One of the first things that crosses my mind when I see Brad Pitt or George Clooney is “Those guys sure know how to wear a pair of pants.” Seriously.

Some girls look to the hands but I guess you could say I’m a pants girl. I love a man in nicely fit pair. But of course most people aren’t operating on Clooney/Pitt budgets or getting custom fit by Tom Ford. At least not my friends.

So when I noticed what I thought to be a rather perfect pair on a guy friend recently, I was expecting to hear that they were super expensive. But no, he tells me. They’re this newish line Bonobos. The fit was great, without being too high fashion for some of the boys I know. And the butt, very nice.

They’ve got cords, twill, pinwale, wool and seersucker with prices from $98-$188. Plus there are shorts and a just launched swim line (retailing for $58.) And there’s color—which has been known to scare off some unadventurous males.

Embrace it, gentlemen, embrace it. In the form of a good pair of pants.

“That tights aren’t pants?!” - Blair, reprimanding a crying underclassmen (and sending a cryptic message via prime time to Lindsay), over her front steps outfit of choice, on last night’s Gossip Girl.

Just as we all started to get comfortable in our skinny pants, a new silhouette is officially taking over the runway.

And it’s straight out of the ’70s.

We first started to think about flares way back during the Spring 08 shows when we saw them on Stam at Gianfranco Ferre, and in crazy colors and plaid at Prada. Then, Fall 08 brought a steady stream of super wide-leg pants, and now, even Chanel’s show for Resort included a pair.

But how did this happen? We haven’t thought this look was cute since we saw it in pictures of our moms from before we were even born. And are they practical? Unless you’ve got Nadja-length legs, tall shoes are an absolute must, and even then, that’s still just a lot of material to walk around in without collecting street dirt on your way.

So what do you think, a cute look that deserves a second try? Or too hideous for thought?

—KYLE HAYES

“Had fashion’s uncanny powers of economic prediction prefigured the coming financial crisis in the sudden drop of the crotch?” - Saran Mower, on the new loose pants, in the June Vogue.