My grandmother had very few fashion rules. One of them was "blue and green should never be seen" and the other one, which she quoted more frequently, was "never wear white after Labor Day." The first time I saw a pair of winter white pants, I realized that perhaps Granny was a tad old-fashioned. Winter white suits and coats are classic fashions for long after Labor Day has come and gone.
In the conflict between obeying Granny, who after all was a dressmaker par excellence, and following the anti-fashion culture that kicked in somewhere around the Summer of Love, my compromise was to admit that white purses really don't look all that great in the fall and winter. But guess what? White pants do. Okay there is another compromise factored in here - pants in winter should not be too lightweight. Light cotton pants in January have a kind of classic look - they look kind of fabulous.
Not only do these pants look good - especially in the winter when they have that wonderful side effect of brightening your mood, your look, and the overcast days - they are completely flexible. White pants go with everything. You can get dressed in the dark when you wear white because it does not matter what top you yank off the hanger. Even the wildest patterned top will benefit from being paired with white pants.
One of the best choices I made was buying a great pair of white jeans. The fabric is great regardless of the season and jeans have a classic look. You can dress them up or down. Wear them with a sweater and you have one look, wear them with a blouse and jacket and you have another look.
There are a couple of caveats to selecting white pants. As mentioned, you have to be careful about the weight of the fabric in the middle of the winter so either get a summer and winter pair at the very minimum or a year-round fabric like denim. There is something interesting about these pants and that is that they look good on just about any body type. Just concentrate on getting the right size. As with all other types of clothing, if you get something much bigger, then you will also look bigger, but if you get something too small, it will just not look right. Keep that in mind as a general rule.
