Fashion Is Trying to Make the Stirrup Pant Happen Again, Because Once Was Apparently Not Enough

What a time to be alive.

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Red stirrup pants and pink high heels.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the course of human civilization, 2016 will go down as the year the world went topsy-turvy—mostly because of politics, but also a little because of the pants.

You see, women known for how they dress (Gilda Ambrosio, Caroline Issa, Giorgia Tordini, etc.) have been stepping out during the international Fashion Weeks wearing none other than trousers with elastic bands stitched to the hems that go around your foot so they stay in place while you do Jane Fonda aerobics or whatever. In other words, they are trying to make that '80s relic, the stirrup pant, happen again—but actually making quite a convincing case for them??? IDK anymore.

(In this one, note the fashion-editor battle going on in the comments section.)

Frightful? Or Fashun? With these throwbacks, it's always helpful to be young enough to have been a fetus when people were doing it un-ironically—the better to avoid being influenced by memory —or disciplined enough to wipe your hard drive clean of crunchy perms and leg warmers. No matter your age, though, it might be in your best interest to pair the stirrup pant with the most modern pieces you own: shirts with sleeves big enough to house a 14-month-old child each. Anything sheer. An oversize denim jacket, like so:

No, wait. Oh no.

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Chelsea Peng
Assistant Editor

Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at Marie Claire. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.