Hammer Pants Hit the Runways

June 6, 2009— -- From the high-fashion runways to the streets of New York -- they're baaack!

Two decades after their heyday, the baggy, parachute-style pants made famous by MC Hammer are again hanging off the legs of celebrities and fashionistas.

"Harem pants are huge this season," said Suze Yalof Schwartz, executive fashion editor at large for Glamour magazine. "You're going to be seeing them everywhere. We've seen them on Ralph Lauren's runway, on Michael Kors' runway, Jill Stuart. Everyone is doing it."

Watch dancers wearing Hammer pants surprise shoppers in a Hollywood store.

Harem pants may be what they're called on the runway, but Schwartz says today's version is essentially the same as the infamous Hammer pants popular a couple of decades ago. The main differences are how they're worn and the fabric used to make them.

"Now they're in luxurious fabrics; you're seeing them with a heel or tailored with a blazer," Schwartz said. "Black looks great right now in harem pants."

But to find out how to really rock a pair of Hammer -- um, make that harem -- pants, there is only one definitive source: MC Hammer himself.

"You can make a fashion statement," Hammer said. "You can move in 'em. You can dance in 'em. ... It accentuates the movement, and it gives you freedom of movement. It's a slight delay. You move, and then the pants move, so it brings a nice little flair."

And for those who aren't dancing? Is there a wrong way to wear Hammer pants?

"From your heart, you wear them, how you feel today," Hammer said. "If it's a sunshiny day and you have a certain pair that goes with the sunshine, and you want to put some bright colors with them, then you do that."