The comfy trousers a stranger wore that I had to ask about
At 62, I found trousers that feel like my pyjamas and still look smart
Six things the Miranne gets right that comfortable trousers get wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and somewhere in the last few years my waistbands and I stopped getting along. So this is not a review. It is a woman who had resigned herself to choosing between being comfortable and looking put together, saying she was wrong.
The ones I am writing about are called the Miranne, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I first saw them on a friend at a garden lunch, cool and comfortable and yet perfectly smart, and when the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
Elastic-waisted trousers, at my age. I know. I thought that meant giving in, the beginning of the end, trousers that may as well be pyjamas. Then I put them on, and they did not look like that in the slightest. Read on.
Here is what a lifetime of waistbands taught me. Comfortable trousers come in two piles. The comfy pile, the elasticated jersey and the joggers, which are soft and lovely and make you look like you have given up on the day. And the smart pile, the proper trousers and the jeans with the hard waistband that digs a red line into your middle and has to be undone before pudding. I had decided you could be comfortable or you could look nice, but never in the same pair of trousers.
Comfy and given-up, or smart and holding my breath. Those were my two piles, and I was tired of both.
The Miranne is the first pair I have owned that is neither, and having practically lived in them, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning they arrived. Folded on the bed, and I could hardly believe the price on the tag.
THE WAIST IS ELASTIC, BUT IT DOES NOT LOOK IT
There is a soft elastic waist with a drawstring you tie in a little bow, so it gives where you need it to and never digs in or leaves a red mark. But it sits under a proper waistband and a smart trouser leg, so it does not look elasticated at all. You get the comfort of your pyjamas and the look of a proper pair of trousers, which I had frankly stopped believing was possible.
A soft elastic drawstring waist. All the give, none of the digging in.
The elastic waist means no digging in and no button to undo after lunch, and yet they look smart. Bliss.
Christine B., West BridgfordCOMFORTABLE, WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE YOU HAVE GIVEN UP
They are a soft linen sort of fabric with a relaxed leg, so they hang like a proper trouser rather than clinging or sagging. I can wear them to the shops, to a lunch, or to look after the grandchildren, and I look like I have made an effort even on the days I have not. That is the whole trick of them.
So comfortable but they look like proper trousers, not loungewear. I get compliments and I am secretly in comfies.
Margaret E., SouthwellTHEY HAVE REAL POCKETS
Proper side pockets, deep enough to be useful. My phone goes in one and my glasses in the other, and I have stopped carrying a bag round the house and the garden. A small thing, until you have it, and then every trouser without pockets is a quiet disappointment.
Real side pockets. Phone in one, glasses in the other.
Actual pockets that hold my phone. I did not realise how much I needed that until I had it.
Dorothy S., BeestonLIGHT AND COOL FOR WARM DAYS
They are light and breathable, the sort of fabric that does not stick to you when it is warm. I have worn them right through the summer and my legs have been cool and comfortable, which is more than I could say for my old trousers, which I peeled off at the first sign of sun.
Light and cool in the heat. I have lived in them all summer and never once felt sticky or too hot.
Pauline H., ArnoldTHE CROPPED LENGTH IS EASY AND FLATTERING
They come cropped with a soft rolled turn-up that sits just below the knee, or lower at the calf if you unroll them, so there is no hemming and no fabric pooling round your ankles. The length is easy with sandals or a pair of white trainers, and it happens to hit at a flattering point on the leg. On me, at least, and I am fussy.
The cropped length is so easy with sandals or trainers, and no need to take them up. Just right.
Eileen T., NewarkFIVE COLOURS, AND THEY GO WITH EVERYTHING
They come in five colours, and every one of them goes with the tops I already own. I wear mine with a white shirt for smart and a striped tee for the shops. The sizing runs from a small to a 3XL, and as they are doing two pairs for £37.95 at the moment, I could not choose just the one, so I had the beige and the black and have not regretted it for a second.
Over the chair with a shirt, ready for whatever the day turns out to be.
I have the beige and the black and I reach for them constantly. They go with absolutely everything.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Miranne, against the trousers you have been putting up with
You can find comfortable trousers for twenty-odd pounds almost anywhere. I know, I have a drawer of them, comfortable and dull. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Elasticated, and they look it
Or smart, and they dig in
No give after lunch
No pockets worth the name
Comfortable or presentable, never both
Elastic drawstring that never digs in
Relaxed, but looks like a proper trouser
Real side pockets
Light and cool for warm days
Five colours, UK sizes S to 3XL
About the price
The Miranne is £24.95 a pair at the moment, or any two pairs for £37.95, whatever colours you like. It was £50.00 a pair.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that they are clearing the summer stock as the season turns, and once it has gone it is gone until next year. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and I have found nothing wrong with these.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Cropped, with a soft turn-up. Easy with sandals or trainers, and no hemming.
If you have made the same weary peace with either comfortable or presentable that I had, and you would rather like both at once, these are the trousers I would put in your hands myself, while your sizes are still there. Pick your two colours and go and have a look.
Caroline
MIRANNE | COMFORTABLE TROUSERS
- Soft elastic drawstring waist that never digs in
- Relaxed fit that still looks smart, not like comfies
- Real side pockets
- Light, breathable fabric, cool on warm days
- Cropped with a soft turn-up hem, no hemming
- Five colours, UK sizes S to 3XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Summer stock clearing now — the middle sizes go first.