WOMEN’S Three-season
LADIES, WE’RE LOOKING AT LEGS. I’m betting yours are longer and leaner than mine, but the emails I receive asking for advice on which brands make shortlength trousers, indicate that I’m not alone in being vertically challenged. So, this test only includes pants available in multiple lengths because, let’s face it, not many of us are ‘standard’ (and I mean that in the nicest possible way!).
The ‘three season’ label demands versatility: these trousers should be wearable in warm and cool weather, possibly over thermal leggings to stretch into winter. All in this test are too warm if it’s properly hot, but if that happens we’re in capris or shorts anyway.
Length can be easily determined (unless they’re size graded), but fit is tougher. Brands give pointers with ‘slim’, ‘alpine’, ‘regular’ but the actual size blocks vary. Some pants in this test are UK 12, others 14, so unless you’re hand in glove with a brand it’s better to try on trousers before splashing the cash.
Features to look for include the rise (distance from crotch to waistband; low-rise pants are nasty to wear with a rucksack and I’ve avoided them in this test), low-volume waist closures, knee articulation, and panelling to curve over your backside. Also, pockets: testing trousers with open pockets brought home how useful it is to have secure storage, even if only small volume.
Most pants use stretch fabrics, in full or
