’un seul jeans taille haute skinny avec un zip doré au niveau des chevilles de chez American Apparel. Il est parfait et bien opaque. Je n’irai pas à la recherche d’un pantalon/jeans blanc. Je ne trouve pas que c’est une pièce qui mérite d”être dans une garde-robe en modèle différent ou tissus. Un seul suffit. De plus, je dois faire attention lorsque je porte mes sacs parce que la couleur transfert ou encore mes hauts. J’avais porté un vêtement bleu klein avec mon jeans blancs. La couleur a toute transfée… j’ai dû me changer… La prochaine fois j’irai avec des tissus plus léger (style chiffon) ou bien tout simplement de «crop top».

  • C’est vraiment le même pantalon blanc sur la photo et sur le site Club Monaco?

    Parce que ca va bien mieux à la fille sur ce post que sur la mannequin de Club Monaco.

    http://switchshirttheory.blogspot.fr

  • A Madrid, le pantalon blanc est le chic du chic. Je m’en étais acheté un en arrivant en Espagne, mais à force de régime tapas, la toile du pantalon était un peu trop stretchée, et c’est que c’est plus joli si elle ne l’est pas c’est vrai… ou si vous avez des jambes de rêves ( parce qu’on vous remarque tout de suite ! ). J’ai finit par donner le mien à ma nièce de 14 ans. Mais je ne désespère pas; au prochain pantalon blanc je suivrai vos conseils d’expertes à la lettre :)
    ( et j’aurai sans doute fait un petit régime )

  • Le blanc et le bleu sont mes couleur chouchou, j’adore cette tenue ;)
    Bise !!

    http://laposemode.blogspot.fr/

  • Catherine May, 31 2014, 8:47 / Reply

    The point about bleach and yellowing is true for all fabrics, not just denim.
    To keep pants white, use a laundry soap with enzymes. See Jolie Kerr’s book, “My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag” for an explanation of how this works and for other great cleaning tips, or look up the Terri Gross interview with her on Fresh Air on NPR.
    White jeans are less see-through than other white pants, and the butt pockets help further. I cannot understand why any retailer even carries transparent white pants.

  • Pratiques les conseils :-D
    Par contre, je ne sais pas si je le Jackson Poloockeriserait si je le tache…

  • Merci pour ces petits conseils !!! Oui c’est vrai un pantalon blanc ça se lave aussi ;)

    http://the-astro.weebly.com/a-s-t-r-o—s-e-l-f-i-e

  • Bonjour,

    J’ai toujours autant de plaisir à vous lire.

    Merci.
    Bien à vous,
    Christel.

    http://www.lamodecnous.com/
    http://www.livelamodecnous.com/

  • Fresh look, ideal for summer!!!

    http://www.zappard.com/

  • Love the trousers in this photo. Dirty marks and see-through fabrics are fears of mine with any light coloured clothes, but with summer on the doorstep I think it’s time to bite the bullet and give it a go!

    http://www.creataurus.co.uk

  • I’ve been looking for white pants for such a long time now! Precisely white jeans, but I want real jeans. All I can find in stores (affordable ones) are white ultra skinny non denim ones, and I hate how they fit on me, so trashy. I need a really nice pair of white trousers, they are like timeless!

  • I adore them! They are the ultimate chic garment for cool summer mornings. Wore mine at the office today with a white jacket and pastel tee and although I was anxious that it might not work, it actually did! Thanks for posting these great tips, they do help if you are a first-timer in white-pants land.

  • Hi Alex! Great post. Not a fan of white pants but no.4 about Pollock is inspiring! I tried it on a pair of jeans and the result is amazing and it looks great in the sea of ripped jeans!
    Thanks

  • I like the retro style pants.

  • Martine June, 3 2014, 9:23 / Reply

    FMO? One of my favorite jeans is a tight pair of high rise, flared, white jeans. They sit right at my belly button, or just a hair bellow it, and are very fitted from the waist to the knee. They are a bit long, and very flared, so perfect for wearing with wedge heel sandals. Just like something from the 1970’s. I think they are one of the most flattering things I own. I mean sure that show off what you have, but girls need a few pieces clothing that make guys look. Sometimes you just feel like a little male attention, you know? Don’t other ladies feel that way at times?

  • Nicole June, 5 2014, 7:36 / Reply

    6. White jeans? Don’t use a chlorine bleach. It will yellow the denim over time. Yes, this is the one crazy rule lost in the middle of very serious rules.

    This is because of the dyes manufacturers use to get the fabric white counteracts with the bleach to yellow the fabric….weird, right?

  • Holladay June, 19 2014, 12:07 / Reply

    The most important rule is careful choice of underwear!! Every summer I buy several pairs just to wear with white pants and skirts.

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