Black jeans or trousers are visually slimming. They camouflage lumps and bumps and extend your long lean line when paired with dark footwear. Conversely, white jeans and trousers tend to have a widening effect and aren’t quite as forgiving with lumps and bumps. Does this mean you should ban white bottoms from your wardrobe?

My answer to that question is an emphatic “no!” You do NOT need to be tall, thin, long in the leg, or slim to wear white bottoms. Almost all of my clients, who span a size range of 00P to 22, wear white bottoms. This includes all body types and covers a wide range of ages.

As always, it’s how you wear the item that counts. If you’re battling with the concept of light coloured bottoms, here are twelve tips that might help you to feel fab when wearing them. 

1. Choose denim or thick fabrications: They provide more structure and coverage than thinner fabrications thereby streamlining the silhouette and camouflaging lumps and bumps. 
2. Choose wide silhouettes in thin fabrications: If lightweight fabrics are essential to combat the heat, choose them in relaxed styles, like wide leg linen pants, or cotton harem pants. That way the fabric stands away from the body and does not cling or look transparent.
3. Wear white boyfriend jeans: Here we have a looser silhouette and a thicker fabrication, providing coverage, structure, and effective camouflage for wobbly bits. 
4. Size Up: White bottoms can be revealing, so sizing up to create a looser fit on a structured style is a good idea. 
5. Pay attention to pocket detailing: It’s annoying when the pocket linings of white bottoms shine through. One option is to choose a style without side entry pockets. Failing that, pocket linings can be cut out by a competent tailor. Pocket linings are usually less visible on thicker fabrications like denim, and on wider, looser styles. 
6. Wear Tunics: A little extra coverage on top can make all the difference. Wear longer tops if you’re self conscious about exposing your hip and thigh area in white bottoms. 
7. Create slouch by partially tucking roomier tops: Create a little blousoned slouch with a fluid or oversized top by semi or faux tucking into white jeans or trousers. The volume of the larger top visually narrows the bottom, while the partial tuck creates the required structure. 
8. Create a white column of colour: Columns of colour are visually slimming and elongating. In this case it means wearing a white top with white bottoms under a topper, thereby creating a column of white.
9. Wear heels to elongate the leg line: This is especially effective with wide hem bottoms and while sporting perfect pants lengths (no shorter than a quarter of an inch off the ground). It’s also great to wear heels with tapered leg silhouettes. 
10. Further elongate the leg line with white footwear: Wearing white shoes with long white jeans and trousers is flattering because the shoe looks like an extension of the bottoms, thereby creating a visually longer leg line. Pointy toe flats are a great way to lengthen the leg line if heels aren’t your thing. 
11. Wear flesh toned undies: White bottoms are usually more transparent than dark colours, which means that showcasing undies is a problem. Wear solid nude-for-you undies to prevent them from shining through. 
12. Forget about looking your slimmest: Wear white bottoms because you love their crisp, bright and modern effect. There is more to making you feel happy in an outfit than looking your slimmest and tallest. 

You also have the option of sporting white dresses and skirts if jeans, pants and shorts aren’t your thing. Dresses are built-in columns of colour, and flowing white skirts are lovely with a fluid or structured top. 

White jeans are a wardrobe essential for my style, and I wear them year round. I also love wearing cream jeans, trousers, and an A-line skirt. Sure, I look slimmer in a pair of dark bottoms, but wearing white bottoms makes me happy, and that trumps it all.