Puddle Pants
Puddle pants are cute, yet they are anything but practical. As it drips down outside, we drag our way-too-oversized jeans through puddles - and that’s exactly why they’re cool. There’s just something about impractical fashion that just speaks to us. From puddle pants to restrictive corsets and hoop skirts, how different are they, really?
Isabel Marant Spring-Summer 2023 Fashion Show, courtesy of Victor VIRGILE/Getty Images. Available via Vogue France © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
As the weather worsens, the jeans get longer. And why don’t they get so long that we end up dragging them through rain-soaked streets? Actually, I’m joking - the jeans didn’t get longer in response to the weather. For a hot minute now, extremely baggy, extremely long jeans have been in style. Personally, I love them; I think they’re cool. But as the weather happens to worsen, little is being done about these extremely lengthy jeans. Instead, we drag them through puddles of rain, mud-covered tracks, even snow. We embrace their impracticality because, at the end of the day, that’s what makes them so insanely cool. And while we’re loving puddle pants right now, there’s an ocean of impractical fashion to dive into. Our past is filled with clothes that were restrictive or downright hindrances to us. Yet, we love them. Because what is fashion if not something that’s truly worth the impracticality?
So, about these puddle pants. If you find yourself needing a little snappy explanation of what they actually are, fear not - your wishes have been answered. Puddle pants is a relatively new term, coined in connection with the rise of increasingly baggy pants. As skinny jeans were kicked out of the picture, baggy jeans entered the scene - perhaps the baggiest we’ve seen yet. (Except for you, Channing Tatum - the world will never forget how you managed to dance in those jeans) Now, jeans are so long that some of them actually cover the very heel of the shoe, protecting the shoe from even touching the pavement. Others simply skim the surface of the road. To whatever extent we take them, these are our beloved puddle pants. And these pants do not fear any weather. Rather than pulling them up or finding practical solutions, we turn a blind eye and drag them through whatever rough weather comes our way. Because why not? It’s this universally beloved aspect of impracticality we’re talking about. Why should fashion be practical when it could be impractical?
Now that we’re on the topic of impractical fashion choices, let’s not pretend puddle pants stand alone - they absolutely don’t. Right, we all remember the iconic scene from Pirates of the Caribbean where Elizabeth Swann falls into the water, unable to breathe because of her tight corset. Whether fact or fiction, this scene perfectly captures the restrictive nature of corsets. So tight they leave little room for movement - or even air - they’re one of the more extreme examples of impractical fashion throughout history. And speaking of that era, remember the big, white wigs they used to wear? Elaborate and (at the time) considered beautiful, they were itchy and a delightful playground for lice in an age when hygiene was still a tricky subject. Then came something slightly more elegant: wide hoop skirts. These hoop skirts, also known as farthingales or panniers, were worn under dresses to create dramatic silhouettes. Early on, they were constructed from wood, later replaced with steel or metal, and covered in fabrics like linen or cotton. Needless to say, these hoops severely restricted movement. Imagine trying to sit down gracefully while enclosed in a wooden structure or even attempting to pass through doorways. With many more examples like these, we’re merely scratching the surface of impractical fashion. Remember the dramatic bell sleeves of the 1970s or the extremely low-rise jeans of the 2000s - truly, anything but practical.
So, how come we love impractical fashion so much? Practically every decade has at least one iconic impractical fashion statement, if not several. And they’re always some of the most popular items. What is it about restrictive clothing that fascinates us? Intriguingly, the reasons seem to have evolved over time. Once a display of wealth and status, impractical fashion has since become a symbol of individuality and bold trendsetting. Nowadays, we don’t drag our pants through puddles to signal, “Don’t worry, I can afford more pants” Instead, it’s about self-expression, staying up-to-date with trends, and showcasing our identities. In our modern time, fashion is a tool of expression, and we use it as such. Fashion is worth the inconvenience because it’s art - it was never meant to be purely practical. Clothes might have been designed for practicality, but fashion never was. Fashion doesn’t restrict how we choose to present ourselves; instead, it embraces even our wildest ideas. Fashion is art, and as we decorate ourselves with this art, we discover why impracticality isn’t just worth the hassle - it’s a fundamental part of what makes fashion so captivating. Or what do you think?
