As I've mentioned a few times, I'm all over the cropped-jeans-with-raw-hems look. I love it. I went on a hacking binge in the spring, turning two old pairs of wide, straight leg jeans into crops, and then buying a cheap pair of slim straights with a higher rise from the Gap and chopping them off immediately. I have to wear heels to avoid looking like Frodo in these pants -- the wider ones especially -- but I love them. They have an effortless RATE quality that works for me.

I've been slower to warm up to cropped flares, but finally pulled out an old pair of Mavi bootcuts from circa 2007 and did a hack job on those as well. They are mid-rise, which is high-rise on me, so they fit in better with the current silhouette. I hadn't worn them for several years because they made me feel like a frumpy suburban housewife, but couldn't bring myself to pass them on because I'd paid to have the waist tailored and I liked the wash. Now with the cropped length, frayed hem and booties, they feel kind of cool.

Then today while out doing a few errands, a trendy-looking young sales assistant came up to me and said, "I love your jeans! Do you mind telling me where you got them?". I replied (with immense satisfaction, it must be said) that they are old bootcuts that I'd hacked off myself.