Really confused about pants length

JennyK (NC)

Hi friends! I used to be a really active member here... Like 15 years ago LOL. A whole lot has changed in my life. I have lost a lot of weight recently, so I am ruthlessly editing my closet to figure out what I need to buy. 15 years ago, I stuck to the absolute rule that pants should "break" at about the top of the foot and come down to the back of your heel. If you write heels, the pants had to be correspondingly longer. As I'm looking at current fashion, I am really confused. I see even things like wide legged pants that stop at the ankle bone, and it feels super weird to me. What say you fashion mavens? How long are my pants supposed to be?

1 week ago

Dressing

9 replies

Latest reply was from JennyK (NC)

Sal

Veteran

I will defer to Angie on this one as the expert.....

I think there are a few lengths that can work depending on the style of pants, fabric and your own preferences. And what shoes you want to wear.

I like ankle length for straighter pants and longer for wider legs, but I do have wide leg linen pants that are a bit shorter (I think that works okay with sandals and birks but not with sneakers or boots).

1 week ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Welcome back, JennyK!

Queen Pedantic About Pant Lengths reporting for duty

Sal, is bang on the money with this:

"I think there are a few lengths that can work depending on the style of pants, fabric and your own preferences. And what shoes you want to wear".

My suggestion is to read these posts first:

https://youlookfab.com/2019/10.....ith-flats/

https://youlookfab.com/2019/12.....ith-heels/

As for cropped pants: Anything that is not full length, is cropped.
Anything that covers the ankle bone is full length.

Cropped pants can vary from two to six inches above the ankle bone. Sometimes crops can be an inch above the ankle bone.

In short:

There is no one length to rule them all. Variables like silhouette, fabric, footwear, level of colour contrast, figure flattering priorities, and your own sartorial preferences will affect the desired length of pants and jeans.

1 week ago

Lisa

Veteran

This is a great question and something I recently asked myself. I've defaulted to, as long as I like how the shoe and pants or jeans look, then it's a good length. That's the nice thing about fashion right now, everything goes.

1 week ago

Staysfit

Veteran

No answers from me, however, I have an additional question as to whether it is better now to have a jeans hem tailored or to hack it and let it fray?

1 week ago

RobinF

Veteran

Good question! After so many years of crops I no longer know how long pants should look.

1 week ago

AndiB

Veteran

I am of that age where pants, yes, were worn longer. It took me a bit to embrace this wider bottom and shorter length. But one you see that everywhere your eye adjusts and I love it now. I'll say my work wear pants I continue to wear on the long side, but about every pair I've acquired in the last year or so are cropped and wide. But barely cropped, I guess I'd have called them flood pants back in the day, but it is quite intentional and I love it!

1 week ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Welcome back!

I am glad that so many lengths are now considered fashionable, so I defer to the preference of the wearer. Personally, I still prefer a longer full length in wider styles. I feel very awkward in a short full-length pant — it just reminds me of wearing floods as a kid (long leg people problems), and I don’t like the feeling of a wide pant leg flapping around my ankles. I am more forgiving in a narrower-legged pant, but still prefer a length to be either long full-length or definitely cropped above the ankle — not fond of the in-between which doesn’t feel intentional to me.

1 week ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Angie has answered! There are so many acceptable lengths now, and this is great for us all! I wear pants that are cropped, ankle length, the "new" full length (i.e. not ground sweeping) and the older full length -- depending on the style of pant and the footwear and also -- the season and weather.

1 week ago

JennyK (NC)

Active Member

Thanks, Angie, for the links. I read both of them, and chuckled at the acronym "PPL". I'd forgotten that, but I've lived by it since I first learned it here on YLF!

The shorter pants lengths are certainly more practical, but like many others have mentioned, I grew up a tall, skinny, long-legged girl and never had pants that fit me right, so I will admit that it still gives me the heebie-jeebies. I have a pair of pink flare-leg jeans that I love, but always worried about the length. Based on the pictures in the blog posts, they are just the length they ought to be!

So this is one less thing I have to worry over while I clean out my closet. I saved a lot of clothes from when I was last at my current weight, but I have a feeling not much in there is very fashionable any more!

I've been a SAHM since the twins were born (13 years ago now!), so my wardrobe is casual, but I still have that little bombshell spark in my heart. I am looking forward to buying clothes again. I have just been so darn tired for the last 13 years... I could hardly muster up the energy to put effort into my style.

1 week ago

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