When did everyone stop wearing trousers? How the ‘no-pants’ trend took over

Ladies, leave your trousers at home. Celebrities and designers have officially declared the no-pants trend the season’s most coveted look. 

The disappearance of pants from the streets and runways happened gradually. First came the bike short boom. Then sweatpants reigned supreme during the pandemic. When the girlies started going out again, pleated skirts and micro minis were all the rage. And last year baggy, borderline ill-fitting denim had a brief moment in the sun. 

But somewhere along the way, we stopped wearing pants except in the most billowing and forgiving of forms—trousers that pool around around the body instead of clinging to it; pants so oversized that brands used words like “balloon” and “parachute” to describe the silhouette; trousers that in no way resemble trousers as we previously knew them. And now, with the likes of Prada, Prabal Gurung, Chanel, and Christian Siriano sending intentionally half-dressed models down the catwalk in sheer tights, barely-there tap shorts, exposed panties, and bare legs, it seems pants may be headed for mass extinction.

Underwear-as-outerwear has a cyclical resurgence at least once every decade. But this year’s iteration of pants-optional dressing can be traced back to a handful of pivotal fashion moments.

Few have done more to advance the cause of leg liberation than Hailey Bieber, who’s been skipping pants since 2017 at least. Sure, Beyoncé and Rihanna continue to wear it better. And if this fall 2023 look from Dion Lee could talk, it would beg to be worn by Sweetener-era Ariana Grande: the salad days of lampshading, before it became more meme than trend.