These comments bring up an interesting question.

Besides this website and assorted fashion blogs, are you seeing cropped, wide legged pants/jeans in real life?

I am not. I am not seeing these styles at all, anywhere, in real life. I will be at the mall quite a bit during November as I prepare for the Holidays and do my Christmas shopping. I might see the odd pair there.

I haven't seen them worn in real life yet either. And I've been doing quite a bit of browsing and people watching at a couple of large higher-end malls in the last few weeks.

Besides this website and assorted fashion blogs, are you seeing cropped, wide legged pants/jeans in real life?

I don't either.
I just came back from Germany and Italy a couple of days ago.
There wasn't a single pair of cropped flare jeans anywhere.
North-west Germany, close to the Dutch border, is admittedly not fashionable. It's cool and rainy and people use their bicycles to get around more than their cars, which dictates their clothing choices to a large extend.
Even in Florence, Italy I did not see a single pair of wide-leg cropped jeans. Most women were wearing skinnies and narrow straight legs, some of them rolled, many full length. I saw one woman who wore a pair of flowy, silky culottes (with pumps).
What surprised me a bit in Florence was pantyhose. Sheer, dark pantyhose with shorts and skirts.

Angie, when you were in Europe did you see wide-leg crops ?

I love your post, Sterling, and the thoughtful replies.
I have been enjoying updates but also struggling with some changes, not always because of any strong aversion but because I am still enjoying some outfits I already have, and if I get the new ones, I will essentially need to discard or " churn" before I really feel inspired to do so.
Jeans trends seem actually easier to me as long as flattering because they are( for me) casual, after- work wear only. Still, crops in winter are not going to be as warm for me as full length. So I'm more willing to wear dark straight or boot cut / flare and go for " classic" .

Workwear is different to me and more of a struggle with the ankle and cropped trends. I still think those are inherently less " professional" or maybe less " strong" for some reason.

But it may be more related to the effect on the lab coat look, because all together that creates a lot of chopping up so you cannot achieve the same overall look as can someone who can compose an outfit with a carefully selected topper or a stand- alone structured top.
So some updates may be possible but might require a huge investment of shopping time (ordering/ paying/ returning).
I may show a k/r along these lines as to whether to take the bird in the hand vs. try to get closer to some ideal trend.

last spring i wasn't seeing flared crops or culottes IRL, but this fall they are cropping up (pun intended) in my city, which i think of as the gate way to the midwest, we are a college town with lots of international students, particulary Asians and Middle East.

I spotted cropped flares on a stylish gal at the airport in San Fransisco last weekend and it was the first time I've seen them outside of YLF and other fashion sites...they did look fantastic and made me appreciate the trend. As a tall gal, anything cropped has the tendency to make me feel like I'm dressed in high water's and conjures up old feelings of embarrassment... I have a pair of high shaft boots now and can see myself dipping my toes in cropped Jean territory but I don't want to spend $200 .

Besides this website and assorted fashion blogs, are you seeing cropped, wide legged pants/jeans in real life?

No. I am not. I find that surprising bc I'm in a college town but perhaps I subscribe to a myth that college age women of today want to be trendy and fashionable. I know me and my friends were but that was several several years ago. :p

I see skinnies as far as the eye can see. In fact, I felt a little out of place a few weeks ago when we went to a large shopping outlet in a nearby city. I wore my flares and a sheer floral blouse. There was no one dressed similarly. No one in flares. No sheer blouses. I felt a bit self conscious but I remembered that most of my pieces are current. Its just all the people around me who are behind in fashion times! Lol. I'm a trendsetter.

I'm kind of trying to see the upside of my " problem".
Mostly j think it just means I adopt fewer trends or wear new updates longer before moving on. As I said, it's not always a narrow style filter( though I suffer from that!) but more that I invest time & effort and only have so much.
So if I take " the long view," I can see clearly that I'm evolving and have used YLF to do so, so a big thanks! But, Im identifying a sort of break- even point where if I go too far, I get into churning and needing to revamp too many things at once and then have outfit- uncertainty and less happiness.

I will say that the "love factor" is still a good compass to use. It is less useful for me to be just calculatingly intentional about adding a trend or update. But I f I come across something that is just fab to me/on me and also is an update, then it will usually be good for me to go with that, to try to work it in or even design around it ( keeping a few practical limits like upkeep or seasonal realities and whatnot).

