Pant Length

Anonymous

So I notice a lot of comments on pant length when I read posts. Sometimes the poster suggests shortening, other times lengthening. And so on.

I've just plain given up. Whatever length the pants are when they arrive is the length I wear them now. Out of the bag, onto the body.

Sorry Angie. You have taught us better. I just plain rolled over and exposed my white underbelly in this case.

9 years ago

Dressing

38 replies

Latest reply was from Shirley

RobinF

Veteran

Haha, that sounds very luxurious to me! As a short person (I am 5'2") it is rare that I don't have to hem pants! I am always amazed at people who don't know how to sew because I have had to alter my clothes forever and had to learn how quite young.

9 years ago

Anonymous

You must have short legs, RobinF. Either that or my legs are long. Im 5'2" but rarely need to shorten petite pants. As a matter of fact, I wish some manufacturers would make bootcut petite pants with 30" inseams so I could wear them with heels. A 28" inseam is too short.

9 years ago

Anonymous

Haha - funny, same here. And I like to think I know better. At 5'5" and seemingly shrinking, I almost never have to shorten pants. The other day, I wore a pair of new BR pants right out of the bag, happy with the length until I all of sudden felt like they were hiding my shoes and looked like office pants. Sigh - I hate dragging out my sewing machines, and looking for black thread and pinning and ironing and cutting and making a general mess . But I bet they will look more current with a couple of inches taken off.

9 years ago

Joyce B

Veteran

I bet you pull it off nicely because you are tall.
I always think about what will happen after I cut the pants, probably they will be out of style for the next season and I will have to buy all over again, that disuades me from cutting hems short.

9 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

*VERY SAD FACE*

9 years ago

Anonymous

Oh Angie - give us a break ! Sometimes the work that goes into it all gets to be a bit much for the average woman

9 years ago

RobinF

Veteran

I should add that I usually buy regular pants because petites are hard to find and a regular rise works best for me, especially with the lower rises that were popular.

9 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

A certain woman who shall remain nameless has been known to turn under and press her pants to PPL and then tack the hem up with two quick stitches--one on either side...

Of course, being the impeccable dresser she is, this "temporary" fix never lasts more than a year.

9 years ago

Thirkellgirl

Veteran

Gaylene, I may be intimately acquainted with someone who just did that with some Old Navy linen-y pants. They're going to be a one-summer item, I'm not paying the tailor this time!

9 years ago

kkards

Veteran

hmmm...if I had an iron, I might be tempted to do what the nameless person did

9 years ago

Greyscale

Veteran

Safety pins work too!

But it's taken me a long time to shift my perspective to shorter hems. I still think shoe-length looks at least as good on me as ankle-length. Still, most "cropped" pants are longer than my full inseam, so I'm trying to get back in the habit of taking them to my tailor.

I used to hem my own but I gave up after they'd sit in a mending pile for a year. Now that raw hems are in, at least I can just do the quick chop and be ok with it!

9 years ago

Diana

Veteran

Hehe, Gaylene, I might know someone who did that to her really long bootcut jeans, the ones that everyone compliments every time she posts outfits with them...

9 years ago

Anonymous

I just had my first pair hemmed above ankle length. That is way outside my comfort zone. Don't get too excited though, they are NOT wide leg.
I had no idea what I was doing - just showed the tailor a picture of the model on the company website and said "make them look like that, please."

9 years ago

LaPed

Veteran

JoyceB, yes! This is me, too: "I always think about what will happen after I cut the pants, probably they will be out of style for the next season and I will have to buy all over again, that disuades me from cutting hems short."

I have some jeans I'm tempted to chop, but I know that raw, frayed hems on pants are not really me, even though they look current, and after a couple seasons I'll have to pass the jeans on, whereas if I leave them be and just cuff them, the jeans will basically last forever...

I do hem dress pants, that's worth the investment, but for casual pants, I actually prefer the look of a cuff in most cases. Always have. It's not just the tomboy/RATE thing, it's also the visual heft/presence aspect, a la Alterations Needed. Which jives with good ol' Kibbe's recs for gamines. So yeah -- rolling, folding, scrunching FTW.

9 years ago

Kate

Veteran

I do what nameless person does all the time!

