Splurge or Steal? Leather Pants Edition

My fashion philosophy is that big ticket items should be handbags, shoes, coats, jewelry, or other timeless, not trendy pieces.   Things I can see myself wearing for multiple seasons.  Multiple occasions.  Dressing up and dressing down.  Things I can see myself wearing at 40.   You get the point.

So what, my friends, does one do about leather pants?  First of all, is there anything worse than faux leather?  I used to think not.  But over the past year or so, I've been seeing some really well done faux - not the shiny, sticky, swishing when you walk pleather stuff - some of it not even necessarily classified as faux leather, like J Brand's waxed denim.

I recently tried on the Zara pants below, and was really impressed by the quality of the cut and design, a great edgy piece to mix with my more classic staples.  On the other hand, my collection of various skinny black pants are in constant rotation in my wardrobe, especially as the weather gets cooler.  Are leather (or faux leather) pants worthy of a splurge?  Or should I stick with the steal?

Acne Best Leather Skinny Pants

The Outnet

$1,530.00

Waxed Effect Trousers

Zara

$79.90