Wow. So many thoughtful and insightful comments. Unfrumped's comment about revamping too many things at once can lead to outfit- uncertainty, less happiness, and wardrobe churn hit home with me. I am eager to try new trends if I already own a lot of the supporting acts in my closet. If trying a new trend necessitates having to buy all sorts of additional pieces to make the trend workable, I am a lot less enthusiastic. And I am a slow trend adapter. I have already established that.

I'm quite late to this thread, but this is what I learned from the article -
"By their JEANS they shall be known"!

However, in all seriousness now, I don't think every trend can work for everyone. I desperately wanted denim overalls to work for me, and sadly they did not!

I've seen them where I live but it's a college town next to a major city with a lot of young people and people from all over the world.

Well, I read the linked article yesterday and the result is that I raced out and bought two different pairs of Kut from the Kloth cropped flared jeans. Skinnies (which I was late to wearing) have always suffocated be, and since I'm tall with an hourglassish build bootcuts and flared jeans are my best choice, plus I get to wear my booties with them so it's a complete win. So far in my area women are wearing mostly skinnies and relaxed straight jeans, did see one pair of flares today at the mall. Guess this is one trend I'm leading!

I am seeing quite a few people wearing cropped flared/wide leg pants to work in my city (not so much jeans but that may be a dress code thing). I guess loose, short pants make sense for a warm climate and heading into summer here. During winter skinnies were still the dominant silhouette. Jeans wise I am finding my straight leg, ankle length jeans the most fresh and easy to style. I can turn up the cuff for a more cropped look and leave it down on colder days. They are more figure forgiving than skinnies and more versatile than full length flares (because you don't have to decide on your shoe height).

I don't know that I have seen anyone wearing cropped jeans here (Upper Midwest). So far, I am the only one. I have one pair, and that is enough for now. I enjoy wearing them. The way I get them to work for me is to wear a high-shaft heeled bootie with them. Otherwise I would look stumpy.

I also agree with everyone, there are current and past trends that I have chosen to avoid even though I quite like them or enjoy them on other people. I don't think you should have to try too hard to like a trend or make it work..

However I do agree that current jeans are an easy way to look trendy/up with the play/modern. But there is a whole continuum between the most trendy styles and something that truly does look dated.

My very favourite jeans look is the classic European jeans look, perfectly fitting, a little worn but definitely not purchased distressed, probably a slim or straight style. In my opinion you can never go wrong with this look for men or women.

Skinny jeans are still the most commonly worn jeans here, and the easiest to buy. There are some cropped styles around in different fits, a few slouchy styles around, but very few bootlegs and flares.

Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've seen anyone in cropped pants/jeans here. It doesn't bother me so much, though. Summers are so warm here that I wore my J.Crew Teddies in regular rotation all summer and into the fall. I wear them with kitten heeled pumps to keep it more professional for work. I even got brown and olive Teddies for this time of year. We'll see how it goes with a higher shaft bootie now that it's cooled down.

As far as flares and bootcuts, I've never stopped wearing them because I feel as though they are the most flattering for me. I guess I go in and out of fashion with the trends. The main silhouette here is still skinnies, though.

Flattering cropped jeans have been more challenging to find. I just ordered 3 pairs to try from Amazon. I really don't want to invest in more shoes/boots for winter, so I'll have to see how they work with the ones in my closet.

Like you, I just try to stay true to me. But I do like to experiment a bit to keep things fresh.

I remember Angie asking a similar question about boyfriend jeans a few years ago. They were all over the fashion sites and magazines but zilch around here. Then.....one day...They were EVERYWHERE.

I am not seeing wide cropped pants.

You know there are lots of ways to signal awareness beside jeans. I never like distressed jeans for myself and just completely skipped them. I recently saw a woman looking very up to date, and quite gorgeous, with a vintage caftan and Zara shoes.

Just fyi, less than a month ago (Oct. 18), the same author wrote an article about how to wear skinny jeans. So go figure!

I still see some people wearing flares and bootcuts from a decade ago. I think this is making it hard for those styles to "come back" in a significant way where I live. I'm not seeing structured or tailored wide legs. Most people here do not have "real" crops but I see a lot of cuffing as a nod to ankle length. Slim and skinny jeans rolled to just above ankle boots is the big thing here right now.

That's why I'm always late to the fashion trends.

I keep an open mind in most things.

Yell has taught me not to limit myself.

Great topic