When the PureWow Slack channel lights up with staffers posting about new discoveries and classic beloved styles, it’s an add to cart moment. So when a cross-section of editors chimed in about a particular pair of pants I wasn’t familiar with, the Anthropolgie Colette. I wondered if I had missed a gem right under my nose. Our pants-loving editor-in-chief wore it to PureWow’s New York City office with heels. Our commerce editor wore it on Santa Monica beach strolls with her pup. Both women, like me, are shorties. What was this magical traveling pant in our sisterhood?
I asked Anthropologie honcho Samantha Murphy (her title is “Senior Buyer, Bottoms” which sounds kind of sexy, right?) for the scoop. She said the store began selling the Colette in 2020, officially naming them in 2021. “The Colette pant is our rave-reviewed silhouette with a high-rise waist that hugs your curves and gradually flows into a crop-wide cut,” she says. “It combines a tailored fit with a touch of retro-inspired flare.” She said the pants are refreshed every season, in new colorways, fabrics and silhouettes, and are offered in Standard, Petite, Tall and Plus sizing. Not only that, but new seasonal styles are designed by taking into account customer feedback. I wonder if that’s part of the staying power of this versatile style, which has since branched out into skirts, shorts and jumpsuits. The through line in all the pieces are what Murphy emphasizes are a “distinctive high-rise and crop-wide flare that our customers have grown to love.”
But come on—really? Anthropologie turned an anthleisure-loving nation into women who clamor to actually wear a zippered and button waistband? Even us petites, who know on a cellular level that most store-bought trousers that aren’t sweatpants will require annoying trips to the tailor or de regeur pairing with heels. I needed convincing. So I purchased a pair. Here’s my review, along with two of my colleagues’.
