Dear Budget Fashionista,

I’m a teacher & I’m looking for new pants to wear for work. I want longer pants so I can wear heels with them (I’m also 5’10”) & I’m having trouble finding pants that I like. Do you have suggestions on the best places to buy some good quality work pants on a teacher’s budget?
Answer: It’s always hard to find great fitting pants, but there’s a few options out there. We’re fans of the RightFit brand of pants at Lane Bryant and coming this fall, Fashion Bug stores. The system, developed after scanning over 14,000 women nationwide and compiling the data to get the 411 on how to make our pants fit better. The line features three fit categories based on individual body shape and size — not just the size that fits your largest body part. A Yellow body type is straight from the waist through the hips (us flat bootie girls), Red fit are slightly curved from the waist to the hips (those of us stuck in the middle), and a Blue body type has a small waist and is fullest at the hips (aka for those of us with A LOT of extra junk in our trunks). And, this is what we really love—most of the pants are well under $50.
Other options include the Express Editor pants, which run under $50 (less if you have a coupon or catch them on sale) and also have a pretty good fit, and pants by the INC line at Macys, which are crazy expensive full priced, but can drop below $30 once they hit the sales racks.