How to Look Stylish Not Frumpy in Wide Pull-on Pants after 55

I love wide linen pants in the summer. And these days there is the added joy of them having a very forgiving elastic waistband. Every woman of every age is wearing wide pull-on pants this year, but alas, not all of us look our best in them.

So, how to style – and how not to style – wide linen pull-on pants, especially if we are over 55 or so.

The dangers of the tee and wide pants combo

What could be simpler and more summery than a tee shirt and linen pants? But we must be aware of the pitfalls!

Pull-on elasticated waist pants have a lot of fabric bunched just under the waist, especially if they have wide legs. We need to style for this. Pulling a straight tee shirt down over this ruching will not hide it. In fact it will draw attention to it. And few people over the age of 40 want their belly to be the focus of their outfit.

Yet, this look is probably the most typical one I see among older women, when summer comes around. Sure we’ve bought a perfect tee with short sleeves to cover our upper arms. It’s not fitted so it doesn’t show the rolls of fat we may carry around our back or above our waist. It’s a great color for summer. But…

It’s not heavy enough to camouflage or push flat all those gathers under the elastic waistband.

The result, as you see above, is a frumpy look.

How to style a casual tee and pull-on pants outfit

Trying to cover up the gathers below the waistband with a lightweight longish top simply does not work. So accept that the gathers are a style feature but cover the elastic waistband.

We need to emphasize the top of our outfit to shift interest away from our mid-section. Only this will make those wide pants look good.

If you are very slim with a small or medium bust then you can emphasize your upper body with a scoop neck fitted tee. For the other 90% of us reading this, we need to do the opposite. We need to wear a squarish, looser tee, but we need to shorten it.

I often wear a wide-cut linen top that stops just below my waist but hangs wide, away from my body. But if we stick with a tee and pants outfit for this article here’s what I suggest.

First off, try shortening the tee by lapping it under just below the waist. This can sometimes work but tends to be difficult to keep at the right length all day.

Or, you can tuck the tee into the pants and pull a little bit of the fabric of the top out so it covers the elastic. For a very casual look this works fine. But if you’re going out or meeting people you can improve the look in seconds by trying these alternatives.

Curated casual

A speedy upstyle, but still keeping things very casual, is to wear a shirt open over the tee. I often use this denim shirt as a very casual jacket. It doesn’t add too much weight or warmth but it reduces that gathered area over the belly. I’ve teamed it here with some denim sneakers to keep the holiday vibe.

Adding a little style

After tucking in the tee all round your waist, ease it so it covers the elastic. Now add a belt that covers the waistband beneath the overlap of the tee. Centre the belt buckle and just at this point tuck the tee a bit further into your pants to show the buckle, without showing the belt all the way round your waist.

This changes your mid-section from being one expansive bulge to a sharply defined top and bottom. The belt buckle catches the eye and folk stop examining the size of your belly beneath.

Already you look smart and styled.

Want to look even better? Add something to make the eye focus at the level of your shoulders. And make your shoulders wider – ideally wider than the perceived width of your hips.

For a casual, unstructured look, you could add another tee shirt with long sleeves, hung over your shoulders. This tee can be patterned, striped or plain. But make it either a good contrast or – if your top and pants form a tonal outfit – choose a tonal shift, lighter or darker. Let the long sleeves hang down straight to slim your silhouette or college-style, knot the sleeves to push the focus up to your face.

If your short-sleeved tee is patterned then you’ll need to add a plain long-sleeved tee. This outfit will look best if the top tee shirt echoes one of the colors in the patterned tee beneath it.

Add a bit more style to your wide pull-on pants outfit

Add a structured top over the tee to achieve a slightly less casual, slightly smarter outfit. Two structured items tend to make an outfit look as if you’re on the way to a job interview but one structured item just makes you look ‘intentional’. As your pull-on pants are a casual item and a tee shirt is also a casual item, you’ll need to add a structured cardigan or jacket.

A blazer will look good but if you think that’s too warm, then think about a structured knitted jacket. You can find these with short sleeves for summer these days, but I only had my long-sleeve Sezane knit easily available for these photos.

Look for a jacket with a set-in sleeve that emphasizes the shoulder line around the top of the armhole. A square patch pocket adds structure too. As does a shirt-style collar and buttons down the front – especially if these are in a contrasting color or are larger than normal.

Basically we’re looking for straight lines. But these lines need to stand slightly away from your body – so the jacket wears you, rather than you wearing the jacket. This top does not need to be big, just structured to hold its shape.

A simple addition that can help your silhouette when wearing loose pull-on pants is to add a necklace. Something shiny such as a gold chain or pendant can work well if your belt has a shiny buckle. Try adding sandals or loafers that have a similar shiny or gold trim.

The necklace makes people look at your face and extends your neck and throat area which is very attractive even when covered. The buckle draws the eye straight down to your middle then the shoes keep the eye moving down in a vertical line. Your belly and hips are hardly noticed in passing!

The pants I’m wearing are available from marksandspencer.com in the US and in the UK.

If you enjoy articles about style then take a look at this post next: Easy to Wear Denim on Denim Looks Over 60.

Or if you want shopping inspiration here’s my latest shopping list post: 25 Best Summer Bags, Chic Useful Styles 2026