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“Ask Colleen” - How to tell proper pant length
“Dear Colleen,
What do girls mean when they say pants need to fit properly? How can I tell?”
Sincereley, Jason
Dear Jason,
Fear not, figuring out whether your pants fit is one of the easier things to determine in the world of fashion. Just follow these steps:
1. Put the pants on. Wear a belt, but no shoes.
2. Adjust your belt tightness so that the pants sit 2-3 inches below your belly-button. Verify that you cannot see your butt-crack in a mirror.
3. Confirm that at this height the pants aren’t too tight around the waist, or alternatively, aren’t bunching up around the belt because they’re too big. If so, find a pair with a more appropriate waist size.
4. Next, verify that the tips of the pant legs barely touch the floor. If not, grab the next hem size up or down. If none of the sizes fit perfectly, but are still within half an inch or so, err on the longer side.
5. Done!
One last tip: don’t forget that you can pay $10 to get pants hemmed to your proper leg size at any tailor. It’s a hassle, but worth it if you find that perfect pair of jeans that’s just a bit too long.
Good luck!
Colleen
A question… I’m in college in the northeast. The trend here is for both sexes to wear low-cut socks with jeans. If one is wearing low-cut socks that peek slightly above the shoe and your jeans ride up when you sit down so you can see a flash of bare skin above the sock… does this mean your jeans are too short?
Hi Rob. I would say the jeans are a bit too short, although I didn’t know about the low-cut sock trend!
“Your pants should “break” (make one little fold) in front, leaving just enough fabric to cover the tops of your shoes. In the back, the hem should fall just above where your heels meet your soles. This keeps your socks hidden while you walk.” - Men’s Health, http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=style&category=style.files&conitem=d15a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____
So I would say if you can see bare skin with low-cut socks you would be able to see regular-cut socks, meaning they’re a bit on the short side. But maybe the whole purpose of this trend is to SHOW that the socks are low-cut…in which case I don’t know that I think this is a good trend…!