9 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Yep, I've had precisely one pair hemmed by a tailor, they're my most expensive pair of pants at $207, black "evening pants" I call them. I'm not so sure that there is a PPL any more when there is such variation. Ones that are truly too long I hem myself or I do a quick job like our nameless person or even just turn cuffs under a la Garance Dore's "French cuff for jeans". For my dark straight jeans I've done the cuffs under and used a small safety pin on each side. But what can really work for 5 foot 2 me is buying a supposed 7/8 pant or ankle grazer which is full length on me, I prefer full length or else properly cropped where it doesn't look like they are just too short. I will not be chopping any jeans and letting them fray, I feel- same worry as Robin F. I do have wide-leg jeans from 2007 in my holding zone so COULD do it on them... it may be too RATE for me though. As yet unsure. They are faded denim too which seems less current. Not getting worn as is since I bought the new straight-leg dark jeans last year.
Agree with Sterling and Lisap re "white underbelly" and "too much work for the average woman". Angie's very sad face will be sad dance soon!

9 years ago

Anonymous

I hate it when my pants are too short. It's the way a lot of women wear them, and the way they look on all the online pics (except Angie's PPL pics), but it bothers me because I know better. Like Angie, my mother was a stickler for PPL.

As for hemming up pants, it's not a big cash outlay to take them to the dry cleaner to be sent to the tailor - only $8 to $10 per pair, and she does an expert job. I rarely have to hem anything up, and if I get the pants on sale, then it's not much at all.

9 years ago

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

Gaylene. Stapler.

9 years ago

Irina

Veteran

I take most of my pants to a tailor. Have to, I am 5"3 and only petite pants I buy from BR are suit pants. For the summer, casual pants I use glue tape that I got from Ikea with some curtains works well, last a year or so and can be re-glued.

9 years ago

binkle

Veteran

Sterling, I am the same, only probably because I am tallish, and also because I'm not too much of a tweaker of detail. (The true definition if RATE??)

Seems to me that most of the posts and questions about pants length are regarding creating the "cropped" look. This may not be true, but it seems that way. I am tall enough that if I try crop-style pants, that's the way they look on me. Obviously won't work on a shorter person. Also, the look is a little too trendy/dateable to my eye, so I'm not cropping any existing pants.

But if the hems are dragging and sloppy, especially nice work pants, I have them shortened a bit so that I'll look professional, and so the fabric isn't dirtied or torn.

Are you happy with the length of your pants right out of the bag? Are the long ones dragging and looking sloppy?

9 years ago

shedev

Veteran

I leave skinnies and straights as is, but I like a little scrunch. I hem flares and dress pants.

9 years ago

Aziraphale

Veteran

Haha, STAPLER. The ultimate "temporary fix".

These days, all I want to wear is baggy rolled-up jeans. It doesn't matter how long they are if you're going to roll them up anyway. I have grown tired of caring about PPL. I have grown tired of skinny jeans. I just want to be comfy.

9 years ago

Carla

Veteran

Outlier here. After getting my new red pants (which I am sure are meant to be full length) I picked out the hem and let them down as much as I could without having a raw hem. Sewed them up and pressed. I still think they are too short, and was thinking of cropping them to above ankle bone!

The cropped and rolled trend is a blessing. I'm 5ft 7in with a long inseam. I believe I own only one pair of dress pants that are PPL - everything else is too short (and would make Angie cry), and I am ashamed sometimes to post the pics!

9 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

She-who-remains-nameless refuses to admit she has a well-used stapler in her home, along with numerous safety pins--and, in an emergency, even a washable glue stick. It is what it is...

Why do I see poor Angie cringing in the corner?

9 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

The crop trend is a blessing and curse for me. Curse because I really do have short legs and they look shorter in crops if I'm not super careful. Blessing because crops also feel very "me" for the reasons LaPed expressed. It's a gamine thing. (BF's cuffed are also good).

Anyway, I can buy some crops and have them work as is -- bonus!!

I don't know what that is -- but it is.

All other pants I need hemmed. I am 5'4" but can't wear petite pants -- rise is too short and proportions are wrong on me, also the leg length is usually too short.

9 years ago

Anonymous

Gaylene. Duct tape ( or if more fashion minded, fashion tape).

9 years ago

Keix

Veteran

I'm 5'2", almost 5'3" (the doctor claims 5'3" but I'm not convinced), and I need a 29" inseam for full length pants. Lots of hemming in my past and future! I've started getting sleeves shortened too, because my long torso means that regular-size tops sometimes fit better than petite sizes, but the sleeves are always too long.

9 years ago

BrieN

Veteran

I distract myself when my pants aren't the right length to the point they annoy me all day. Have I taken them all to the tailor? no. But I should. IMHO pants length can make or break an outfit.

9 years ago

minimalist

Veteran

Well, I just deleted a very long and unendingly detailed defense of PPL in my own case, because it was sounding a bit unhinged.

Here's to whatever version of voluntary unflattery keeps you having fun with fashion!

9 years ago

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