Most fashion stylists are sensitive about the execution of a particular aspect of fashion and style. For some it’s pattern mixing or the effective use of clashing bright colours, and for others it’s the style of flats that works with dresses, or the way to wear short jackets over long tops. For me it’s wearing your trousers and jeans at the correct length, particularly when they are flared at the hems. I am highly sensitive to seeing pant lengths that are too short because to my eye it ruins the entire line and look of your ensemble.

Some fashion experts recommend hemming flared jeans and trousers an inch off the ground. Others suggest a length that touches the top of your shoes. But if you’re going to ask me, I’ll encourage a length that’s even longer than that.

I wrote about perfect pant lengths soon after YLF was born. My opinion about the correct length for flared jeans and trousers then is no different to what it is now – flared pant hems should almost skim the surface of the ground. Anything more than half an inch off of the ground is too short.

I like to see LOOOONG flared pant lengths because the extra length is infinitely more flattering to the leg line and therefore to your overall silhouette. You look chic, polished and extra sophisticated that way and it also totally grounds the outfit. Now for some examples…

These boot cuts jeans worn with high heels are the perfect length.

These flared leg jeans worn with high heeled sandals are also a perfect length.

The dramatic bell bottom widths of these hems flatter at the perfect length.

And these wide hems drape over the shoes at the perfect length.

But the jeans and trousers pictured below are too short to my eye, some by a good two to three inches.

Flared jeans and trousers tend to drape best at the perfect length with high heels. Hemming them for flats or one and half inch heels causes a more creased break line down the front of the legs. The pronounced break line looks fine in denim but it can look slightly sloppy in non-denim fabrications like dressy wool blends. You can smooth out the break line by shortening the hem, but then your pants are often too short! I don’t mind a creased break line on jeans when worn with flats, but I don’t like it as much on dress pants. That’s another good reason to wear mid to high heels with flared trousers. You’ll get a long leg line that drapes perfectly over your footwear.

One of the drawbacks to sporting perfect pant lengths is that you hide quite a lot of your shoe when you’re standing up straight. And the more flared the hem, the more hidden the shoe. You do see your shoes when you’re in motion or sitting down though. Trousers and jeans that taper in at the hems can be worn much shorter and that’s really the way to go if you want to show off your entire shoe while wearing long pants.

Update: I wish I could say it was good planning, but by coincidence we are launching a giveaway for the Jenny Clip today. This clever little product might address some of the concerns people have about their hems getting wet and dirty in bad weather.

If you’re after an inexpensive pair of flared jeans, I highly recommend Gap’s Long & Leans. I used to have a pair about seven years ago and was not as happy with the way they looked back then. They bagged out and the fit wasn’t flattering on my thighs and bottom for some reason. But I recently retried the style and I’m pretty sure the quality of the denim AND the fit has changed because now I love them. And judging by the online reviews, I’m not alone. They don’t stretch out, the denim is super soft, and my thighs look fine.

They come up quite high in the rise so I like to wear a belt and tuck in tops with this style. The leg widths are much roomier than my premium denim bootcut styles and the hem width measures 18 inches on small sizes. So with the Long & Leans I can achieve a 70’s flared leg vibe without going too wide on the width of the hems. I can also comfortably sport a one and a half to two inch heel without feeling dumpy or killing the balls of my feet.

Gap’s Long & Leans in a faded wash are my answer to flared 70’s look jeans this season because I don’t want to wear wider hem widths. With a 30% store discount and a 20% discount coupon I got them for a song!  They are available in three different washes, from sizes 00 to 20 across petites, regular and talls. Brilliant.

Note that I have put these in the store, and this post contains affiliate links.

Maybe you don’t find purchasing sweats and loungewear, sleepwear, knickers, bras and socks boring but I certainly do. Ironically, apart from socks, which are seasonal, I wear the other items every day and for that reason alone they deserve more attention. So in order to ensure that I’m not wearing wretched sweats, stretched out knickers and bras, and worn out socks, I have a loose annual purchasing plan for these items.

1. Sweats: I wear sweats instead of a robe so they get a lot of daily wear. I like to keep two sets in rotation which last for about a year before they look tatty and stained. I purchase two new sets every year right after Christmas and enjoy the big fat discount.
2. Sleepwear: This is the only time you’ll see me wearing a t-shirt and I like to sleep in extra soft baby T’s with boy shorts. I refresh my sleepwear capsule when the Summer daylight saving time changes in mid March.
3. Bras: I have a professional bra fitting each year to make sure I’m still wearing the right size. I do that around my birthday in July when I see my OBGYN and schedule a mammogram. If my bra size has changed or if I need new bras, this is the time to purchase them. July is now officially my breast month.
4. Knickers: I replace knickers at the same time I do my bra fitting because I’ve got underwear on my mind and I’m spending time in the lingerie department.
5. Socks: I give my deliberately drab sock collection a little boost at the start of boot wearing season, which is in the middle of September just after the new school year starts.

It’s not essential to have a purchasing plan in place for wardrobe basics. You might do perfectly well refreshing and updating these items as you need them. I’ve found it useful to fit them into an annual shopping plan which is spread out over the year. That way the items are refreshed and not ignored, and once it’s done – it’s done.

When do you purchase wardrobe basics? Do you have a loose plan in place, or do you wait until it’s absolutely necessary?

This is old news to some of you because YLF forum member Tanya beat me to the punch last week, but here are Pantone’s Top 10 colours for Spring 2011. For kicks you can compare them to last year’s fashion and colour report.

At first glance the colours look quite pastel and not at all representative of what I saw on the runways of Spring Fashion Week last September. But clicking on each individual block of colour you can see the spectrum of shades embodied in the sketches of the designers.

Take, for example, “Honeysuckle”. Although the colour looks like a lipstick pink, the outfit colours range from pink and coral to a much richer, pinkish tomato red. The same goes for pantone colour “Beeswax” which looks like a mango yellow, but the outfit sketches also represent citron.

So it’s important to not take the exact shade of these colours too literally. Instead think of each block as an inspirational umbrella colour under which there are many interpretations and levels of saturation. Still, the hues that I saw at Fashion Week were more vibrant – and we have the photographs to prove it (check out Carlos Miele, Thuy and Georges Chakra).

I also find it strange that beige does not have its own block on Pantone’s list. Beige is represented in “russet” (click on the block to see additional sketches), but it doesn’t seem to denote the same level of importance that way. And based on what I’ve seen and read, Spring is going to be full of beige.

You will find lots of colour variation in a fashion season, even though some colours will be more “happening” and “new” than others. Of course you’ll find black and white each season so never fear when they aren’t represented in a trend forecast like this Pantone report.

I’ve got my money on colours like citron yellow, tomato red, lavender purple and beige as the biggest colours for Spring and Summer 2011. We’ll see how right I am as the season unfolds.