Sometimes when pants are a little short, you can can let down their hems for an extra inch to inch and a half in length. Of course, there has to be a generous hem to let down, or it’s a non-starter.
Also, lengthening pants this way when they are new, rather than old and frequently laundered, will prevent permanent distressed fold lines across the bottom of the pants. The creases caused by the fold of the shorter hems should press out quite easily too. If they don’t, the faint line isn’t much of an eyesore. At least, not to me. And definitely not as much of an eyesore as pants that are too short.
I had a pair of very summery, big and baggy, lightweight white cotton pants on my shopping list this year. Everlane’s Pleated Wide-Leg Chinos ticked all the boxes. They are off-white, instead of optical white, which works well too. I like the way they feel, drape, fit, move, and crease in that carefree Summer way. But I didn’t fancy the length, which is what you see on the models in the product photos.
To my eye, these pants were begging to be lengthened by an inch and a quarter, which would take them to skimming the surface of the ground. They have a generous 2 inch hem, so I could do just that. I let down the hems, washed the pants to make sure they were preshrunk, and had them hemmed to a longer length. Now they’re perfect and waiting to be worn on a hot Summer’s day when I don’t feel like wearing a pretty dress.
