More on crops, capris and confusion (pic heavy) - YouLookFab Forum

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More on crops, capris and confusion (pic heavy)

catgirl

Veteran

Spinning off on Elizabeth P's post, I remain perplexed on cropped hem lengths and flattery... Although I'm usually good with JFE, I clearly have either a mental block or a poison eye in this area.

So at midnight, thanks to drinking a late latte, I scrolled through most of what came up in a search for cropped or capri pants and present you with the following exhibits for your analysis. All of these stood out to my subjective eye as less than fab. They range from sport gear to designer fashion brands.

What do you see and why? Are these even capris? Some may be pedal pushers, whatever those are. Are they hitting the no flattery length? Is it the shoes? The cut? Or are they fine and the problem lies with me?

I humbly await your wisdom. Off to sleep.

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Dressing

38 replies

Latest reply was from LaPed

rachylou

Veteran

Lol. I feel the second pair is cute. I note the gal has no top and no shoes... I feel
suspicious that it's the tops and shoes taking the other pants down.

I confess I'm not totally sure where'd you go in short sweat pants like that. Maybe to grab bagels and the NYT in Northern California (distinctly NOT NYC) on a Sunday would be acceptable...lol.

catgirl

Veteran

Ha! Perhaps the key is to go topless! Okay, really need to sleep....

Sal

Veteran

I am not in love with these pants whatever they are called but conceivably I would wear 1 2 4 9 (except I am personally allergic to camo on me).

Pair 2 for example, with slides or slip on sneakers and a casual tee would be something I could wear to watch my son doing athletic sports. I would add a hat. I don't see this as hip but it would totally work.

Pair 4 I could add a slightly slouchy but dressy tee (hypothetically a cold shoulder type top) and maybe a cuff, casual hair, and wear to a BBQ dinner with friends. I think I would prefer the pants slightly longer but I think this would work.

I think with pair 7 you need a crop top, lots of bare skin, contouring a la kardashian and a pout.

Summer

Veteran

It's tricky territory, for sure. I'll just say that I've only ventured into cropped pants since joining YLF, under Angie's expert guidance. It's so easy to get it horribly wrong!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Haha. I think I own pair #2, and they are workhorses for me. But not to wear out, they are around the house and cottage wear. I like that they are comfortable gear yet not firm fitting, and I like to have a pocket for my lens cap. Cottage criteria :). I wear them with Birks, keens, flip flops, Ecco sporty sandals, and a top

Of the rest, I don't mind 4, 5, or 9. It appears my eye likes a slimming or some detail at the bottom. I think this helps give the leg some definition.

Thanks for doing this Una, I think it will be interesting to see what people have to say.

Brooklyn

Veteran

I am with Elizabeth. I think 4, 5 and 9 are fine. No 5 does seem shorter than the current trend but still reasonably flattering to my eye because it hits high calf. A lot of them hit mid calf - the widest point of the leg. I would rather go high calf or low calf, and not in between. I like the camo pants best.

Anonymous

This topic has left me so utterly confused. I am grateful to you for having taken the time to pull together a pictorial.

Numbers 3 and 8 are what I would consider unattractive. I would wear number 4 in a heartbeat. I own number 5.

carter

Veteran

I'd wear 4, 5, and 9. 2 would be great as loungewear or to/from gym.

El Cee

Veteran

Chuckling because I do own a few of these. I am very tall, so I do not fear crops and their stumpifying effect. They are a great summer option for me. I wear something similar to #2 to the gym in the summer months (worn with a roomy tee or tank and sneakers). I consider them to be gear. Shorter cuffed cropped pants like #4 I wear with a tunic or short dress and gladiators or ankle strap wedge sandals. I have cargo crops like #5 and #9 in various shades (olive, camo, black, brown) and wear them for ultra casual activities (camping, hiking, gardening), often with a fluid tee/tank and either slip on sneakers, gardening crocs or sports sandals. I consider #6 to be in the culotte family and very much like them, but I would wear them at a shorter length than shown here. I have several pairs of culottes and wide leg crops in various fabrics and colors. I tend to wear them with a more cropped top, a peplum top or a fluid high-low tee. I usually pair them with ankle strap wedges or espadrilles. I would totally wear #7 if I was younger and more toned -- like Sally suggested: with very cropped top and bare midriff. The only ones I really do not like are #3 and #8 -- something about the cut, color and fabrication does not appeal to me.

