Spring is officially here! And while many of us are still slogging through wintry temps, that isn’t stopping us from dreaming of breezy skirts and denim cutoffs. But the jump from heavy-duty trousers and raw denim to shorts and lightweight dresses doesn’t happen overnight. Enter: the skant.
While wearing pants underneath skirts and dresses is a perfectly viable option for the transseasonal wardrobe, over the last year or so, I’ve become particularly interested in the skant—a pair of pants with a built-in overskirt. Last summer, I invested in a pair from Paloma Wool (perhaps the foremost skant producer)—a sheer brown pair with a matching miniskirt. On muggy summer days, I pair it with a tank top and sandals, but when the weather cools down, it works just as well with a cardigan.
I’m not the only one who sees the value of a skant—celebrities are into it, too. Last fall, Kendall Jenner arrived in Paris for fashion week, a sheer olive St. Agni skirt worn over a pair of black trousers.
Jenner isn’t the only fashion-forward celebrity endorsing the layering look. Last summer, Jennifer Lawrence went out to dinner in a pair of sheer navy trousers overlain with a below-the-knee skirt, a hole-ridden tee, and strappy Prada kitten heels. The breezy skant was the perfect middleman between Lawrence’s ultra-casual T-shirt and her dressier sandals. Kaia Gerber has also used the skant to add some visual intrigue to an otherwise standard outfit. Late last year, the model livened up a navy crop top and black ballet flats with a gray miniskirt atop straight-legged trousers, also Paloma Wool.
