I've been hemming (ha) and hawing over these pants for a couple of days. They are Madewell Pleated Wide Legs. I love the shape, but I'm wondering what you all think of the length.

The waist is loose on me and over the course of a day I suspect these will settle and looks bit longer than they do here. I could probably take the next size down, but it's not available in this colour, and I worry I might lose some of the drapey-ness in the legs if I go with the smaller size. I'm tempted to order a size down in the other colour (quite similar, in Finds) just to see what they look like; it could save me the trouble of adjusting the fit on these.

I could alter these in the waist so that they sit a bit higher, but then the pleats would hit me a bit higher and might not lie as nicely.

I could also just hem them up an inch or so, although I like the current length with the boots and would get more wear out of them in colder if I leave them alone.

Thoughts? Are these worth the effort of alterations? Should I try the smaller size in the other colour first?

Pic 1 -- front view as-is with boots.
Pic 2 -- side view as-is with boots
Pic 3 -- with sneakers, how they fit now
Pic 4 -- with sneakers, and trying to show what they might look like with the waist taken in (see how the pleats pucker a bit?)
Pic 5 -- my new favorite pose