Bonnie

Veteran

I like #4 and #5 and would wear them for very casual activities. The rest would not work for me but would probably work for some people.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I wouldn't wear #3 but would wear #4 and #7 and the rest are very dependent on the exact fit and styling.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I am in full agreement with Shevia here. (That's my story and I am sticking to it, LOL.)

Honestly, though -- it's really all in the styling. Una, can you link to that blog post you put in Elizabeth's thread? It was fascinating and so worth seeing.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

3, 8, and 10 are the least appealing to my eye. It's hard to rule out the styling, even in stock photos. But the high rises+flat fronts plus the straight cuts and length all hit that spot *to me* that is nondescript and unflattering. However, as I've said before, what works for one person, with styling, is different for another. Pair even those pants with a trendy draped top and current ankle strap footwear, and maybe they'd work just fine.

2 would make fine lounging/around the house wear.
I like 4 -- probably the example here I'd be most likely to wear, although I tend to wear my similar style a little shorter to *just* below the knee.
5 looks like what I wore in summer pre-YLF. They're perfectly fine and a bit outdoorsy-casual, but I see them as serviceable, not fashionable.
6, 7, and 9 look pretty current. 6 and 7 are not for me, but someone here would make them look amazing. 9 would be fine for casual wear. I'd style them carefully so they didn't just look like a default.

krishnidoux

Veteran

What a timely post as I just selected dress pants to be taken in at the hem. I am thinking of transforming them into "crops" (whatever the proper denominator will be once finished), but hesitating on the exact length. Your post, compliments from your late latte, provides ample visual to help me!
Not all of them are appealing to me though... I am with you for the poison eye. But I would like to try something like 3, for fun.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

The wider styles are culottes: #2, 6, 7 and 8.

#10 are leggings.

#3 is not so fab. Bad fabric and shoe paring. Length could work with better footwear.

Absolutely nothing wrong with: #1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9.

Anonymous

Come on! You've picked some of the most deadly looking pants ever. Lol. That said, there are flashes of brilliance in your selections and some I love! Sometimes I wonder if it really matters what we call them - it's all about whether we like that particular look and length on ourselves, regardless of whether they are capris or crops or whatever. All I can do is rely on my eye - if I like it, I wear it. If it has a mall-store polyester feel to it, no, it's not happening. But someone else might look at what I wear and make the very same /reverse comment. And we can all be friends:)

JAileen

Veteran

I bought three pairs of cropped pants this year, including a patterned pants(!). I have no idea about length. I might do a post on them and see what everyone (but especially Angie) thinks. I feel like I'm tone deaf in this area.

Diana

Veteran

1: don't like how they're styled and wouldn't wear myself but objectively the pants are ok.

2:would wear as lounge/gear.

3:this is the most unflattering of the bunch IMO. Leg opening too wide and low, rise maybe too high/long, and weirdly blocky looking.

4: I like these and would wear them. They're basically just cropped skinnies.

5: fine but Not for me as I don't like cargoes on myself.

6:maybe objectively not the most flattering length but I like them. They're similar to the teddie pants I just bought.

7:these look like culottes to me. I think they look fun and flattering.

8: not as bad as 3 but similar issues. Also I dislike pork chop pockets- they always look so long and huge.

9: fine. I would wear these in a different color (I don't do camo).

10: the waistband makes these look like leggings. Hence not pants. You could wear them under a dress or tunic though.

This was an interesting exercise. I'm realizing that I don't care so much About length these days, although from a practical standpoint I personally might not have the shoes to make certain lengths work. To me, the cut/style is far more of a deal breaker.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I'd be happy to help you, JAileen.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Nodding with Diana here. It's more the cut/ style and the colour and whether you have footwear to do the thing justice...

always trying

Veteran

I do not know who or exactly when, but someone, somewhere put photos and a big blurb on the internet bashing capris. Showing photos of how totally awful everyone looked in any length of pants from just below knees to the bottom of calves was making us all look stumpy. But most women continued to wear capris, but apparently some were afraid they would go out of style. So lets call them by different names, clamdiggers, skimmers, crops, etc. These all are very confusing.All different length and width, etc. More recently terms like mom capris were coined.

