Women's Paperbag Waist (Pants)

A paperbag waist gathers fabric onto a waistband that sits well above your natural waist, then leaves a ruffled edge standing above the tie. The name comes from the look of a folded-over bag top. Take away the frill and it becomes an ordinary high-rise pant.

Two builds exist and they behave differently. In the gathered version, fabric is pulled onto elastic, which stretches with you and creates soft, random folds. In the pleated version, the folds are stitched in place, giving a crisper edge and a fixed size. Both multiply layers of cloth at the waist, so light fabrics such as linen, tencel and thin cotton work while anything thick turns into a roll. The self-fabric tie is structural, not decoration: it takes up an inch or two of ease. This is how one size covers a fluctuating waist.

Tailored trousers keep their waist flat so a jacket can close over it. Joggers also use a drawstring, but theirs sits inside a plain band with no fabric standing above it. Culottes and cargos both put their feature below the waist, on the leg. Paperbag shorts, listed under shorts, use the identical waist on a summer inseam. Whatever the leg does here, the waist is the thing you are buying.

Warm-weather offices and holidays suit the style, and so does a waist that changes through the day. Long-waisted frames get the most out of it, because the ruffle needs vertical room between the rib cage and the hip. Short-waisted frames lose that space and can feel compressed. Give it a fitted or tucked top, since a loose blouse hides the one feature you paid for. Under a fitted blazer the bulk shows through, so pair it with knitwear or nothing at all.

Gathering should be even the whole way around, with no bare patch at the front where a maker saved fabric. Tug the tie: it needs to run through stitched loops or a channel, not sit loose in two side holes where it can pull out in the wash. A waistband that still stretches with the tie knotted is what you want, because a fully fixed waist removes the point of the design. Press the leg and steam the top, since an iron flattens the folds into creases you cannot remove.