FASHIONTRIBES TIDBIT: Cropped Pants Can Be the Epitome of Chic or a Fashion Horror Show. To Avoid the Latter Fate, the Length & Shoe are Crucial. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST

POCAST - FASHIONTRIBES TIDBIT: Cropped Pants Can Be the Epitome of Chic or a Fashion Horror Show.  To Avoid the Latter Fate, the Length & Shoe are Crucial. FASHIONTRIBES FASHION BLOG & PODCAST MP3 File

A length/shoe combo to avoid like the plague.

Cropped pants can either conjur up visions of a casually chic Jackie O in Capri or they can simply subtract multiple inches from the visual length of your legs - resulting in a highly undesirable condition known as the short and stubbies. With the dangers we expose ourselves too prancing around pothole & pedestrian strewn city streets in vertiginous heels - which have claimed more than a few twisted & broken ankles from stepping off curbs the wrong way or sprinting after cabs & buses - it makes no sense to render all that risk-taking null and void. Especially when it's so easy to remedy by adding or subtracting a few inches in either direction.

Some guidelines for pulling off cropped pants:

1. LENGTH Have the hem hit where your leg curves inward. In the calf area, this occurs a few inches above the ankle, just before it transitions into the fleshier part above. For a knee-length cropped pant, aim for that area just above the knee-cap where your leg curves in - right before it starts to widen into your thigh.
2. SHOE Because knee-length cropped pants (in particular) can veer into dowdyland so easily, avoid too sporty a flat such as a Birkinstock or white puffy sneakers. Flat is okay as long as it's girlie to supa'girlie; good options include a delicate ballet slipper or kitten-heel slide.  For work situations, slip on a really sharp pump and you're good to go.
3. SILHOUETTE While the idea of a loose palazzo pant may sound romantic, it's worth considering a recent mini-fad involving cropped palazzos made out of thin t-shirt material. A two-for-one fashion disaster, these gauchos not only served up generous helpings of the short-and-stubbies, but added more width visually with all that loose fabric swinging around. However, this is easily avoided by sticking to a slim to slightly loose leg.

Two good lengths of cropped pants:

Mid-calf (From NeimanMarcus.com)

Above-the-Knee (Robert Rodriguez - available from NeimanMarcus.com)

- Lesley Scott

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