This week’s poll is about your pants length preferences. You are on Team Cropped Bottoms if you prefer them to full lengths, and vice versa. First, let me clarify the lengths that make a pair of pants cropped or full length, using the ankle bone as a guide. 

  • Pants and jeans are cropped when they bare the ankle bone. When the hems of pants and jeans hover just above the ankle bone, or finish one to three inches shorter, they are cropped. This is true for any silhouette or hem width. When you roll or cuff jeans and pants to showcase the ankle bone, they are cropped.
  • Pants and jeans are full length when they cover the ankle bone. These types of pant lengths can just cover the ankle bone, like the new shorter flared full length, or taper to touch the top of the foot. Hems can also be longer, thereby skimming the surface of the ground or scrunching over the vamps of shoes.

I wear cropped and full-length pants and jeans with equal joy, and all year round. I have learned to love cropped lengths because they are extremely practical for my wet city walking lifestyle. Soggy hems are awful. Plus I enjoy showcasing a bit of alluring ankle in warm weather. When hems finish two inches above my ankle bone, I can create a flattering effect with a leg-lengthening support act. I cover bare ankles with cosy knee-highs, and high-shaft booties or hi-tops to keep out the chill in cold weather.

I enjoy wearing wide full-length pants because they look elegant and are elongating. I wear them at the new shorter full length and at the extra long length. I’m pretty sure I’ll be wearing tapered and scrunched full-length jeans and pants again too.

I can’t pick a side, so I’ll sit this one out on the bench where I’m serving jerk chicken and pineapple burgers with gingerbread and tea for dessert in takeout boxes, so that you can eat in the safety of your homes.

Over to you. Do you bat for Team Cropped or Team Full-Length Bottoms? Tell us why, and no batting for both teams, but feel free to join me on the bench.