I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty warm right now. As I type, I’m hiding away from the heatwave and trying to remain cool with all the curtains shut and windows open. Of course, as a fashion editor, I’ve spent a lot of time considering the ideal kind of outfit to wear in hot weather that doesn’t just consist of sitting around in my pants. I might still be working from home, but I do have standards. While dresses are great and all that, and absolutely should be kept in your heatwave-dressing arsenal, I think there’s one item that you don’t want to overlook when it’s warm: linen trousers and, in particular, wide-leg linen trousers. This garment is great for keeping you cool thanks to the breathable material, but the loose style also helps to circulate air (goodbye, thigh-chafing). Interestingly enough, linen has been worn for thousands of years, dating back to Ancient Egyptian times.
While we probably won’t be drawing style inspiration from thousands of years ago, look to a more recent time, and you’ll see that the wide-leg linen-trouser style hasn’t changed much. Plenty of people have worn the trousers over the years—both men and women—and they remain consistently chic. There are nearly always some kind of white or cream linen trousers available from designers or the high street every spring, but fast-forward to 2021, and there are a few details that have brought these trousers well up to date.
