Which Should You Wear—Black Or White Dress Pants?

When you’re dressing to impress, it can seem like there are only a few options for us glamorous ladies. I’m thinking of dress pants, nice tops and some expensive dresses and pencil skirts. That’s about the extent of what is often deemed ‘acceptable’ in a corporate environment.

Employers expect a certain level of professionalism in an office wardrobe, which means you’ve got to leave those frills and thrills at home and save them for the bar outings on the weekends. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still look good in what you are allowed to wear.

Dresses are classic and easy paired with tights and a nice, smart heel. Pencil skirts paired with silky tops are about as fashionable as it gets, outlining your figure without showing off any skin.


Now, here comes the hard part. The dress pant may be the toughest of all to style well. Cue the nightmares of wrinkled, terribly pleated dress pants made with cheap materials. This fate doesn’t have to be yours; you just have to be smart about your choices.

When you’re shopping, there are certain questions to keep in mind. Should you get an especially cool color and cut or go with the classic style every boss knows and loves?

And even more overwhelming—should you choose black or white pants?

Here are the pros and cons of each to hopefully make the decision a little easier.

• Black
  

The classic black dress pants go with any color top and any type of shoe. This already seems like a good idea just based on tradition.

Black doesn’t get dirty quickly, so you won’t have to worry about running to the dry cleaners right after word. Instead, save those treks for the weekends.

Then, there’s what everyone loves—black makes you look slimmer. This isn’t just an old wives tale. Black really does manage to make those thighs seem thinner.

• White
  

Unfortunately, white starts out with a huge con. It’s easily stained by pretty much anything—perhaps a spilled coffee or just an unfortunately chosen seat with some dirt on it.

This can of course be fixed very simply by carrying around a tide-to-go pen. Keep it in your purse in case of a fashion emergency.

White also pairs well with any color, but it especially stands out beautifully among lighter shades like periwinkles and pinks.

The best part of choosing white dress pants is that it’s a bit more unique than the run-of-the-mill black. Everyone expects black and most people will in fact be wearing it, so pick something new!

Conclusion
Either way you go, you can’t lose! Black and white dress pants are both equally beautiful and will allow you to remain stylish even in a constricting dress code.

For a comfy office where you don’t do much running around, pick white to stand out among your co-workers. If there’s a risk of spilling coffee when you’re running to your next meeting, just pick black to be safe.

(Contributed by Bella)