Elastic Waist Pants: Giving Up Or Just Plain Genius?

I'm going with genius. Apparently I'm not the only one, either: last night I ran into my friend Irene at a party, who confessed to just having ordered two pairs, and then I came home and read Jenn's post about her new Madewell "jeggings." They're totally onto something.

There's just so much potential from a comfort standpoint. That awful feeling of your belly getting squished as you sit down in a pair of tight jeans? Gone. Or desperately wanting to undo your top button after a big meal? Forget it! It's not that it's an excuse not to go to the gym (even though I've let an inordinate amount of time slide since I've set foot in one, which probably makes this whole concept that much more appealing), but who wants to feel constricted by their clothes?

In my research this morning, I found some good options in this category, and I think the trick is to look for styles that are really lean and tailored through the leg--so you don't look like the person who threw in the towel wearing elastic waist pants. My favorites so far are these cropped, tapered charcoal trousers by Clu, made of silk-cotton and fully lined in silk with cute little patch pockets in the back, and these black Max Studio pants my friend Irene tipped me off to, which are like leggings only cut from a heavier fabric and fall in a straight line from the knees, giving them a more refined, work-appropriate look.