Review: J. Crew Minnie Pant in Stretch Twill

    
     The J.Crew Minnie pant has intrigued me for a very long time. However, given J.Crew's insane vanity sizing, I was convinced that they were never going to fit, so I never bothered to try them. However, a few weeks ago, J.Crew was having an extra 30% off their sale items. As luck would have it, the Minnie Pant in Stretch Twill (Coal, in 00P) was on sale for just under $50 not including sales tax. Sure, why not? 
   
    When my shipment finally arrived (because you know, J.Crew's processing and shipping is a little on the slow side), I pulled them out of the bag with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. 


    The color was a very, very dark charcoal, almost black. And yep, they are very stretchy. I think I would like them in a wool material better, nevertheless, this is what I had in my hands. The next thing I noticed, was the side zip: 




 I didn't realize that it didn't button up in the front. Not good. I despise pants with a side zipper. More often than not they are extremely unflattering and give the infamous pancake butt. These, however, could be salvaged because they have two welt-pockets in the rear, and yes, belt loops too (which is probably why I thought that these were front-zip bottoms).


      When I finally pulled them on, I was absolutely *shocked* that they actually fit fairly well around the waist, hips, and thighs:

      The back? Not the most flattering pant I own, but they aren't the most terrible either:

      There is a little bit of folding,  but not too much. Does certainly make it look like I need to do more lunges at the gym though. LOL. They are actually quite remininscent of the GAP Slim Crop Pants from their Premium Pant Collection except with welt pockets. I was a little bit concerned that these will stretch out like crazy like GAP's, but I wore these around for a while (OK, the whole day) and they have a sufficient amount of stretch in them that they don't stretch out terribly. I do have a little bit of saggy butt syndrome, but nothing close to the GAP pants which results in me having to launder the pants after every wear.

     The length, well...the inseam is about 24". It's little bit of an awkward length on me. Not bad. They are workable, but I think if I keep these pants I may let out the hem. It looks like I could get about one extra inch out of them. 

     Overall, I like these pants, but I'm a bit unsure. Right now, I'm really only looking to buy good investment pieces for work so I'm more interested in the bi-stretch Italian Wool which would be more appropriate for the office. But of course that also means the fit could be completely different (I'm almost positive they will be). What do you ladies think? Keepers? Should I let out the hem, or do they look OK the way they are?

    I also got this 3/4 length sleeve stretch perfect button down in XSP, as well. I love green, but it seems rather odd in a dress shirt. My dad likes it. He keeps telling me I should match it with green shoes. Really?? How many people own green shoes?? But I'm leaning towards keeping it, even though right now I feel kind of awkward wearing it. It is different though, and could really give an otherwise conservative office outfit a little pop. I also ordered it in Smokey Graphite as another option which is more of a taupe-y color and very "safe" (I don't think I can keep both!). What do you think of the green button-down? Too weird or does it have potential?