Outfit Of The Yesterday: The J Crew Andie Tuxedo-Stripe Chinos (In Review)

Sportswear-inspired clothing started emerging as a style trend in late 2012, and it has continued to be a major mover through 2013. So I was pretty darn excited when the Andie Tuxedo-Stripe Chinos (take 20% off w/ code “WIT20” through tonight!) popped up in J Crew’s pre-fall new arrivals–not only do they have a sporty stripe running down the sides, but they also come in petite sizing. As my fellow vertically-challenged friends know–it isn’t always easy to find trendier items in shortie-friendly sizing.

I will start this review first by saying that the Andie Chinos are exactly that: chinos. Chinos tend to be a little stiff and a little wrinkly, and like a lot of online retailers J Crew likely airbrushed some of the wrinkles out of the chinos for the product shot because my chinos arrived super rumpled and wrinkly. After a wrestling match with my steamer, they looked much better–but they will never look as smooth or as polished as my other favorite J Crew pants (the Minnie Pant). And they shouldn’t! They’re made of different material. So you just do you, you kind-of-wrinkly chinos, and I will fight the insane urge to steam you while I’m wearing you. That’s what ~~hospitals and bandaids~~ Downey Wrinkle Release is for.

The Andie Tuxedo-Stripe Chinos are made of a a thicker cotton with just a hint of stretch–so keeping that in mind, I ordered one size up from what I usually wearing the Minnies. I am glad I did. I probably could have fit into my usual size, but these pants aren’t supposed to be tight or ultra-skinny. They also have a higher rise (yay!) and a cropped length–although the 26″ petite inseam doesn’t look very cropped on my 29″ inseam legs. Again, that is okay–I like having longer pants as we head into colder weather.

In spite of being made of thicker, non-stretchy fabric, they are still soft and really comfortable to wear. I haven’t yet washed them, so I can’t vouch how well they hold up during that process, but they appear to be a solidly-made pair of pants and I am not anticipating any issues there. All in all I really like them–and II definitely forsee more pairs in my future. Job well done, J Crew, well done.

Ta da: