Show me your PPL dress slacks! - YouLookFab Forum

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Show me your PPL dress slacks!

shiny

Veteran

You know those gray trousers I bought at AT recently? This weekend, while back-to-school shopping with my girls, I saw they had them in black now too, so I bit. Now I'm trying to determine what length to get them hemmed - if at all.

When worn with my higher shoes they nearly touch the ground. These shoes include my favorite gray spectator round-toe pumps, and my metallic SW booties, both which I wore to death last year. However most of my heels aren't quite this high. They are about 1/2 inch shorter.

I am tempted to get them hemmed for the lower heels, but wear them with the higher as well. For one thing, the length nearly touching the ground is bugging me!!! I know this is supposed to be PPL, but to my eye it looks funny, like I'm going to trip over my pants, or like my feet got swallowed up?

I bet you'll ask for a picture... LOL... I can take one later this week when I get a chance. In the meantime, maybe you can help me adjust my eye: please post links to your own perfect PPL dress slacks (not jeans - jeans are different, IMO, because they are stiffer)...

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20 replies

Latest reply was from shiny

Inge

(website)

I'd love to Shiny, but I don't own any myself at the moment. Actively looking though;-)
Looking forward to your picture though!

Maya

Veteran

Shiny, I think some of it depends on how the pants drape and what the leg opening is like. While not quite "dress slacks," I have my CM pants folded in this picture to PPL with 2" heels, but I really didn't like how it looked. They seemed to bunch in the front and looked quite sloppy.

http://img.photobucket.com/alb.....G_1835.jpg

When folded more, they straighten out but do not reach the ground. That is how I had them hemmed though. My Ann Taylor pinstripe pants are similar. I don't know if the leg opening isn't wide enough or what. It looks about as wide as some of my bootcut jeans, but I think with jeans the bunching is more acceptable to my eye. I don't think it's too bad. I don't have them up around my ankles or anything. They still reach the foot but they don't completely cover the heel.

OTOH I have some esprit lined pants that are a bit less stiff and more flowing and they are fine at PPL. I don't think I have a picture of them readily available but I can probably take one.

Kari

Veteran

Shiny, I'll try to take some later. I actually have the same issue with Maya with my CM microchecks that are PPL for heels but bunch up in front, and I agree that it's probably because of the stiff cotton.

I have a very tough time keeping PPL with pants because if I gain or lose weight - or even simply during the week every month when I am more bloated - my pants fit VERY differently around the waist, hips, and behind, and the pull/stretch on the material changes the pants length a lot.

shiny

Veteran

Maya, my new pants, with highest heels, are actually closer to the ground that what you show in that picture. Hmm. Maybe my eye is right and they are simply too long? They are not touching the ground, but so very close they might as well be. I would say maybe 1/8 inch between hem and ground?

As for bunching in the front, I've always thought slacks were supposed to "break" across the front of the shoe? I seem to have this stuck in my head from the days as a child watching my dad get his suits altered at the tailors. But maybe that is only true with men's slacks?

Kari - this is my experience too! I know since I've gained weight some of my jeans seem shorter now, because I'm filling them out more.

Maya

Veteran

I'm not sure Shiny. I just know I don't like it. It breaks up the leg line for me. They are PPL with flats and low heels but I just hate that crease so I wear them with my gray MJ's. They look absolutely fine from the front. No short legs.

Chris

I don't like my dress slacks to touch ground at all - especially if they are dry clean only fabric. Plus, heels seem to get caught in the lining easier than on a casual pant - maybe it's just my clutziness though.

Vani

Veteran

shiny, when I got my Club Monaco microchecks altered, my tailor hemmed them to be a little shorter in the front which reduces the bunching effect. I like it. I dunno if that bit of information helps any!

Violet

Hi Shiny - I get all my dress pants from Victoria's Secret. They have an inseam of 30. I usually wear them with a 1.5 to 2 inch heal. They fit perfectly for my height (5'0").

The hems do not drag on the ground. I would say they are about 1/4 inch off the ground. I have some 3-inch heels and they are too tall to wear with these pants.

Here are a couple of pix and the shoes I wear with them:

Pants:
http://i383.photobucket.com/al.....-30-09.jpg
http://i383.photobucket.com/al.....2-09_1.jpg

Shoes:
http://i383.photobucket.com/al.....G_0471.jpg
http://i383.photobucket.com/al.....G00410.jpg

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Violet's pants look fabulous :0)

Violet

Thanks Angie! I feel like I've found my "holy grail" pants so I've stocked up on them in a few different colors.

Mae

Thanks to April, I now have two pairs of PPLs from Espirit.... Here is one of them (with the previously dreaded red shoes, Tulle jacket, & red short sleeve sweater):

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh.....directlink

April

Veteran

Mae -- great outift! Oh my goodness. I got that Tulle jacket as well but it didn't work on me and I sent it back. Now I see how it's supposed to look.

(Shiny, sorry to hijack your thread with sister talk... I will return to the subject at hand.) The length of those Esprit pants looks just right to me.

I know that PPL means brushing the ground at the heel and I do like pants to be about that length, particularly with flats. because I like them to feel long enough even when I sit down. But -- forgive me this heresy -- there seems to be the slightest bit of wiggle room among stylists as to exactly where dress pants should fall. I have also seen recommendations of 3/4" from the floor.

Mae

Oh sure. NOW you say there's wiggle room. Ok, ok- I know that my previous pants were nowhere near PPL, even with wiggle room.

It probably depends somewhat on the pants. Most YLFers suggested that my green casual pants were most appropriate with flats. They start out great at the beginning of the day, but as the pants relax a bit I find that the hem drags and catches on my heel. That's just annoying. So what's the trick? CAN we achieve PPL without the dreaded hem catch?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Quite right. Fashion stylists will differ on what perfect pant lengths mean, April.

It’s nothing under a quarter of an inch from the surface of the ground for boot cuts or wide legs, (straight legs and skinnies are obviously different). I am non-negotiable on this! We are all sticklers about something - it's pant lengths for me :0)

Mae, are you wearing sling-back or sandals when you catch your hem with your heel?

Mae

Angie- no sling-backs or sandals, just plain flats. The green pants are just a tiny bit too long once they relax, so they crunch down and catch. I wore a belt with them last weekend, but still had to hike them up by the end of the day to avoid the dreaded heel catch. Oh well. The Esprits, on the other hand, are *truly* wonderful, with no slouching or crunching. They're also a tiny bit shorter- maybe by a centimeter or two.

shiny

Veteran

April, steal away!

I am finding the pics very helpful. Violet's slacks look just right to me - and confirms that my new pants probably need to be taken up just a smidge. I think. (Yes, I will get around to taking a pic for everyone to weigh in on this!)

Mae, I know exactly what you mean about the pants relaxing and then dragging. This happens to me in the back more than the front. I hate heel catch too.

Angie, I wish you lived close by - I'd have you come over and pin the hem for me personally!!! I really do want to get this right. I guess I could just tell the tailor to hem 1/4 inch from the floor, wearing my 2-1/2 inch heels. If I then wore them with 3-inch heels that would be 3/4 inch from floor and I'm guessing you'd have an apoplexy? What if I split the difference and had them hemmed 1/2 inch?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I really appreciate your effort to get this right Shiny, so you have my blessing at half an inch. It’s a little over a centimeter which is okay. More than a centimeter is apoplexy time!

Mae, do the hems of your pants catch under the heels of your shoes? If so, your pants and longer than they should be.

Kari

Veteran

Shiny, sorry - I forgot I said I was going to link to a few. These are examples of pants that, combined with the shoes I wore & the weight I was at the time of each picture, meet the perfect pants length criteria. Problem is, I'm standing on carpet so they look a bit too long & "crumply" at the ends, but they don't touch the ground when I walk on a hard surface.

Hope this helps some.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_iFHB....._+411b.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iFHB....._+055b.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iFHB....._+682b.jpg

Alecia

Veteran

Thanks for posting this, shiny. Honestly, I've been here for a year now and continue to struggle with PPL. It's gotten better for sure, but I'm not sure I've got it down yet.

shiny

Veteran

I tried both pairs of pants on again and it seems that the gray pair is the perfect length already and needs no hemming. It works perfectly with both my 3 inch and my 2-1/2 inch heels - it's the black pants that are just a bit too long. They drag on the floor with the lower heels, and to my eye they look a tad sloppy with the higher ones. I'm thinking they only need taking up about 1/4 inch though.