In the midst of moving, a box from Banana Republic arrived and I couldn’t wait to play with the contents once I could safely wear something other than my dirty moving/cleaning attire. I always look forward to the Banana Republic Mad Men collections because the retailer has a little fun and gets a little cheeky. This time around it’s mod ’60s prints and silhouettes, my favorite of which is these gingham crop pants.
Did you know that famous French actress Brigitte Bardot is responsible for making gingham chic? She got married in a pink and white gingham wedding dress in 1959. Europe lost their minds over Brigitte’s choice, making gingham fashionable and a staple of the next wave of fashion…1960s mod. Gingham went from Americana-country-wholesome in the ’40s and ’50s (think Dorothy skipping down the yellow brick road in a blue gingham dress) to insanely chic in the ’60s (Audrey Hepburn wore gingham capri pants and Jacqueline Kennedy was photographed in a gingham shift dress). Gingham is having another renaissance of sorts in today’s “nouveau prep” thanks to retailers like J.Crew, which made this print a good choice for me.
Funny how things come back around isn’t it? In the ’60s, Audrey Hepburn was very chic in her gingham crop pants…and here we are again, not only wearing crop pants, but also gingham!
The crisp fabric is going to be great for summer, and I can’t wait to wear these with a simple, rolled-sleeve white blouse when the weather warms up enough to run around jacket-less. These pants are machine washable, and as I found, prone to shrinking in the dryer, so if you find the fit to be good off the rack, you may want to avoid putting these in the dryer after washing. I ended up washing and drying these which made the waist and hip a better fit. I also wanted a sleek, fitted silhouette, so I had the thighs and legs slimmed at the tailor for about $18.
Outfit details – Zara TRF jacket :: Banana Republic shirt :: Banana Republic pants (c/o) :: J.Crew belt :: Manolo Blahnik shoes (similar from J.Crew) :: Chanel handbag :: Stella & Dot bracelet (c/o)
Altered – Banana Republic pants have been slimmed :: Manolo Blahnik shoes have ball of foot and heel pads added
Love this! Those pants are fantastic.
The ginghams look great & I like your shoes!
This is soo your look…. you killed it! Love it!
Wow, I didn’t know all those little fun facts about gingham in fashion! I love those pants on you!
I love the fun and fashion history facts you mentioned in this post. Love the monochromatic look of the outfit with the shades of blue.
I love the walking photo :). And what fun pants!
these look perfect on you! what huge difference that $18 alteration made. i missed it, where are you moving?
hi! Perfect tailoring, for sure. Fashion is cyclical, it all comes back again…except of course maybe those neon metal slap bracelets from my childhood, lol. I like how you mixed blue w/ the black handbag!
http://www.thefashionableesq.blogspot.com/
I love this jacket! Blue on blue on blue totally works for you, lady! xo
really amazing outfit!!! i used to think gingham was a trend of the past that has now just recently enjoyed a comeback, but when i raided my mom’s closet (for the purposes of spring cleaning, of course), we found a lot of liz claiborne gingham pants and shorts that she wore in the early 90’s. looks like it’s a classic print that makes an appearance in every decade!
Those pants look amazing with those shoes. Just the right amount of pop to go from picnic to happy hour.
http://soworkweekchic.blogspot.com/