When we started the conversation with
The Superior Labor about the idea of making
the Balloon Pants together, I sent them a few thoughts about where the inspiration came from and how I imagine these pants will make the person wearing them feel like.
The first thing I mentioned to them was
Dola, a side female character from the Hayao Miyazaki animation Castle in the Sky. I watched the movie all through my childhood and never ever got tired of it. A funny connection to think about but it totally made sense to me. The dynamic lady captain of air pirate who comes across tough at the beginning but is actually incredibly kind, respectful and warm. She is a mom to her sons (who are also pirates). She is an old friend to the mechanic who works on the ship. And she becomes a friend and mentor to the young main characters, Sheetah and Pazu.
Anyways. Long story short. She wears the balloon pants all through the film and even lends one to Sheetah. I am so excited that now I can share how it feels to be a little bit like Dola. Free-spirited. Comfortable in her skin. Powerful. Adventurous.
Here are some of my favorite functional parts of the pants.
The wide volume around the legs:
I can get closer to my kids' eye-level no matter where we are, library, park or home. It doesn't matter. I can sit with them on the floor, squat down to help them pick up something or bend down to pick their bodies up as needed. I have a hard time doing that comfortably when I wear my skinny-ish jeans. And I barely wear dress or skirts for the reason.
Also, let's not forget how it doesn't cut circulation of the legs when we are on the airplane. A huge plus!
Being able to adjust the height of pants' hem:
Because the hem of the pants has elastic, I can pull up the bottom of the pants right below my knee. It comes super handy when I am at the beach and decide to splash some water at the shallow side. I also like having the bottom of the pants up when it's hot!
Big pockets:
This seems like such a simple thing but these side pockets hold so many things in the day-to-day. My phone usually fits there and I never have to worry about it falling out of the pocket. Often keys, as well as Coco's nature finds like rocks, etc. can be found in my pockets.
Washable:
I machine wash my pants regularly. I try to air dry it instead of having it go through the dryer but it has been accidentally machine dried as well. My sample version of the balloon pants is holding up super well!
I can match the pants with just about anything:
I wear it with T-shirt, a cashmere sweater, a bomber jacket. Just about anything. And literally, I wear it every day.
I can go on and on about how much I adore this pants... and I can't wait to receive the
very first sets of production pants from The Superior Labor soon! We are also making a sample of a petite size! Let me know if you are interested in the size via email so I can get in touch with you when we start taking pre-order for petite:)
