Name: “Zara death pants.”
Appearance: Flowing, wide-legged, with a high waist, elastic waistband and front pockets.
Price: £25.99. (US $45.90)
Sounds perfect for the heatwave – loose and airy. Also very much on trend. Just be careful.
Be careful? Of my trousers? Yes, if social media is to be believed.
What is social media saying? Well, take influencer Jessica Pearce, for example, who says: “The Zara trousers are going to be the death of you,” on a TikTok video showing her face-planting on a gravel driveway.
Could the gravel be a contributing factor? OK, what about Camila Ribera Roca, from Bolivia, who posted a video of herself tripping on a pavement while wearing the trousers – then showing her cut arm to more than a million viewers.
Artfully accompanied by the mournful Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem, I like it. You want more?
Go on. “These pants almost killed me,” Ellin Costa from Canada told CBC News, after a fall in which she broke her wrist and cut her face. Another creator – Morgana suffered possibly worse.
What could be worse than a broken bone? A broken phone! Plus a grazed knee. Her post has had 2.3m views. One woman’s hem got caught in the teeth of an escalator, pulling the trousers down to her thighs.
They do sound like treacherous trews! There are many more videos on social media of people tripping and saying how they’ve been left battered and bruised, hence they’ve been dubbed the deadly Zara trousers or Zara death pants. Zara’s flowing palazzo trousers are also deemed particularly perilous.
So what exactly is happening when people wear these danger-pants? Apparently the voluminous fabric gets wrapped around itself, as well as the wearer’s ankles and feet, causing them to trip.
Surely that’s always going to be an issue with this kind of very baggy design? That’s what stylist Clare Chambers told the Metro. “The wider the leg, the more likely it is to get caught and wrapped around the opposite leg/foot causing the wearer to trip and fall,” she said.
Oh what fun we had, But did it really turn out bad … Excuse me?
Sorry, wrong generation. Baggy Trousers by Madness? I’m more Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers.
What is Zara saying about its death pants? Nada. Pass notes reached out – as have others. Nothing back.
Can anything be done to make these trousers less risky? One TikToker suggests putting hairbands around them at the ankle – or wearing high heels.
Because no one was ever injured by wearing stilettos? Choose your fashion hazard wisely.
Do say: “A skinny jeans revival? Bring it on!”
Don’t say: “Have a nice trip!”