NOW ladies this is all a crock of &#*$. We all have different leg lengths, width of calves, heights, weights, and body shapes. How can we all look stumpy?? Capris, or those by any other name, make us all look so bad? Wear what we like. Forget all the crappy terminology, and stay cool. Shave, wax, or whatever your legs and bare what you want, fits the weather, etc.

There is nothing wrong, or right with any of the photos above. It all depends on the body in them. some look great in all of them and some look great in none of them. It is not the clothes, it is in the wearer, how you style them, etc. Isn't that what YLF is all about? How things work on us as individuals, and embracing our bodies as they are, and our style>>>

I hope I am not contradicting Angie, but this is my thoughts. Angie is a stylist, so she is looking at it form a fashion point of view. I agree some widths and length probably look bad on almost everyone. Many flatter a very wide range of women. I find some styles do not even look good on the 5ft. 10, 100 lb models.

krishnidoux

Veteran

always trying got me intrigued. Browsing online, I found this comment on a Reddit thread about What women wear men hate:

"Capri pants! I've just always thought they look very unattractive on a woman. They look like what a poor cabin boy wears while working on a ship. What gets noticed and where our attention goes is right to the ankles. What's attractive about a woman's ankles? It's like if a woman is wearing capris, it doesn't matter what she's wearing above the waist because our attention goes right to the floor." - Mike Z.

Hummmm....

molly221

I usually like something that falls lower than my calf and above the ankle. Out of these...I love the camo pants.

And I wore black cropped sweatpants this morning with a sun hat. I went strawberry picking and it was under 60 degrees

El Cee

Veteran

Krish -- That Reddit comment is interesting: "What's attractive about a woman's ankles?" My husband would say "plenty!" To each his own, I guess.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Haha, Krish, I was just thinking, in response to that "gentleman," Hmmm, there are some situations where that could be a distinct advantage....

always trying, love your attitude. We should wear what we like and style the daylights out of it!

always trying

Veteran

I n the victorian era when women all word long dresses men looked for a "well turned ankle". in my young days I was led to believe men looked at boobs and backsides. Then I later thought it was long legs. I was married with two kids by that time, so this did me no good. Now I really don't care. But we should shoot the @#@@ who started all this about capris in the first place.

a while back I got a compliment from a not too old gentlemen about my cute cargo capris. they were definately mid calf length.

There are so many styles and lengths out there we should all be having fun trying things out. And try to be objective, and non critical of others.

AviaMariah

Veteran

I think any of these could work depending on the fit, the person the shoes etc. I think the "deadly" Capris are more a matter of fit. The one's that I see that are not so fab are usually worn really large - maybe in an attempt to be cool in hot weather. Another factor is worn out Capris. I think since they are work horses for so many people in the hot weather they tend to wear them way past their prime so they're baggy, faded etc.

catgirl

Veteran

So 1 and 10 are actually the same EF bottoms, only 10 is plus size. Several others are EF as well. 4 are Hudsons. 2 is Zella (I think - an athletic brand if not).

El Cee brings up a great point - being tall is probably a lot easier with this style and I think it's because there's more leg - my sweet spot for these is so tight. I get that it's about overall proportion, so a shrunken version of what works on a 6" model should work on me, but finding that length in available styles (or being able to hem and not lose the point of the style) is a real struggle when you are 5"2'!

Sorry not to have Finds or links - I'm on my phone at my parents' place.

But here's the link Suz mentioned!

http://themomedit.com/2012/06/.....l-pushers/

And another good one:

http://40plusstyle.com/how-to-.....ped-pants/

catgirl

Veteran

Always Trying, I completely agree with you! Also, I can't stand Tim Gunn. Sweeping generalizations unless they are regarding VPL, camel toe, or other true faux-pas, just annoy me.

My issue is that I've always viewed capris as practical rather than fashion items - they have always been a part of life in my environment for hiking, summer walks, etc. it's hard to get my head around them as an item to be STYLED.

I honestly don't care what others wear - but if these are going to work FOR ME, where I live, as a FASHION item, I need to figure out how to distinguish them from the garden-variety version sported by my beloved friends who don't give a hoot about trends or crop length. I do want to have fun with them!

I'm reminded of visiting my sister in New York years ago and seeing Carhartts in a trendy store on Canal Street. People thought they were so adorable and I was thinking "Those are for 4-wheelers and snow machining!"

http://www.carhartt.com

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