Here’s How to Wear Skirts Over Pants—5 Outfits Inspired by Copenhagen Fashion Week Looks

2 min read

When you’re getting dressed on a fall morning, you typically make a choice: Do I wear shorts or pants? Emphasis on typically because in August at Copenhagen’s SS27 Fashion Week, attendees forwent choosing between the two bottoms, and instead decided to wear both.

Copenhagen’s street style had layers. Literally. Adding skirts atop pairs of trousers, showgoers turned a polarizing faux pas into a high-fashion ensemble. What had run a popular circuit in the 2000s on Disney Channel (Ashley Tisdale and Miley Cyrus were forerunners in the trend) has now made its way to fashion’s finest runways. Dries Van Noten was one of the first to bring the style back in the folds of its mainline collections, debuting a printed rendition of a hybrid skirt-pant bottom. TWP, Collina Strada, Chloé, Proenza Schouler—the maisons adopted the layered look for their shows as well.

Ready to catch the skirt-over-pants trend in action? Check out our edit of the five best looks from Copenhagen Fashion Week—and our breakdown of how you can recreate them.

Polished professional

This monochrome moment blends a businesslike sophistication with a streetwear edge, creating a poised look that can transition from the office to an elegant dinner. Contrast a lacy black midi skirt layered atop a wool set for playful texturizing.

Pretty in pink

For understated glamour, juxtapose powder pink with demure black leather. Mastering the art of the skirt-pant outfit is also about manipulating proportions; here, a cropped cape and flared skirt is a sleek, form-flattering pairing, and the pants elongate the figure.

Double denim

The Canadian tuxedo takes a modish turn. Choosing to overlay an intricately embroidered mesh midi atop a mid-wash denim strikes the balance between classic and contemporary. Finish with funky accessorizing: pearly bow earrings, a gold clutch, and svelte shades.

The fringed pareo

This is proof that the pareo isn’t just for showing up in tropical style to the beach club. Over an all-white fit, it texturizes in dramatic fashion, adding dimension and intrigue. Subtle black touches break up the monochrome palette and ground the bright white.

The colorblocked combo

This rendition is fused with another trend—the wave of color blockintog that descended upon SS27 runways. Together, the cerulean-plum combo exudes a cheery functionality; it’s practical in its ever-so-slightly muted tone and cotton-denim mixed media, but it doesn’t stray too far in the infeasibility of the avant-garde realm.

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