"the dreaded mom capri's" - YouLookFab Forum

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"the dreaded mom capri's"

Elizabeth P

Veteran

"the dreaded mom capri's" have been mentioned several times lately. And I have to confess, every time I see the term, I shrink a little lower in my chair. Cuz the truth is, I'm not quite sure what is meant by this. I love my capris, and wear them a LOT in the summer... I know some (cough cough Angie) have a poison eye for them, but they are so practical for my climate and lifestyle.

I think of capris as pretty much anything with a length somewhere between just below the knee, and probably mid calf. But not "clamdiggers" which I think of as being more of a slim or skinny fit.

So I'd like to know what your opinion is on what makes them "dreaded". Is it universal? Is it specific to the person - ie an unflattering length or leg width/style on a certain body? Is it how they are worn?

Post examples if you can!

Dressing

79 replies

Latest reply was from

Anonymous

I live in a hot climate and have had a lot of capris. They cut off at mid calf for me, which wasn't too bad when I was wearing a wedge or higher sandal, but when I gave up heels, I found them shorter than what I found fashionable. Like they cut me off visually. I want to stress, they were handy for my weather. But shorter than what I found more current, which is closer to an ankle pant. Plus, I have pretty muscular calves and I found they would hang on my calf. So I cut off about 6 capris and made them into shorts. Mostly Bermuda. So now I am wearing more shorts where as before I wore more capris. I still have some athletic capris, and one pair of leopard capris.

Aida

Veteran

As with all the fashion things, not universal

You've got a good eye, Elizabeth. I'm sure your capris look great. We could always review them if you're unsure!

Vildy

Veteran

This is not a technical reply about lengths and widths. I'll just say that it strikes me that many of those who write and post about fashion have an awful lot of hostility towards or fear becoming their mothers and grandmothers. Why is one of the worst insults "mumsy"? I think it's ironic how many write about fearing to appear mumsy on the school run! And if Anna Wintour is not wearing grandma shoes, I don't know who is.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

What Aida said.

I got rid of my last pair, which were really just relegated to mucking around duty. But they were never fab to begin with, really just serviceable. Now I'm wearing clamdigger length (especially old cut-off BF jeans) instead.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I think capris had become synonymous with pants that don't fit and are any random length on the calf so that their owner could avoid hemming.

For shorts and longer pants, I do think there is a need to do a sort of Venn diagram of lengths that are trendy / lengths that look good on you.
Generally I think the lengths that look good on you should win if you can't find that overlap area.

I can get away with a lot of capri pants for exercise, wear longer crop jeans and shorter shorts, but bermudas and clamdiggers are not really my friends.

Anonymous

WHAT is the difference between cropped and capri. I use the words interchangeably. Am I wrong?

I need a Venn Diagram.

Sal

Veteran

I have two pairs of capri/cropped ankle pants....I will continue to wear them because I struggle to find shorts I love.

Here is a pic of what I think of with the "other" term. And some of me in Mom Capri. I am a mother and I do wear capri pants

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Janet

(website)

Veteran

OK, not all capris are created equal. Not all are "mom capris" -- I think we've latched onto the "mom capri" label not to disparage moms, but because of the old "mom jean" phenomenon -- high-waisted, poufy around the hip and thigh, with a fit that is not quite straight but not wide enough to be culottes, unflattering on the butt, and in the case of "mom capris," cropped at an unflattering length at about mid-calf.

I think there are some decent looking capris out there. Are they the most fashion-forward thing at the moment? No. But hey, mom jeans have come back around, so anything is possible.

Anonymous

In my head , the term - in a negative connotation , referred to cotton/poly pants of an indeterminate length , usually the same width from hip to hem, made for the (usually) older woman who won't wear shorts anymore. So they ended up in every Nygard/Tan Jay store (Canadian , you know the chain ) and chain store that catered to women of a certain age. Elastic waist, washable, and in all sorts of pastels , plus fake denim blue and white . Why do I "know" all of this or feel I have an opinion (lol) ? Because I must have bought about 10 pair for my lovely mother over the past few years. They are what they are. And to me - they are shorter than cropped pants. To each her own, as usual.

