You probably noticed that since 2 years or so, bare ankles are THE cool thing to do to upgrade an outfit.

I really like it for three reasons

– bare ankles are sexy in an unexpected way

– it makes the shoes stand out

– socks become a fashionable accessory

Nevertheless, this is not an easy fashion to master and here is why:

– they shorten the leg because the lenght of the pants is shorter and therefore it looks as if all your legs were actually shorter too (1/8 shorter to be specific).

For this reason,  girls with short leg/torso ratio, benefit wearing longer pants (hey that’s ok, don’t be sad there are plenty of other cool fashion tricks).

– they set the focus on the ankle, which is a good thing for some because it can be a very pretty body part.

Though for some others ankles are not the best asset. Sometimes they are swollen and you can not see the bone.

If that is your case, prefer to set the focus on other assets you have (sure you do have plenty!)

Oh, and yes, cropped trend only applies to pants!

Now, let’s see how to wear the cropped trend

I/ What kind of pants?

1. What hem?

a. Pants that you roll

Easy, just roll it twice to hide the hem.

Keep in mind that rolling does not free you from actually shortening overlong pants. You want to roll it twice, not ten times.

Otherwise you’ll end up with a big chunk of cloth around your ankle which is neither pretty nor comfortable.

Breaking news: there is a new trend to do maxi roll and not to hide the hem. I did my duty delivering information. Use it as you feel.

Typhaine Augusto does proper rolling

b. Pants (jeans actually) that you  cut

DIY! You can also buy it as a premix, but hey, are you cool for real? ^^

(Note I am really bad at any DIY but that I can do, so you can too).

This trick only works if your jeans have a low elasthanne percentage. Otherwise it’ll look cheap.

c. Pants that  are actually 7/8 lenght

Which means you bought them this way or you had them tailored this lenght.

Lady Moriarty

2. What cut?

a. Skinny pants

Balance them with larger tops.

Perfect on thin legs because you do not want the hem to be extra tight on you calf (legging tight I mean). Even if you have slim calves pay attention to it.

b. Fitted pants

Neither skin tight neither wide.

They suit everyone.

Inside closet

c. Boyfriend or mom jeans

If you chose those properly they will be 100% cotton or close.

Which means they are often quite thick on the ankle area (even more if you roll the hem).

Therefore is why I recommend to lighten the outfit with heels.

Pauline Fashion blog

d. Flare/ wide pants

Wide + short = the best equation for shortening legs.

Therefore, I only advice tall long leged gals to go for this mix.

You can manage to rock it if you are not that tall or long leged if you wear high heels.

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3. High or low waist?

Doesn’t matter.

But if your legs are on the short side, prefer high waist to lengthen them (see Pauline above with incredibly long legs).

III/ What shoes with the cropped pants?

1. Easy: shoes with a low cut (under the ankle bone)

Because cropped pants are meant to show the ankle aren’t they?

So show them 🙂

Some shoes you could use:

– Kitten heels (pumps shape)

– Classic pumps

– Low sneakers

– Ballerinas

– Low sandals  (see Inès de la Fressange rocking this style)

Punky B

Tokyo Banhbao

Death by elocution

2. Tricky: shoes that go over the ankle (strap or high cut)

As said above, cropped pants “cut” the leg in several parts.

Over the ankle shoes will just add an additional “cut”.

Because the length of the leg will be made of: shoe+ a bit of calf + pants = 3 parts (see the difference with the pumps silhouette above?)

Therefore this style will suit the girls with long calves and thin ankles best.

Straps have the same shortening effect. You can wear them with cropped length but to not choose them too high or to thick on calves.

Heels help re-equilibrate the silhouette.

Anyway, the hem shall not half hide the strap: you want to see the strap: that is why you chose cropped pants (or you can prefer to completely hide it). And there shall be some skin (even just an itsy tiny bit of it) between the strap and the hem. Otherwise it looks odd.

Despite all of this, you CAN make some amazing silhouettes featuring heeled sandals or boots and cropped pants.

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Karla Deras

Sea of shoes

(It took me super long to find those last pics, proof that that is not an easy thing to match those ^^)

And you? Do you like the cropped lenght trend? How do you wear it?

Bises de Paris