Well, I love them.

Is that glen plaid more brown-ish taupish or greyish, would you say?

Love Vicki's outfit, too.

It's so interesting how different our tastes and perceptions are. I am stunned by the general culottes aversion. To me it is a bit like claiming an aversion to skirts or an aversion to pants. They come in so many different shapes and drapes and varieties -- something for everybody! How is it possible to dislike them all?

If you can style an A line skirt you can style some types of culotte. If you can style a wide leg pant or a cropped pant you can style others.

I'm not trying to argue that everyone should wear them. If you don't like them by all means move on to the next thing and avoid them. I'm just perplexed that at the intense feelings (in both directions!) that they provoke. Why do those of us who love them feel so affectionate towards them, I wonder? That's equally a valid question.

In my own case, I think it's because they offer:

• A new silhouette when I am craving a change.
• A happy trip down memory lane. (I recall my mother wearing them, and also wearing them as a child.)
• The practicality of pants with many of the benefits of a skirt (elegant drape, cooler, etc.)

Now *those* are delightful, and I would be willing to spend some time to get the styling right.

Would a tall boot be all right, so that no skin was showing? Or does this style need to flash some ankle/calf?

Also, how would these work in a charcoal grey, no plaid?

I have a pair that I wore yesterday with a very short sleeve top and a openwork mid thigh sweater.
And, after reading this mornings post, I tried on a much longer black pair in ponte at Talbots (find below). They looked horrible on me by themselves but good with a calf length black cardigan. I brought the culottes home, and ordered a plus size pair to compare. And to try with clothing at home, as the abdomen area only works if it is well covered.

In my middle? school years I had a fall/winter gaucho (cord?) pair that I wore with a poncho, and in my mid/late twenties similarly A-lined colorful twill ones I wore on my honeymoon.

LOVE! And glen plaid to boot!

I'm definitely on the culotte band wagon. Those look gorgeous

I fell in love with these culottes (the colours, pattern, and drape all look amazing) the minute I saw them. And I am SO loving the sound of your client's new outfit, WOW.

I wonder if the pleating would be flattering on me? Also not sure if I should go for a dressier pair (like these ones) or more casual pair with my more casual lifestyle (still very much attracted to dressy clothes, as you can see;-)
Anyway, my size is already sold out on J.Crew Europe, but it's good to think about these questions for the future;-)

I love the outfit your client chose, the mix of prints and the look of the pants (except the length). I just can't get on board with the culottes (although I'm also in the camp where culottes are just below the knee and remind me of horrible ones I wore in grade school). I'll leave this one to the more fashion forward of you all and will enjoy your styling adventures with culottes from the sidelines.

I do like them when i see them on others but it seems like hard work to style them on me and I dont know how it would go on my appley shape. I dont know if I would wear the right shoes with them......I was looking at a pair of denim ones and would probably wear with wedges or nice flip flops.

Hopefully this won't be a thread hijacking, but I'd like to address Suz's question of why people who love culottes are so fond of them! I'm actually not sure. Is it because they offer something a little different from all other bottoms? That they bridge the gap between trousers and skirts? That they make you feel like a rebel?

One thing I'll add to why I think people don't like them (and don't take this the wrong way; I personally think they are cute and chic): they can be a little, well, dorky. They don't create an inherently "cool" silhouette. Not to my eye. The person wearing them really has to do it with panache.

Aziraphale -- re: "They don't create na inherently "cool" silhouette." Yeah, I agree; I think a cropped wide leg is always a bit "against-the-grain" but for many that's probably the appeal. There's a good chance you'll always be the only person in the room wearing culottes, so if you can do it well, I think there are some fashion brownie points to be snagged.

And at the same time, they don't look completely new or out there -- there's definitely a retro/classic vibe to them, bordering on "hey, my grandma wears that!" Much like loafers. I was utterly baffled when loafers made a big comeback as hipster-wear, because I always assumed they were inherently dorky. (Especially with socks!) But now I see them all over the place. And perhaps embracing the dorkiness and adopting an I-don't-care-what-you-think approach to fashion is, ultimately, what "cool" is all about?

Well, I don't feel rebellious if I wear them, because I don't see them as particularly edgy, maybe because I grew up with them in various iterations. But your other two reasons hit home for me, Elisabeth. Definitely they bridge the skirt/ trouser gap, which can be practical at times, and absolutely, they provide a bit of a change. I like skinnies and don't mind volume on top, but I equally like the opposite proportions.