Here's my idea of what they are:

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Anonymous

eta - I see capri tights as a completely different animal. Those I'll wear any day of the week - working out or otherwise.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

What UmmLila said in paragraph 1, and what Aida said. There are "capris" and "capris" and as Angie says, it's unfashionable right up to the second it is fashionable again, so...you never know!

I also think Vildy hit on something key. My mother didn't wear capris (she wore clamdiggers) but I do have the fear of turning into her at her worst. (I'd love to be her at her best, though, and treasure several items she passed down to me -- evening clutches in particular!)

Anyway, here's the thing...Angie always tells us to dress for the lives we have. I absolutely understand why capris would be an ideal casual item in your climate. (In mine, they aren't quite cool enough -- clamdiggers and shorts work better for summer).

I think the issue is cutting the calf in half (and not wearing heels) and really, just not caring. You know? It's not the item in itself -- it's how it's styled. It's like saying that grey hair on women is inevitably aging. Well, yeah, it can be, if the women doesn't tend it. So can capris if there's no thought given to the outfit.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Lisa, YEAH. That is the awful capri. Beautifully put.

If you want to read the critique to end all critiques of capris of this type, read Russell Smith. He is devastating on them. You would fear to walk in his neighbourhood wearing them, or better yet, you would feel determined to style them up so sexily that he would have to eat his words!!

Anonymous

I've read it - he's hilarious and I miss his writing in the Style section of the Globe .

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thank you, Suz. You're sooo balanced and wonderful.

I'm also nodding along with Aida and Janet.

Vildy, fashion and style is my livelihood, and I strive to be half as elegant and graceful as my late Mum was.

Do I have poison eye for capris? I am ALL OVER cropped pants worn at the right length with the right footwear. I have been saying that for YEARS!

These are capris and I LOVE this suit.

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Anonymous

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Anonymous

Angie, your version is hardly representative of the "mom Capri " look - lol!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Lisa, a capri is a length, not a style. At least that's how I see it. No? Clamdiggers are capri length.

Peri

Veteran

I'm with Sterling...I don't get it. Cropped is good, capri is not...what's the diff? Weren't we all over capris last year...the Athleta Prima Capris lemming rush that Janet started? And looked fabulous in? Janet, are these the ones you mean you've gotten rid of? Because I surely intend to still wear mine.

Echo

Veteran

I remember in the past we had a discussion about using the term "old lady" to refer to something as outdated or unfashionable. People objected to the term as disparaging, and even though everyone knows what a person means by the term, I cannot necessarily disagree with it being disparaging to older women. Perhaps we need a similar discussion about terms referring to mothers - "soccer mom", "mumsy", "mom jeans", etc. For the record, at the time they were popular, EVERYONE wore "mom jeans", including teenagers. That's just how jeans were built - high waists, poufy hips, tapered legs, often even with pleats.

Anyway, I am currently having a VERY hard time distinguishing between the "bad" high-water pants and the "good" cropped pant. The newest trend combines everything I thought was supposed to be "bad", and yet we are still calling capri pants bad.

The primary issue in my head is how we tell the difference on someone else. In their mind, they might have considered everything about the outfit and stood in front of a full length mirror and declared it good. But to a passer-by they might look very out-of-date and unfashionable. Who gets to make that decision? What might people wearing the newest trend of cropped flares think if they knew that the majority of people looking at them thought they were unfashionable and out-of-date? Does it make it any better that the trend is in the magazines if the majority of other people don't recognize it or appreciate it? The newest cropped pants have an ironic "normcore" feel about them to me, and that's a hard look to pull off, IMO, because one never knows if it was intended ironically or not.

