My Mother's Elepants
In 1974 when I was 12 and she was 51, my mom bought her first pair of pants from a Manila department store. Before this, all she had were dresses, blouses, and skirts, but her siblings were visiting from the US a couple of decades after they had emigrated, and she wanted to look good and modern for them.
The pants style in vogue then in the Philippines was called "elepants" (after elephants) because they had enormously wide legs. When you had them on, you looked like you were wearing a long skirt.
Hers were made of black polyester, and on the outside legs below the knees, they were embroidered with green and brown coconut trees, pink and yellow flowers on the ground beneath the trees, and a yellow sun above them all.
Anyway, the style went out of fashion in about a year or so, and I don't think she wore them very much. In 1998, during my first visit with her after I emigrated to the US 14 year prior, I saw that she still had them in her closet! So I asked for them and now I have them in my closet. They're quite funky! O0
I'm not too shy anymore to wear them but I forget about them so I've only worn them a couple of times. I think I'll wear them next week to work.