Jean-hacking frenzy - YouLookFab Forum

I had a field trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery today, and on my way back to the car I walked right by a shop that had the cutest cropped R&B cutoff straight leg jeans. I'm a little unsure about cutoff flares, but I love the vibe of the straight ones -- provided they have raw hems. These ones had a colour variation on the hem that made it look like they'd been hemmed before, washed a lot, and then un-hemmed -- you know what I mean, right?

Anyway, I dashed in to try them on. Predictably, they were too long on me -- almost cropped but not really. It was sad because they fit nicely at the waist. (I'm trying to develop a tolerance for higher waisted pants; these ones were a bit higher than my usual, but not truly high). It's not like I could have them shortened, unless I want to do that thing where they cut off the hem and re-sew it on, which is never quite the same.

But then, on the way home, occurred to me that I have two pairs of straight leg jeans that get almost no wear because the legs are wider than has been fashionable for about a decade. After my success with the chopping of the wide-leg jeans the other day, I decided to have another go! Now I have two pairs of raw-hem crops. The only difference is that the waist is lower than the ones they're selling now. We'll see if I feel "current" wearing them, or just silly.

Anyone else tried the self-made cropped jeans approach? Did you have success?

8 years ago

Anonymous

Well, yes, I have been cutting off my skinny jeans myself for a while now and have been rolling them to cropped height. The thing is, my legs are so short that I have to cut off a LOT of material, so much so that the cut line is quite a bit wider than my ankle. So basically, I think I've inadvertently been wearing cropped jeans for years without realizing that this was not the right look.

Diana

Veteran

The kick crops I was experimenting with last summer were actually some really ancient bootcuts, which I had hacked off 4-5 years ago and used to wear rolled up as clamdiggers. I just unrolled the hems (which were raw bc I am lazy and never bothered to hem them) and voila, kick flares. Pretty good for a third incarnation of an ancient pair of jeans.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Yes. Twice. Skinnies and straight legs. Okay, and wear both pairs that have been hacked. Not as good as the real thing though.

Suz

I have! I cut off a pair of old skinnies that I wasn't wearing much. They have a slightly higher waist. The only trouble is, they barely fit because my weight is up a bit, so they're less than gloriously comfortable. Having said that, they look good.

I'm also going to crop my old white Kuts, and probably a few other pairs.

I also wear my Racers rolled up to crop length quite a bit in summer especially. That works on me as long as I wear a relatively monochrome outfit (i.e. column of colour more or less). Otherwise my legs are shortened too much.

El Cee

My first try at the crop flare look was last summer when I hacked off a pair of old bootcuts that were no longer PPL after years of laundering. I left the edges unhemmed and frayed them. I may have cropped them a bit too short, but they are still fun for summer wear with cute flats or sandals.

texstyle

I did try hacking a pair of dark denim that were a boot cut style I never wore. I ended up hacking again into shorts though and was much happier with the end result that way. I don't think the typical cropped kick or cropped straight is for me - though I do have a pair of cropped slim jeans with embroidered large hems and those do work for me.

Custom Find

by texstyle

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Aziraphale

smittie -- I'm short too, so I usually have to hem, although with most jeans these days (they seem to make the inseams shorter now) I only have to hem them an inch or two. But I remember back when skinnies were first popular, or even further back, when flares were in (circa 2002!) and many jeans came in a 34" inseam. Ack! I would always hold out for jeans that were no longer than 32", but I'd still have to chop them.

Diana -- I love that you're wearing a third incarnation of your jeans!

Angie -- Glad to hear you wear yours! My next step is to figure out how to wear them so I don't look like a shrimpie. How do you mean, the "real thing" is better? Is it because the frayed edge looks better? Or because of the higher waist? (I'm usually more excited by a brand-new item, but since I'm not sure if I can make these cropped straights work, this seems like an inexpensive trial run).

Suz, I wear quite a few pairs of my jeans rolled up with ankle boots, so only a sliver of skin shows. This has pretty much been a FFBO this past winter, actually. But it's a different look with rolled racers (I have some too!) and Dres -- more of a slim-boyfriend style. I don't find it leg-shortening at all because of "closing the gap". My recently-hacked straight legs have a much wider leg, and for some reason I feel that a raw hem is a completely different look than a rolled hem. But yes, they shorten my legs A LOT. I think I can only get away with this look with heels.

El Cee -- sadly, I can't wear mine with flats or flat sandals. I love the look on others -- especially when you see them worn with flat oxfords or sneaks -- but I don't have the height or leg length for it! Grrr.

texstyle -- I am an old pro at hacking jeans into shorts, too. I've been doing it since I was a teenager. In fact I've never actually bought a pair of denim shorts -- mine have always been self-cutoff jeans! Shorts are much less troublesome than crops, because they don't seem to have the same leg-shortening issues.

Elisabeth, it's because the fit on my lower legs is better with the real deal - you know I can split hairs about fit. The rises are also a little higher, which elongates the leg line when I semi-tuck. The old jeans that I hacked have very low rises, which shorten the leg line.

Yes, I can see the lower rise being a problem, Angie. The fit on the waist of the R&B ones I tried on yesterday was very nice -- and I agree that a slightly higher rise elongates the leg. But I can't bring myself to buy jeans that I'm going to immediately take the scissors to! I would be different if I was taking them to get professionally hemmed -- but what I love about this cropped jean/kick-flare trend is the raw edges.

Any advice on how to wear these experimental self-chopped ones so I don't look like my legs are six inches long? It needs to be heels, but which heels look most current? How much leg should be exposed?

Angie says about 2 to 4 inches above ankle BONE and for shoes, wear something with a higher vamp or ankle strap. She has some blog posts about this.

Thanks, Suz! Actually, the R&B jeans I tried on yesterday are pictured in that blog post you linked to. But the model is wearing low-vamp heels with them. Could I do that? I like how the low-vamp heels look with my recently chopped wide-leg pants, but that's a much different look -- more like slim culottes.

I do have ankle-strap heels that are very high, but it's not an everyday look for me. I have 3" block-heeled sandal boots that should work. I'll have to experiment later on tonight.

RoseandJoan

Just make sure you leave a couple of pairs full length

Your title made me think of Edward Scissor Hands which is never a bad thing.

Good luck with the shoe experiment, I'm sure you'll have a pair of Fluvogs (sp?) which work perfectly.

Thanks Jules!

Beth Ann

Atta girl! Be the boss of your clothes! I'm excited to try new denim silhouettes, since my world gets more casual all the time. However, it does take some work to get the new proportions right when putting together outfits!

Thanks, Beth Ann! You are funny. (That reminds me...remember back in December when I had the bad Sound of Music haircut? Your comment, which I didn't see until way later, was hilarious -- something like how to solve the problem of Maria).

Tanya

I haven't done it yet, but I intend to do exactly as you have done. I also have two pairs of straight jeans that are getting no wear at all so they are ripe for hacking. One is high rise made of dressier uniform dark denim so those I plan to hem. The other one is more casual so I will probably leave the hem raw. I will post the pictures to get length advice at some point in the next week.

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