It can be a mission to find the perfect pants. Here Jude Hathaway checks the latest looks.
Talk to anyone, large or small, who loves pants and they will tell you there is a style to fit every time of day or night, every workplace, every activity and every ''do''.
And, broadly speaking, they are right.
Pants are also extremely practical down here in the South, where winter puts out regular reminders of our close proximity to the Antarctic.
Take the more casual styles.
They're weekend wardrobe staples, whether worn to hang out the washing, lunch with a friend, heading to a play, a movie or a walk along the beach.
As well as jeans, skinny-leg pants and an increasing number of dressier ''trackies'', are other casual favourites.
The term ''dressier trackies'' does sound like an oxymoron but given their injection of glam style by many New Zealand and international star designers over the past two or three years, they're on their way up!
Pants, from jeans to leggings and leather varieties, play a particularly staunch role for those standing on the sideline of Saturday morning football and rugby games.
Accessorised with thermal socks, tucked into gumboots and teamed with the usual jerseys, jackets, hats and scarves, they will always outplay a skirt.
Any form of skirt is hard-pressed to protect against those flukey little breezes that whip around the nether regions.
On to the broad spectrum of dress pants that today range from straight and wider leg cuts, to various jodhpur, draped, drop-crotched, pleated, slouched and cropped styles, along with a number of takes on the harem.
Pants are a fabulous, ''go anywhere'' wardrobe staple that - if purchased wisely - will last for seasons without ever losing their fresh appeal.
They can be tweaked to bring out the wearer's individuality and figure shape or dressed up or down depending on the daily schedule.
And don't think tailored corporate classics are the only ones suitable for the workplace in today's freewheeling society.
Cropped, slouched and legging styles, if a good fit and accompanied by appropriate footwear and tops, will get the big tick.
Indeed the right footwear is imperative.
If the choice is shonky the look can be trashy or simply wrong.
For cropped pants worn during winter months, have boots that close the gap between the hemline and the foot to keep the cold at bay.
Go back to the brogues and ankle boots in the spring.
For those with larger figures, there are many options in tops.
These include long-line, well-fitted jackets and tunics.
Incidentally, the last European autumn fashion shows were also seeing a return to long-line dresses worn over dress pants, first seen in the late '90s and early noughties and strongly advocated by British celebrity stylists Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine.
And glamorous ultra-wide palazzo-style pants are also having a recall, many in the form of sleeveless jumpsuits, ideal for resort and evening wear.
Dunedin's Tanya Carlson, designer of the Carlson label and now based in Auckland, has been producing great pants within her seasonal ranges for women of all sizes, ages and lifestyles for almost two decades.
She is a marvel at it for three main reasons.
In the early days she custom-designed wedding gowns while establishing her label.
This brought the many shapes of women into sharp focus and her consequential substantial knowledge of the female form and its challenges.
Add to this Carlson's inherent love of fabric and classic tailoring.
''Good pants are all about the right cut and the right fabric,'' she pointed out last week when she was in Dunedin to launch her new summer range, which is a whimsical reflection of the fascinating world of American fashion writer and columnist the late Diana Vreeland.
It includes a relaxed harem style that follows her winter ''Beachcomber''.
But it is once again her classic, slightly masculine cut pants - which were favoured by Vreeland - that continue as the staples within the range.
''From season to season there are modifications in fabric and slight adjustments to cut such as leg shape and width or a slight lowering or lifting of the waistline. But I stick to a flat-front style and always keep the same line to the crotch. It is one that works for many figure shapes and sizes.''
Carlson pants, as with those produced by other top designers, often need adjusting, especially in length.
Alterations are often attended to by the retailer at a small extra cost, unless customers have the sewing skills to look after the work themselves.
It is a sound idea to check alteration procedures when trying on garments.
And, finding the right pants can take time because of the many shapes and styles now available and the varying price points.
But the time put in - as well as the amount of money spent - is worth it.
