Weekend Open Thread: Kut from the Kloth
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I saw some Reel yesterday that said that in order to update your Fall 2025 look for 2026, you should get rid of wide leg jeans and swap for straight leg… and I rolled my eyes. I feel like wide leg jeans are still really popular! But… I will say that wearing wide legs in winter can really suck, especially with corduroy. Last year I felt torn… I didn’t want to wear my skinny cords again, but my wider legs and botcuts were just a bit too close to the ground to make it through snow and slush unscathed.
So I’m excited to see these straight-leg cords from Kut from the Kloth. They’re affordable, they’re on trend as much as wide leg, and they’re practical for the season. They even come in petites — huzzah!
The cords are available in six colors, sizes 00-18 in regular and petites, for $89.
Psst: I was originally going to post these Spanx pants, which I thought looked really chic for sweatpants… but then I realized it’s not a stripe down the side, but a totally different color in the back. Thoughts?
Sales of note for 10/16
- Ann Taylor – 50% off + free shipping on everything!
- Brooklinen – Friends & Family – 20% off sitewide and 50% off select bundles
- J.Crew – Extra 50% off 3+ sale styles with code – includes lots of suiting, sweaters, and pants
- J.Crew Factory – Friends & Family, extra 15% off your purchase
- M.M.LaFleur – October Sale Event, best prices of the season (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom – 5840+ new markdowns for women, up to 40% off
- Talbots – Friends and family, 30% off your entire purchase
- Theory – End of season sale is on with extra savings (new prices are marked)
Straight leg is the worst. If long enough to not stump-ify, there’s not enough fabric to make a nice break across the front of the foot. If hemmed like the model’s, it doesn’t feel like enough difference in shape between leg and shoe to give me any dimension. And if shorter, it just looks like Urkel pants rather than intentional.
These just look too short to my eye. They need another inch or inch and a half on the model.
I agree, but the leg opening also looks too narrow to break nicely. This is my problem with ‘straight’ legs, they’re often too narrow at the bottom and turn into tapers over my thicker calves.
I feel like they are a good start for 2026. I’m just 5-4 and so many pants show my whole ankle. That’s fine in July for summer pants, but not for year-round work pants.
My hack for this is buying a Tall length for cropped pants, which is often the perfect inseam for flats for me :)
I honestly feel like no pant shape these days works well on me. I’m wearing sweats today though (WFH)! Win!
Style help please. The current trend of wide leg or barrel pants with a fitted waist flatter my lower body. My challenge is pairing them with the right top. I’m 5’4, about 135#, 34D, with a small waist and heavy thighs. Tucked in shirts (especially crew neck) make my torso look super short. Boxier or oversized shirts make me look a lot thicker than I really am. I don’t want to wear something tight on top that over-accentuates my boobs. I’m 57 and my wardrobe needs are mostly casual/elevated casual. Fitted sweaters are a good option, but looking for other ideas. Thanks for any suggestions!
How about a medium loose top with a half tuck in front? Not too long or oversized, perhaps something that hits an inch or two below your waistband so there is something to tuck, but not so much volume that it billows around you.
That could work! thanks!
This is such an unimportant question, but: what kind of bag/purse do you carry for your casual, everyday needs? I currently am using a knockoff Lulu belt bag…which is crazy to say. But I work from home and often leave the house without a need for a bag at all so now I’ve kept this one for a couple years and…it’s high time to upgrade.
What I want: something fairly casual (I do have cute clutches for dressier occasions, to be clear), on the small side, and ideally somewhat hands-free, though I understand that’s not quite the look these days. What the heck should I be looking at?! Please help. Even just telling me what your everyday bag is — even if it doesn’t align with my needs — would be helpful!
I have a small Madewell camera bag that I can wear crossbody or over my shoulder. It’s casual enough for weekend errands while still fine to be seen in my professional office.
I have a couple crossbody Coach camera bags (no logos).
I have a Lo & Sons Ayoama black nylon bag and it is really useful. I would love a more bougie bag, and have plenty of clutches, but can’t seem to motivate as the capacity doesn’t ever seem quite right (or the pocketing) and mistakes can be expensive :(
It does not fit your criteria at all but I do like it a lot – all year I’ve been carrying a Portland Leather Sloan Doctor Bag in Forest Green / Oversized. I just used the handles, I think a bag like that looks weird on me when using the crossbody strap. The forest green is really pretty.
Before this I carried the Portland Leather Circle Crossbody (nutmeg/small) for a couple of years and liked that. It’s hands-free since it’s a crossbody.
When I want a lighter weight bag, I have the Athleta Diem Crossbody bag that I really like. It fits a decent amount and isn’t as ubiquitous as the belt bag. It sits a lot lower on me than it does on the model on the Athleta site right now.
right now I’ve got a See by Chloe bag – I think the Joan? burgundy, crossbody with a shorter strap, really love it. I live in a car culture now so bags matter so little these days, everything lives in the car unless I want points for status or style or something.
I use a midrange leather crossbody. 95% of my life is on foot or bike and shoulder bags, while trendier, just annoy me since I can’t use them one-handed.
Fall weather has arrived! Craving soup big time. What’s your favorite soup recipe?
I’ll share my top two –
Pinch of Yum – Sarah’s White Chicken Chili
NYT Cooking – Vegetable Soup By Lidey Heuck
Gift Link: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024427-vegetable-soup?unlocked_article_code=1.JFE.WZLj.1iVatXK_j0ep&smid=share-url
I went to college back in Ye Olden Days. Some friends have kids in college now. It seems to me, very outside looking in, but also reading the newspapers still, that there are largely two flavors of students now at 4-year schools (of the sort where kids who start stay to completion and finish in 4 years, which is a distinct subset of all colleges), where a bunch are all-business: studying, very career-minded, maybe some fun on a Friday night or Saturday, or very hard-core partying throughout the week, with not a lot in between. Did something fundamentally shift during COVID? Or is how expensive college now making people mindful of the future? It just feels very different now, like they are all anxious young people when they come home to visit (and then a topic of conversation by the parents after the kids go back from fall break).