The Busy Girl’s Guide to Paperbag Trousers

Hi! Hello! Happy Friday! Welcome to the first ‘The Busy Girl’s Guide To…’, a series that I’ll be uploading every Friday and that will be pulling together the best picks of the internet for a certain trend or item, so you can spend your time drinking mojitos instead of scouring the web.

‘The Busy Girl’s Guide To…’ (or TBGGT, as it will now be known), was born out of a number of motivations. I’ve wanted a regular feature on the blog for a while, but I haven’t been able to pin down one that I felt would be relatively easy to keep up (i.e. not a deeply personal revelation because not every week holds a deeply person revelation), or one that I felt wouldn’t be too repetitive (such as a weekly haul, perhaps).

When I started blogging, the content was all about the outfit. Admittedly, it wasn’t particularly engaging (there are only so many times you can reword ‘I love these jeans’ before the reader wants to gauge their eyes out), but it was very fashion focused and I know I’ve moved away from this somewhat. TBGGT is a way of rekindling that love of fashion  for fashion’s sake, as well as giving me an excuse to shop, highlight old staples, try new things and have fun. And hey, hopefully it will be useful for you guys too.

So, we’re kicking off in our founding week with The Busy Girl’s Guide to Paperbag Trousers. I’ve been a fan of paperbag trousers since the start of my relationship with tailoring began. I’m a sucker for a high waist and relaxed fit, and I’ve always found this cut of trews to look so effortlessly chic (I feel incredibly pretentious and ~ fashurn ~ using that phrase, but still).

I picked this pair up from the Zara website, but really, Mango seems to be the holy grail of tie-waist trousers right now. From the neutral, khaki-esque pair I’m sporting here to jazzy stripes and white-washed numbers that would be perfect for your summer holidays (or, you know, drinking a cheap glass of rosé in the garden like I’ll be doing), there’s plenty of choice to either cater to your personal style or push you out of your comfort zone.

Personal preference for a trouser of this style is something fairly neutral – think natural tones in crisp fabrics or stripes in gentler linen numbers. However, you could easily take this cut to a sartorial sasspot level by opting for a print or brighter colour. At the chilled end of the styling option scale we have the choice of a loose shirt, pared back hair and statement earrings (hmm, where have I seen that before?), and for an evening look, whack on an asymmetrical bodysuit and a pair of beautiful-but-inevitably-uncomfortable heels and you’re ready to go (to the bar).

And in the spirit of all things TBGGT, I have, of course, done the web scouring for you. Shop all of the high street’s best paperbag trousers below, and if you do score any for yourself, make sure to tag me in photos or pop me a sneaky tweet @chloeplumstead. Until next time you lovely lot x