4 Pairs Of Truly Enormous Balloon Pants That Are Chic And Comfy And Weirdly Flattering
We’re too old and tired for tight pants. Though not for fashion.
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by The Candidly Team
If you’ve ever watched a baby fight for their life to dodge a onesie being wrangled on them by a parent, you know how we viscerally feel about tight pants.
Our bodies are simply in too much of a state of hormonal fluctuation to enjoy being zipped into a waistband that’s going to feel like a suctioned straight-jacket for our lower bodies in two hours. Our hips/legs/thighs shall no longer be squeezed by stiff fabric.
There’s something gloriously freeing about light, baggy pants. Even if we dare to set aside comfort, certain pairs have a way of making us look more balanced, with longer, slimmer legs, and more of an hourglass shape.
This is particularly true of balloon pants. They have what the fashion people call a “point of view” and they feel like heaven itself to wear. Billowy and beautiful.
And when you pair them with a fitted or tucked top, you’re silhouette becomes *chef’s kiss*.
Here are our 4 favorite pairs to prove our point. And one bonus section that may be our favorite bonus section to date.
1. The Perfect Everyday Pair
WHAT: Pistola Liya Poplin Balloon Pant*
Gorgeous poplin be thy name. The elastic waist allows us to eat the entire bread basket, and our waist still looks whittled thanks to this perfect, perfect cut. Comes in black of course but rosette* is currently in our carts.
Price: $84
2. The Dress-Up pair
WHAT: Reformation Aven Satin Pant*
These pants make it 22x easier to get dressed up to go out. With any black top (tank, tee , or tube), they create a complete, put-together look. We currently wear them with THESE* surreally comfy heels and THIS* going-out as our favorite date-night ensemble.
Price: $218
3. The Pink Pair
WHAT: ALIGNE High Rise Pull On Balloon Leg Pants*
Word to the wise: take the pants you love to wear most and buy them in a soft, soft pink and poof, you’re styled! These pants are a dream if you’re curvy on the bottom (we wrote all about this HERE). But more importantly, here’s a photo of how our editor-in-chief recently wore hers:
Price: $100
4. The Denim Pair
WHAT: Frame The Cropped Bubble Jean*
Good barrel, balloon, and bubble jeans do this amazing thing where they make our legs look longer and leaner. Something about that bow shape at the bottom. These are by leaps and bounds our most favorite, most flattering bubble jeans. We would not be talking about jeans this price if they weren’t this magic.
We even own them in a shade of pink* that has changed how we look at our entire closet. It sparks joy just to think of them.
Price: $298
Bonus
These pants aren’t all classic balloon per se but they are enormous and chic and comfortable so we’re including them, though you will be scared of the last pair except they’re actually the chicest and coolest of them all:
5. The Loungey pair
WHAT: Free People Hot Shot Easy Pants*
A wide waist band means we live our lives in bliss but it also means our lower tums are far more smoothed and flattered. The entire shape of these pants is impressively skimming and slimming and elongating. We own them in pretty much every color that isn’t sold out in our size. And we live in them more than any other pant.
Price: $70
6. The utility Pair
WHAT: FP Movement Charmer Utility Pants*
Anyone else dream of recreating Jennifer Aniston’s early 2000s “cool girl” utility pants outfits on a daily basis? Or are you normal? We use this incredibly fun pair from Free People to give us goddess proportions when we dupe our dream street style like so:
Price: $168
7. The Palazzo Pair
WHAT: By Anthropologie Tailored Palazzo Pants*
Oops, did we sneak in our most dramatically wide-leg trouser just to show you how easily chic a big, billowy pant leg can be? We did. Even with just a loose-fit t-shirt, these pants are luxe and elevating:
Price: $110
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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