Cheryl Shops

As I noted in Tuesday's post, Spanx sent me two pairs of their famous pants to try, the first being the Perfect Black Pant, 4-Pocket Ankle version. Up next: the Faux Leather Leggings, which nearly every influencer on earth owns. I may be late to the party, but better late than never, right? Keep reading for my honest and unfiltered opinion. 

As someone who owns a pair of actual leather leggings, I will start out by saying that you will not fool anyone into thinking that these are real leather. First of all, the texture is kind of rubbery and mottled, and while it definitely doesn't look like cotton or spandex, it doesn't necessarily look like leather either. Secondly, the fit is way too snug to resemble leather—my real leather leggings have stretched out a bit with age, which gives them a kind of cool slouchy look. But if you lean into what Spanx Faux Leather Leggings actually are—a high-tech, futuristic version of leather, emphasis on faux—then they're a pretty unique type of pant. As I said in my last Spanx post, I'm not a big leggings person, but I was happily surprised at their ability to shape and smooth my legs, hips, and butt. The waistband is thick and lies flat, my butt gets a nice boost, and my thighs feel taut. There is definitely a compression element to the fabric, but it's not uncomfortable; I feel like these would be amazing to wear on an airplane, whenever I get on one of those again. I'd say these run on the small side; I'm wearing a medium, as was recommended on the website, and I really had to work to get my legs into them—the fabric has really strong recovery, or in layman's terms, it snaps back really quickly without stretching out. I don't know that I necessarily would have bought these on my own, but now that I have them, I wear them way more frequently than I ever expected. Long story short: they're worth it. 

The problem for me, however, is that since I'm not a big leggings person, I don't have a lot of longer tops to wear with them. I improvised by wearing my Everlane oversized silk blouse (last seen with a shearling jacket) and cashmere boyfriend cardigan (last seen with a slip dress a very long time ago). I tend to wear these two with my skinny jeans, so pairing them with leggings seemed like a natural progression. Together, I feel like this is an outfit you could totally wear on a Zoom call for work—it looks very pulled together on top but more casual and edgy on the bottom. Like lots of Everlane pieces, both the shirt and sweater run big; I'm in a 4 in the former and a small in the latter. 

It was trench coat weather when we shot this, but that period of cool weather has been short-lived in San Francisco, because we're now in full-on wool coat weather. That said, I like the contrast this coat provides—it's a little more dressed up and structured than the rest of the outfit. I've had this coat for a bazillion years (the cuff belts are long gone and the lining is starting to shred), but it's well worth the investment. I think you last saw it with leopard print, and except when it's really cold, it's a great year-round coat for California. I'm in a 38, which is my usual A.P.C. size. 

As I noted in my how to dress like a French woman post, I bought this bag back in March with the intent for it to be my work bag (my laptop comfortably fits inside). I carried it for a week before shutdown, and it's been pretty much sitting on my bench ever since. So I've decided to start carrying it more—to lunch, to run errands, to the doctor's office—and doing so makes me quite happy, as I love this dear bag. I also love my Chloé boots (last seen with a sparkly skirt) and I'm glad that boot weather is back. 

OUTFIT DETAILS: A.P.C. trench coat | Everlane cashmere cardigan (similar here) | Everlane oversized silk blouse (current version here) | Spanx faux leather leggings (c/o) | Céline medium phantom cabas tote | Chloé Suzanna boots