Another Variation on the Same Old Crop

I finally finished reading last month’s edition of US Vogue the other day, after toting it with me hither and yon for the better part of the past three weeks. In my Vogue, was an affirmation of something that I suspect will serve as a sartorial benchmark for future discussions of style as we enter the second decade of the year 2000. The message: the cropped pant is the business. And yes, despite the fact that I live and work in the UK, I continue to use the American term “pants” (which means underpants in the UK, for those who may be wondering), as opposed to the much more properly brought-up term “trousers”. To my British readers, I apologise for my crass American ways, but you simply cannot take the America out of the girl. Especially when the girl is forty. So though I have given-in to my British spell-check software and allowed my spellings to be infiltrated with superfluous u's and e's, my pragmatic heritage dictates that I always use the more economical term. So pants it is then. Pants, pants, pants, pantsity, pantsity, pants.

The Vogue article, which was aptly titled "Pants 101", confirmed my belief that the fashion world has been hanging-on to a certain silhouette for a while now, and that perhaps there is no end in sight: 

“The new thing is a bared ankle and a showcased shoe.”

And it’s true. The next time you are surfing the net, have a look at your favourite street style website, and take stock of how many uber-hip fashionistas are wearing cropped and/or rolled-up pants with a really funky shoe choice.

The rolled hems and swanky sandals of
Natalie Wansbrough-Jones, Elle UK
Senior Fashion Editor
www.elleuk.com

But however fresh this ongoing trend may seem to be, it is not, as Vogue proclaims it to be, “the new thing”. I give you, exhibit A.

Louis XVI of France in his cropped pants
portrait by Louis-Michael Van Loo (public domain)

Of course, you can easily find a historical reference point for just about any fashion trend of any moment, so I will not bore you with my pedantic tendency to point out our lack of originality as artists and aficionados. No, instead, I will horrify you for the second time in a week with another not so new variation on the cropped-pant trend, also forecasted in "Pants 101", and also already being spotted on style-setter websites and fashionistas across the globe. 

They call them all manner of things: cropped wide-leg, short palazzo, flowy capris….I could go on and on. But those of us who rode the cusp of the seventies into our formative years….lets all band together and call them by name (and in your most withering tones, please)…....culottes.

Dear. God.
M. Missoni culottes at ASOS

And for the second time in just under a week, I find myself overcome with the vapours.

Thing is, as much as I am for wearing what makes you comfortable and happy (and I suppose that culottes are indeed comfortable), they are just……so…..unflattering on so many body types. A Great Equaliser of sorts, in a bottom-heavy way that is one-part whirling dervish, with an added dash of Christmas tree-topper angel.  Yes, I concede that on the willow-thin models walking the runway these days the new culottes might look louche and casually-cool. But I think it is a very difficult look for real gals to pull off without looking like you have just broken from the group during the assisted living centre's weekly outing at the local mall. No, from where I sit, if you have the legs to wear a pair of culottes, you definitely have the goods to just lose that extra few inches of superfluous fabric and sport a cute pair of shorts.

J. Crew

ASOS

Now granted, if you are braver and more willowy than I and want to give this re-emerging trend a shot, be my guest. But this time around, I find culottes even more difficult than they have been in their past, if not preppier incarnations. Perhaps this is due to the volume that is also being shown on top. A very difficult silhouette for most of us to carry-off. But if you are not dissuaded, then go for it. This look by Acne from their Spring/Summer 2012 lineup has a nice touch, and manages to avoid the retro-seventies thing and look modern.

Acne Spring/Summer 2012 - photo courtesy Vogue.com

This look is wearable.  That jacket will go on and on. But keep your scissors sharp and your tailor's number handy, because in a year's time when the "it" silhouette has again changed and you are asking yourself what in God's name were you thinking buying culottes, you can re-invent them easily into something a bit more.....erm.....serviceable.

The Louise short at ASOS

And who knows? I may be completely wrong about this whole culotte thing. (doubt it) Look what we all said about skinny jeans when they first started hitting the scene....and now I have at least four pairs. So time will tell.