To say leather pants made a huge comeback this year would be an understatement, unfortunately, good quality leather pants do not come cheap. Que the Aritiza Melina leather pant, this season’s most popular and coveted pant, at $148.00+hst the Melina pant is widely understood as the best “affordable” alternative to the designer option, such as the Maison Margiela Stretch Vinyl Coated Skinny Pants, as seen on model Hailey Bieber. Influencers that I follow such as @Allegrashaw, @Maggiemacdonald, and @avajule have all been seen wearing the Melina’s, and have given the pants very high praise. I must admit I was influenced by the influencers, and therefore had to get my hands on a pair for myself, and truly see if they were really worth all the hype (and money). Currently, the Melina’s come in three different styles “Melina Cropped Pant”, “Melina Pant” (regular), and “Melina Long Pant”, and come in fourteen different colours, mostly sticking to an earthy colour palette. These pants are so popular they are very often on backorder.
The first pair of Melina’s I tried were the regular length, unfortunately, for my short legs, these pants were way too long for me, and therefore were a nonstarter. However, when Aritzia released the cropped version I was excited to give them a try, as “cropped” styles normally fit me as if they were a regular length. For size reference, I generally tend to wear size four in pants and am 5’3” and 130 pounds. Unfortunately, I found the Melina’s to fit quite tight and ended up being between sizes. I think the reason these pants did not fit me correctly was due to the fact that they were made for someone with the proportion of someone much taller than me, as well, if you have any butt the pants kinda flatten and squish it down sadly. With this being said, I would have likely gotten the larger size and got them altered to fit my proportions if the material of the Melina’s wasn’t such poor quality. As someone who does not use animal products, I appreciate that the Melina pants are not made with real leather, but sometimes I feel the term “vegan leather” is just synonymous with using cheap quality plastic materials.
All in all, I would say the Melina pants are definitely a pass for me and definitely do not live up to the hype or price tag. Even if they fit you perfectly, I still do not recommend the purchase, as the material is so cheap. They truly feel as if you would likely only get a single season’s wear out of them before they began to lose their shape and fall apart, and that is not sustainable for both the planet nor your bank account. And finally, to all the Melina fans out there could you please explain to me why these pants have such a cult following, cause I simply just do not understand.
Sincerely,
-Someone who has spent way too much money at Aritzia