Anonymous

Sure - but again , your fitted , highly styled ones aren't what is commonly referred to as the "mom Capri". I know of clam diggers as just below knee length or at the knee , and fitted . But not doing a lot of clam digging in the Prairies , and just relying on memory from Fashion Illustration 101 , I could be wrong It's all semantics .

Elizabeth P

Veteran

So much insight and wisdom here, I'm not sure how to even start responding, other than to say thank you all for your input. I'm afraid my evening exploded and I'll have to answer a bit more comprehensively tomorrow.

I certainly find that there is a length that does NOT work... on me it's where my calf is the widest, cuz it's pretty wide and it makes me look like they just keep getting wider. And I've certainly passed on ones with a certain type of wide leg. I think the idea of the straight leg from hip to hem that Lisa mentioned/showed is right on.

Angie, those pants are gorgeous. Definitely not mom capri's, even if I'm not clear on that term!!

Sterling I personally think of crops as longer than capris. Crops are intentionally short pants... capris are that place inbetween.

Suz, you probably have it nailed with this:
It's not the item in itself -- it's how it's styled. The not caring aspect.

Tonight I was wearing a pair of studio crops from Lulu, probably three years old. I have a feeling they are heading into dreaded-capri land, as they are pretty non-fitting around the leg bottom. I found myself cruising their site and noticed the same pant is now a much sleeker fit through the knee. Maybe this is a key point to them being more current?

Ok, I need to get to bed. More tomorrow!

Anonymous

And Echo , you're absolutely right . Normcore indeed . Deciding what's fashionable and what isn't is subjective and based on minute degrees of measurement and semantics . I'm off to go think about something else -

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Lisa I'm with you. To me clam diggers are below the knee, and fitted.

Longer than that is "capri". Then (in my mind) are crops, which are longer than capris.

I think something is gelling in my head here... if capris are in that place between clam diggers and crops, then there is a good chance they're going to hit at an unflattering place on the calf. Pay attention to that and you're probably good. Don't, and you have "dreaded capris". Does this make any sense?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

HAH, Lisa. I'm inviting you over the clamdig in Seattle.

Thanks, Elizabeth. I know you look fab in your capris.

I agree 100% with Peri's perception of Janet's capris. And the Zellas many bought last year at the NAS - they were a top pick! - which are also fabulous capris.

Zella 'Work It' Capris

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Zella 'Inspire' Capris

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catgirl

Veteran

These are so common where I live - I have friends lamenting the lack of capris in the stores these days. What Lisa said is my association. But I don't take offense to them as they are practical. See below, perhaps a little longer though for what I see most.

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Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Echo, you're dead right. We need to have the discussion about terms referring to Mothers like, "soccer mom", "mumsy", "mom jeans".

JAileen

Veteran

I'm a mother. I just bought some short pants. I don't know what they're called. I'm going to wear them.

newkathy

Member

Great discussion. I'm new to this group, thanks to my daughter, and although a "granny" many times over I surely don't want to look like one. horrors! Always knew that capris didn't feel right but since that is what all my friends wear I kept trying to make them look okay. Now I can accept that they are "out".

Chris987

Veteran

I'm reading this post with great interest. I just posted on the forum today about my plan to wear capris this summer as a replacement for the Bermudas that I'm tired of (although I have not totally given up on Bermudas). I have never worn pants at any length other than long or Bermudas so the cropped/capri/whatever lengths are new to me and I'm having fun wearing them. I don't find the capri length to be any different from shorts in terms of how cool I feel in them, at least not so far. The capris I'm looking at are cargo pant style, with a somewhat tapered leg, and I plan to wear them with a sleeveless or short sleeved top and sandals or sneakers on very warm days when I'm uber casual (to use Angie's term). So they will be styled purposely and if I find I don't like the style I'll change it up. I don't have children but I supposed this style could be called "mom capris" but I don't really care. To my eye this style is more flattering than the bermudas I have so I'm going to wear them.

At some point I think we should wear what we want and what makes us feel good and not worry so much about the sometimes totally arbitrary "rules" that "someone" has defined about fashion.

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