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Which women should wear pants with cuffs? Where can you get them? Reader E wonders…
I had a quick question about cuffed pants. When my boyfriend got a suit, he said that any nice men’s suit pants should be cuffed. I see that it does lay nicely over the foot that way. I don’t see many ladies cuffed pants at all though. Does it tend to go in and out of style? Do women ever have their tailors cuff their pants?
When I first read this, my immediate thought was NO CUFFS FOR ANYONE, EVER! BOO CUFFS!! <drops microphone, walks off stage>
But that may be a bit extreme. So I did a bit of research, and it turns out men still do wear cuffs on some pant legs, but it’s advised that you should only wear cuffs with pleated pants (unless they have very wide legs). As it turns out, I am also against pleated pants (for men and women), so I suppose it isn’t surprising that I’m against cuffs.
That said, here’s my case against cuffs for women: When a woman wears cuffed pants, the cuffs break the visual line you’re trying to create, and they make your legs look shorter and stumpier. Furthermore, if they’re already cuffed when you buy them off the rack, it’s going to be that much more work for the tailor if you need to hem them.
There are a few times, though, where women should consider cuffs:
- You’re very tall. If you’re shorter than 5’9″, do not wear cuffs (unless you want your legs to look stumpy, in which case go right ahead).
- You’re very tall and you’re wearing pants that are in such a fluid fabric that they need a cuff at the bottom to help weigh down the pant.
- It’s Halloween.
Maybe I’m overly opinionated on this topic, though, as a short woman who came across nothing but cuffed pants when I started work in the late ’90s because they were trendy then. As with all trends, they go through cycles, and maybe they’re on the upswing — I did find a number of cuffed pants from some big designers (pictured below). What are your thoughts, readers — do you wear cuffed pants? Have you ever asked a tailor to cuff your pants?
Psst: here are some of our latest favorite pants for work…
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Chrissy
I can’t stand my pants cuffed. I wear a lot of wide leg pants to work including palazzo pants. Cuffs don’t look good in my opinion and another concern is the cuff getting caught on my stiletto heels. I wear my pants in very long floor sweeping lengths that cover my shoes and occasionally my heels catch my hems. This would be very bad with cuffed hems.
Mrs. T
Cuffed trousers look amazing when you are a.) 5’9″ or b.) wearing high-heels (like 3″ high). They are a nod to classic menswear and can look sharp with a fitted button-down shirt, a classic skinny belt, and a menswear-inspired watch. Granted, they are not for the faint-of-heart but there is definitely a place for cuffs in a woman’s wardrobe.
Pleated trousers on the other hand. . . . never.