Hemming question - YouLookFab Forum

Category

Dressing

Hemming question

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

So I just washed my new white jeans and of course need to have them hemmed (cursed short legs!). I'm wanting to wear a variety of shoes with these jeans but they all have varying heel heights. Do I hem the jeans to the highest heel I know I'll wear with them and let the pants be too long with other shoes; or do I hem the pants to be correct with the lowest heel I'll wear with them and know they'll be too short with other shoes; or do I hem them to the middle height and know they'll be too short for some and too long for others?

Dressing

22 replies

Latest reply was from Transcona Shannon

Anonymous

I'm sometimes a coward about hemming although usually wear flats. I often use fashion tape to turn a too-long hem to the inside to shorten temporarily. Otherwise I think you need to commit to a length and the heel height you want to wear with them.

Kari

Veteran

I'm kind of with Joy on this one - that's one of the reasons why I decided to try to buy heels that are around the 2-2.5" mark; I'm most comfortable at that heel height and it makes it oodles easier to hem my jeans to a consistent length.

velvetychocolate

Veteran

Last time I had some jeans hemmed, I chose to have them hemmed to PPL based on my most comfortable heel height (which is no higher than 2" heel). No, I can't wear them with flats, and I can't wear higher heels, but I get more wear out of the jeans because I can wear them with my 'most comfortable' heel, if that makes sense. But, I seem to have fussy feet, so this is more important to me than someone who can wear all kinds of heels.

What do you think of this idea? If you can walk for hours, you'll get more wear out of your new white pants. I happen to think this is an important consideration at this time of year in particular too - because the weather's nice, we're all more apt to be out walking around than we are when it's cold or miserable out. So pick your favourite, most comfortable summer shoe and get the pants hemmed to work with those.

Anonymous

Then there are those snap things that allow you to wear them at different lengths, but I'm not sure how fab the results are. I'm thinking of your orange flats, I know you wanted to be able to wear them with those....any chance you have white walk shorts too?

Aida

Veteran

Shannon, your white jeans are straight leg right? There is usually a proper length for straight legs which happily happens to work for both heels and flats. Post them up here pinned up for length recommendation and then try the YLF approved pinned length with flats to make sure it works. If not, check back here and we'll sort you out

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Thanks ladies - once the jeans are dry (hung to dry as per Angie's recommendation for denim) I'll do some pinning and seek your recommendations.

Claire - I do want to be able to wear them with my orange flats but I may end up passing on that and going with a heel height instead. Once I'm off my May Madness SYC, maybe I'll see if I can find some white bermudas.

Anonymous

I somewhat disagree with you being able to find a length that would work for both heels and flats, if you are looking for Angie's perfect PPL.

You might be able to get away with it in the case of skinnies. It does not work for any other pant cut, IMO.

Since I have not been able to find a workaround for perfect PPL, with varying shoe heights to date, I commit to a heel height before hemming. I like the idea of fashion tape etc, but I'll be afraid the hem would come undone during the day.

Given the fact that these are white, I would not like to see them dragging at all.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Thanks Zap! I do think you're right in that I will need to commit to a heel height which means deciding which of my shoes will be my "white jean shoes". My other option is to buy a duplicate pair and hem one for flats and one for heels but since I'm not sure how much I will wear these jeans (first time with white jeans) that may not be smart financially (these were NOT inexpensive jeans). And very true that I don't want white dragging.

L'Abeille

Veteran

What is PPL?

ironkurtin

Veteran

PPL is proper pants length.

I personally don't think you *can* find a length that works for both flats and heels. I pick my poison, and if I love the pants enough, I get 2 pairs, one for flats and one for heels. That doesn't happen very often, btw.

christieanne

Veteran

When I was hemming my white bootcut jeans, Angie suggested I could go a 1/4 inch shorter than PPL due to the white color. Now I can wear with flats and a slight heel (I have all but given up on high heels anyway)

Anonymous

proper pant length

Kirti

(website)

Veteran

Hem it for the shoes you will most likely wear a lot this summer? Lighter shoes always look nicer with light coloured jeans (or bright shoes) so maybe that will help narrow it down?

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Thanks for the wisdom ladies!

JennyAnne

(website)

Veteran

Like others have said, go with what you'll wear them with most often. Err on the long side if you'll wear them with flats and low heels. There's always a bit of a roll, too, if you hem them for heels but want to try them with flats.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Shannon, maybe buying another pair is not a bad thing if they are not very expensive. The thing with white denim is that you have to wash it after every wear or at the most two if you are lucky. Because of this I cannot wear the same pair of white bermudas more that 1-2 times a week and sometimes it really limits my options. If you have 2 pairs hemmed to different heel height you with have the best of both worlds!

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Definitely going to give that some thought Sveta!

Aida

Veteran

I still think with some straight legs (usually slim pairs) it's possible to get PPL with both flats and heels. Looking forward to seeing your pinups (teehee) ^^

ManidipaM

Veteran

I'm with IK and Sveta. Pick your poison, particularly since it's white! Even with regular washing, the different hems you fold to can start to develop a slight discoloration (happened to my stone pair, which I recently let out --- even after Oxy you can see where the old hemline was).

I would use Joy's trick of folding up and in with darker denim though, and Claire's idea of snaps has more traction and surety I bet.

Personally, I live in an especially mucky world, and have different lengths of pants, with a few duplicates or near-duplicates (diff colours, same style) with a bias towards flats and under-2-inches.

Deborah

Veteran

I'm with Aida on this. I'm going to search Angie's post on ppl and get back to you.

Deborah

Veteran

I'm back with this from Angie:

A: Straight cut jeans can function like skinnies for women who prefer a little less tapering at the end of their denim hems. The correct length depends entirely on you and the type of footwear you like to wear with the silhouette. If the hems of straight legs fit over your shoes, by all means wear them a little longer, covering a part of the back of the shoe. I like a bit of scrunch in front! But you can also wear them an inch or so below the anklebone sans scrunching, exposing the entire shoe. I am not a fan of rolling up straight leg jeans to ankle length because the cuff cuts off the leg line horizontally. T
hat being said, a naturally long leg line and/or a pair of heels greatly improve the rolled jeans silhouette.
I like to see straight leg denim hems finish a little past the back of the shoes from the
side, thereby still showcasing most of the heel but covering part of the back before the
heel starts. As I mentioned, I am not a fan of rolled jeans. It’s not an impossible look to
get right, but it is tricky. So stick to what is flop proof unless you’re prepared to do a lot of
experimentation.

Based on this I think it might be possible to hem your jeans for both a heel and flats.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Thanks Deborah - I will do some pinning and post for Angie and others assistance for hemming.