Rarely do my black (cropped, tapered) trousers stay at home when I travel. They pretty much go (and work!) everywhere, and this proved true last Saturday night, when I wore them out to dinner at the Waverly Inn in New York. It was a rainy and cold evening--and my pants stood up to the (damp-to-toasty-chic) conditions perfectly, along with this and these . Of course, we all know that black pants are slimming, flattering and universally appropriate--the ultimate wardrobe workhorse--but the really excellent ones are also strangely and frustratingly elusive. Which may explain why I've been wearing the same Zara do-it-all pair for years now! Still, I managed to sleuth out some new compelling options, as I'm selfishly wanting a back-up or two, and found these standouts from (similar to above), , , , , , , and .