Based on my personal experience and many seasons of pant-wearing, I think it’s safe to assume that, historically speaking, most people have a difficult time finding mwah-fitting spring pants that are wide-legged and cropped and made from linen. If cropped too short, your pants look clownish. If you’re tall, your trousers become confused gauchos. Depending on your body type, the silhouette may not fly. The concept of the lightweight and wide-legged cropped pant is always wish-list-worthy, but too many brands haven’t gotten a handle on a fit that will accommodate and flatter a variety of bodies. However, it seems like Anthropologie has cracked some kind of code when it comes to the billowing bottom. Trouser-ites, meet the Colette: Anthropologie’s gold-medal, best-selling pant of 2021. Its winning reign continues in 2022, and it just arrived in a spring-ready fabrication: a chic, ankle-grazing linen.
Maeve The Colette Cropped Linen Wide-Leg Pants, $130
First, let’s dig more into the secret sauce behind the Colette’s “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”-like fit. “Our customers love our ‘magic fabric,’ a flattering blend of fabrics, which we run all-year-round,” a rep from the Anthro design team told R29. “It’s super stretchy and comfortable but looks and feels super refined. Once we saw the interest pick up immediately, we started offering the Colette in seasonal fabrications and increased our SKU count.” To date, the Colette has been made in over 24 fabrications and colors and has been restocked a whopping 25 times. “In addition, when we launch seasonal fabrics — such as cord in fall and linen in spring — we see a huge uptick in our customers’ interest,” the Anthro rep continued. “We are very excited to be launching in faux leather this August.”
Well, I simply had to try this linen pant for myself — and I went with a petite length in vibrant amethyst (the linen pant is currently available in three colorways: navy, purple, and a printed leaf motif). My first immediate thought was, dang, this “magic fabric” really does feel enchanting: It’s a smooth-finish linen blend that’s not raw or scratchy or papery-thin like other linen pieces (which also means it’s less prone to those dreaded “linen wrinkles”). And, as the design team had mentioned, it’s got a sweet touch of elastane — enough so that there’s some wiggle room for the pant to fit, but not so much that it’ll lose its shape entirely. My second thought? I’m obsessed that this pant is offered in a true petite length of 24″, which means it’s actually cropped for my 5’3″ frame. (The pant also comes in standard, tall, and plus in sizes 00 through 26W.)
Wearing the Colette IRL, I understand why this pant is such a cult fave. The fabric just kind of slinks down the leg which makes the pants move and take the form of the wearer’s gams, rather than trying to stubbornly maintain its own wide-legged silhouette like other pants do. “The pant has no side seam which is what helps give it an elevated look and great fit,” confirmed the Anthro rep. “Our linen is soft, breathable, and bouncy with the perfect amount of comfortable stretch. We wash it down so it has the right relaxed drape with a subtly sleek finish,” they added. “Not to mention being easy to care for, making it perfect for getaways and easy dressing.”
While I’ll be traipsing around town in the Colette Cropped Linen for the imminent warm weather, if you’re curious about the other best-selling Colette styles available, there’s the Colette Full Length, the Colette Ponte, and the original Colette Cropped — all at $120 a pair.
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