Womens Work Pants: How to Fit Them to Flatter

Finding womens work pants is challenging at any age. Finding womens trousers that fit the post-50 figure adds another twist to the search.

Let’s look at how slacks should fit no matter what type of womens trousers you want, from black dress slacks to more causual styles.

Long Lean Silhouette Flatters Most Figures

The ideal womens pants create the illusion of an elongated, vertical silhouette.

Anything that breaks the smooth movement of the eye from waist to ankles – such as horizontally placed pockets on the derriere -- draws the eye across the widest part of our bodies.

Avoid plaid, especially if there is a bright or dark horizontal line. This will emphasize your thighs.

The same goes for stripes. Any print will call attention to your bottom. That's fine if it is what you want. If not, stick to solid colors.

What Pleated Front Womens Trousers Can Do For You

A classic pleated front helps conceal a slight tummy.

Elastic sliders on the waist may allow up to four inches of give. Look for this feature or elastic at the back. I made sure some custom-made dress pants included this useful feature. When you invest in a wardrobe staple, such as black dress slacks, you want to make sure they will fit well into the future.

This cleverly-hidden use of elastic ensures a perfect, comfortable, and adjustable fit for you.

What to Do About Waistlines

Many women's dress slacks today are slung low beneath the belly button. I’m not sure this look flatters anyone, even the young and exquisitely toned.

Hip-huggers may not be age appropriate, unless you've been working out. Good riddance; low-slung slacks were never comfortable.

Low-slung slacks are not appropriate for business wear, no matter how many catalogs and TV shows depict women wearing them in business surroundings.

Stretch Panels and Stretch Fabrics Create Long, Lean Lines

More women's work pants are featuring a slimming panel of spandex or some other stretch fabric.

This invisible shaping creates a long, lean waist-to-ankle line.

A touch of spandex in any fabric is a modern miracle. The extra give adds comfort and protects against wrinkles in your womens trousers, black dress slacks, or even your everyday denims. This blend is machine washable, too.

We often regard womens work pants as freedom from the bondage of wearing pantyhose -- so you'll have to see if these stretch panels cause another kind of discomfort to avoid.

It's no surprise that Laurence Benhaim's Pants shows how women have long used trousers as a symbol of their freedom and independence.