If These 12 Looks Don't Persuade You to Try a Dress Over Pants, Nothing Will

After skinny jeans, trousers in the exact same color and fabric as your dress have got to be the easiest bottom-half option. 

Slightly less easy but extra intriguing are black bell-bottoms. These aren't your work slacks, but they do fit close to the hip and thigh, which does help eliminate bulkiness until the knee, when BAM—disco mermaid. 

Or embrace your extra-ness (extremity?) with cha-cha pants. (Would also work under a simpler LBD.)  

Now we move into our blue period, beginning with these cropped, body-con trousers, in the same leather as the cutout frock. Definitely the most doable of the silhouettes, which leaves room for playing around with color. 

Looser than some politicians' interpretation of the truth, but the cinched waist keeps your shape long and ladylike. A single color and heels help too.

No waist here, but the tucked-in pant hems imply you have ankles, while the blazer provides a bit of structure. 

Another great color combo: black, white, and red. Classic.

For a different pairing, try a dress that toes the line between "can only wear with the opaquest of tights" and "definitely getting sent to the principal's office." In any case, this looks best as a matching set. 

Ditto.

It helps immensely if your dress is actually a coat and you stick to neutrals. More elegant than most of us can ever hope to be. 

And when it returns to winter, a good trick to remember is layering pants in a complementary color under a dress you'd wear on its own if you had a death wish or a chauffeur. Bonus points if these are party pants, AKA fringed, pom-pom-ed, or otherwise embellished. 

Ruffles too, as seen in this cool cool cool evening look.