Harem Pants: Love Or Loathe?


Every so often a trend will come along that will divide the fashion community in two- the lovers and the loathers. This season, that trend is undeniably harem pants (AKA MC Hammer pants). We saw harem pants- best described as a hybrid between a skirt and cigarette pants- saunter down the runways of some of the biggest trend-makers, like Chloe and Alexander McQueen. Some fashion sites and magazines will encourage you to go out and rock them while others have been advising strongly against it. We wanna know what YOU think though, so share your thoughts!

Written by Sabrina Alexis

I’m Sabrina Alexis, the co-founder, and co-editor of A New Mode. I love writing relatable, insightful articles that help people understand relationship dynamics and how to get the love they want. I have a degree in psychology and have spent the last 10 years interviewing countless men and reading and studying as much as I can to better understand human psychology and how men operate. If you want to get in touch with me, hit me up on Facebook or Instagram.

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Kayfabe

I adore harem pants but I buy mine from a website in Thailand where they are made right and I do wear the drop crotch kind but the ones I wear have huge legs also and are created for very short people. I am 5’1. I don’t care about what is the ” new fashion” or ” in” I care abt what I live and want to wear. I will wear real Thai yoga harem pants with my leather jacket and combat boots and feel completely confident doing so because I am me, not you. Also I pay only $29 per pair, so where are these $1999 pants you speak of?? I have never even seen a pair of harem pants for $2000, I am a real person with bills and rent. I am also a little plus sized and these pants look just fine on me. People compliment them often. I am also not way young, I am 41 and wear what the heck I want. I am also someone who despises jeans and has never worn them in all my adult life, I think I wore some at age 15 and said NO MORE too uncomfortable.

Reply August 6, 2017, 1:29 pm

mjq

all yall wearing those things look like you got droopy draws smh

Reply November 9, 2013, 5:03 pm

Erinn

OMG, I love Harem pants so much! And people saying that they’re just a rip-off, I got a pair for £6 and theyre perfectly fine, They’re not the super baggy ones just ones that are a little bit baggy, but theyre so nice (:

Reply April 25, 2011, 5:46 pm

dye

true that this might not work on everyone’s taste. In my opinion this matters to which body shape you have. Also what “type” of harem pants you’ve seen. There are the traditional one which is much better (and normal looking) than the weird pouch looking one. Some people look good in them especially the people with no hips but it wouldn’t look good to add an additional hip to yourself!

Reply March 17, 2011, 11:18 pm

rho

Well I don’t have a degree but I have to tell you that the above argument is ridiculous.
Oh and Harem pants look Fantastic, if you have a good figure …. Brianne I’m guessing you don’t!

Reply December 12, 2010, 1:54 pm

Annonymous

Ohmygosh! Harems are just the bomb! :D

Reply August 29, 2010, 7:39 am

Brianne

Shaks, I understand how typing on a Blackberry can be challenging. I have to type my messages on my iPhone, so I know. What I don’t understand is how using the Blackberry prevents you from articulating coherent thoughts, sentences or arguments.

As for you having a business degree… um… congratulations I guess. Were you looking for praise or something?

I have a Law degree, which is why I am able to tear your dumb arguments to shreds and expose you for the fraud that you are. Again you are embarrassing yourself girl.

You know that you are wrong about harem pants being a good fashion choice, so you are trying to bring up non sequiturs to make it seem like you are an authority on fashion.

Money doesn’t mean you have good taste in fashion. A business degree doesn’t mean you have good taste in fashion. Speaking English as a third language doesn’t mean you have good taste in fashion. And buying harem pants guarantees that you do not have good taste in fashion.

Have fun walking around in your dumb $2000 harem pants while everyone laughs at you behind your back. You’ll remember this 10 years from now when you look back at a picture of yourself and think, “My god, look at those awful harem pants. What was I thinking?!?!” (ROFL)

Say hi to Yves Saint Laurent and MC Hammer for me, k?

Reply September 28, 2009, 11:24 am

shiny

I would never wear harem pants. Some people look good in them. People who look good in them look amazing, they look bold and confident. People who look bad in them look stupid. That’s just not a risk I’m willing to take. Bubble skirts are similar: very few styles of them looked good, and even those few styles only looked good on a few people and WAY too many people wore them. If people would only stick to wearing what looks good on them this would be a better world.

Reply September 26, 2009, 10:10 pm

shaks!

**point less discussion

Reply September 26, 2009, 6:06 pm

Brianne

Shaks, you are so much fun!!!! You remind me of a pouting child who doesn’t know how foolish she sounds.

It is adorable, but you are embarassing yourself.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to look like Princess Jasmine from Aladdin. When I was a child, I wanted to look like her too.