I guess they can look a bit dorky...but so can midi skirts, right? (I mean, poorly styled ones.) They can also look super-elegant.

For the record, I get SO MANY compliments on my Zara sarong shorts. Admittedly, they could be considered "culottes light." They hit just below my knee, are not super voluminous, the split is not obvious from the front unless I am walking, etc. But the number of women who look at those babies enviously and beg me to tell them where I got them has astonished me. I suspect that means they do not look dorky.

I'm ready for an all culotte fashion round up post!

WOW. This thread exploded overnight. The culottes passion continues.

Elizabeth, you rock your pleather culottes with the best of them. Keep up the momentum.

Suz, insightful thoughts as always. I could not agree MORE with why you love culottes. HIGH FIVE. (The plaid on these here is GREY, not taupe. The blue us your blue). You are BANG on the money about how to style culottes too. Love your sarong shorts. They look like harems to my eye.

Minimalist, sure. Adding tall boots is ‘70s style. You might need to shorten them though. (To my eye, MUCH more appealing in the plaid - flat in the solid grey).

Barbara, I am SO excited about your new culottes look. In fact, it made my day.

Woooohoooo, Rachy, Traci and Debs.

Inge, the pleats could work quite well. And these are GREAT dressed down too.

Jeanne and Sally, I am challenging you to wear culottes.

Elisabeth and La Pedestrienne, “cool” is in the eye of the beholder. To me, as a fashion professional, a pair of killer culottes is just about the coolest bottoms silhouette out there at the moment. Time - people need time. That’s all. Remember how adverse people were to skinny jeans 10 years ago. A COMPLETE CLASSIC now. (And any item can look dorky when poorly styled).

Angie, just wanted to thank you for addressing those specific points the JC reviewer had made. I'm definitely thinking about these.

Yes, you're right, it's true -- any item can look dorky when styled badly! It may well be that my eye has not adjusted yet. And I do feel like the people I see IRL wearing culottes look "cool" (I wish there were another word for what I mean) because they are so cutting-edge right now -- only the young, hip, daring girls are doing it here. At the moment. That could change. But the reason they look cool in their culottes is because they are the kind of women who ALWAYS look cool. They take something slightly dorky and make it good.

I have yet to see a middle-aged woman wearing them here, although I'm keeping my eyes peeled.

Suz, I would feel rebellious wearing them, but it's precisely because they ARE so retro! My mom wore them in the 70s, and she dressed me in them too, occasionally. I remember a red pair I wore for picture day in grade seven, and I was the only girl in class who wasn't dressed like the lead character from Flashdance. (For the record, I felt EXTREMELY dorky that day).

Ha! Elisabeth, that's so funny. Being a good decade older I got to experiment with different iterations and had some that I chose myself (vs. those my mum dressed me in, which, admittedly, were not the most fashion forward, ha!) My mum had some very dorky versions herself, too -- but also some really lovely ones at different times. And I saw how incredibly practical they were for her. They make a really nice "not too dressy, not too casual" alternative to shorts, I think.

Thanks, Angie -- and thanks also for the details on these J. Crew ones -- they might just turn out to be my non-denim, non dressup culotte!!

Blonde moment of my day... I was thinking about your culottes post and admitting to myself that I've always struggled with liking the silhouette, when I looked at some of your examples and then down at the brand new white cropped pants I was wearing and went "What the what?! I'm wearing culottes!!" Yep. Accidental culottes. Apparently I just got off the fence.

Not at all adverse. I like them for the reasons Suz gives. I just need to figure out how I can best wear them now and with flat footwear.

I love love LOVE the j crew crops! Love the flats with them, too. Wide and close to the ankle bone - that's what I'm talking about!

Well, since I jumped on the "skirted leggings of controversy" I guess it only stands to reason I would wear culottes, too. I picked up a new pair today--I would call them wide-legged cropped pants--as part of the "uniform" I will wear at my new job. They hit a couple of inches above my ankle, I think--a little shorter than they look on the models, who are wearing the pants quite a bit oversized.

I love, love, love the sound of your clients outfit Angie! I'm halfway through making some new rust ones. Pics to follow in a few days

Thanks for your input, Angie. They are already sold out in my size unfortunately.