You are trying (desperately) to make it sound like I don’t know what I am talking about because I can’t afford good fashion. But anyone with half a brain knows that you don’t need to purchase high-fashion to see whether or not a fashion looks stupid. Fashion is an image and not a pricetag, silly.

But let me make sure I understand your argument. You are saying that because you can “afford good fashion” and you can spend $2000 on harem pants, I must not have “high taste” and therefore I’m wrong and you “feel sorry for me.”

And then (in an ultimate irony) you tell me that **I** have a bad attitude and I’m not going to get far with it.

Missy, you need to take a long hard look in the mirror (clown pants and all) and really think about how you are coming across.

Ciao bella!

Reply September 25, 2009, 2:57 pm

Miss E

Shaks! Do you realize how ignorant you sound? Clearly money can’t buy class which you are lacking with your terrible grammar. It is really embarrassing and understanding why you enjoy harem pants. Why don’t you take your next $2000 “investment” and invest it on something that really matters, like a class to teach proper writing skills. Then maybe more people would take you seriously or listen to you when you’re trying to get your point across.

Reply September 25, 2009, 12:13 pm

shaks!

Wow. U really r something….. I never knew such ppl like u exsisted… I’m sorry that u don’t have high tast, its not ur falut that u can’t afford good fashion. I actually feel sorry for u… Well hope u make it with that charming attitude of your… Cuz from where I see it, ur not going anywhere anytime soon..

Reply September 25, 2009, 11:04 am

Brianne

Darling,

You are too much! How can I not love you?!

The reason every designer is making stupid harem pants is because they want to sell them to people who, how can I say this politely, have a lot of money but have no taste or fashion sense.

I am going to educate you. In order for the fashion industry to make money, they need to come up with totally new fashions that don’t look like the previously popular fashions. That way, what used to be popular now looks dated and everyone has to buy the brand new thing in order to keep up.

Just because designers are trying to push these dumb looking pants does not mean that we, the consumer, need to like them at all. And the statistics speak for themselves – two-thirds of the voters HATE harem pants. They LOATHE them, despite the fact that the greedy fashion industry is trying to shove them down our throats.

I am not surprised that YSL is a personal friend of yours. If I were a fashion designer and I met someone dumb enough to spend $2000 on harem pants (hahahaha ROFL!!!), I would be their friend too!

As they say, money can’t buy taste. Keep reading your Vogue and buying what the industry tells you to spend money on. You can’t explain color to a blind person and you can’t explain taste to a person who clearly lacks it. Just keep letting people who want your money to tell you what’s fashionable.

Reply September 24, 2009, 11:36 am

shaks!

Ok,
Listen up hun, I’m sorry that ur, how can I stay this politely, too blind, to see that every disiner everywhere from YSL, who’s actually a personal friend, to ralph lauren to cheaper disiners like top shop and zara, are making these pants the seasons must have, u know why the call it a must have? Cuz, u must have it! Go grab urself a vogue, and read it before u post a reply, ok?

Reply September 24, 2009, 6:26 am

Brianne

Umm… the mullet was once “in”, but that doesn’t mean that style was ever a good idea. And I don’t know what people are doing in Kuwait, but I am not surprised that harem pants would be a hit in the Middle East – that’s where these things were invented.

As for paying $2000 for them, investment wouldn’t be a word I would use to describe your purchasing decision.

Reply September 24, 2009, 1:24 am

shaks!

u people r kidding right?
these are the hottest pants ever!! they are wayyyy in , and every on here in Kuwait is in love love love with them!!! i just got a pair from Ralph Lauren for like 1,998$!! what an investment!! they are good for casual to dress wear, they,personally are a MUST HAVE!!!

Reply September 23, 2009, 5:32 pm

Chillax25

The super slouchy harem pant is hard to pull off. http://www.Shopmasons.com carries a high waisted harem trouser. It’s more tailored and I think it would be much easier for ‘normal’ people to wear.

Reply July 28, 2009, 1:33 pm

Kim

I agree with Kitty. And these pants only work on runway models, I don’t try to add baggage near my hips. I want them to look slimmer, not bigger.

Reply July 9, 2009, 9:52 pm

Kitty

I saw a girl wearing harem pants and I felt bad for her. You could tell she thought she looked like a runway model. Meanwhile everyone else thought she pooped her pants.

Reply July 8, 2009, 10:19 pm

Heidi/Closet Coach

Loathe! As Reco on “The Fashion Show” so eloquently put it, “‘Harem pants’ is couture for ‘Hammer pants.'”

Reply July 4, 2009, 6:26 pm

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