Referencing {FAQ}

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Much Love for the Capri Length Pants

"Thanks!" to J.Crew Guy In Canada who shared an article from Wall Street Journal online (click here to read in its entirety) about capri pants and of course, Jenna Lyons!
Ankle-Baring Trousers From Runway to Office
Women and Men Experiment With Summer Style in More Formal Settings; J. Crew's Best-Selling Pants Are 'Café' Capris

By Christina Binkley
June 30, 2011

Last Friday, Amanda Cain went to her New York brokerage office wearing a black tee, a black, tailored, Theory-brand jacket, and a dark pair of J. Crew skinny-leg blue jeans rolled up above the ankle.

Cropped, narrow, and minimalist: It's the slacks silhouette of summer 2011.

Ms. Cain, a senior director at Newedge USA, is approaching the look with caution, however. She says she wouldn't wear cropped pants to the office on any day other than a casual Friday.

And when she does wear cropped styles, she sticks to high-quality brands and keeps the length just barely above the ankle. "If they're edgy, you can look cheap and trashy in a second," she says.

Fashion choices in the office often raise prickly questions, risking derisive stares from the boss, colleagues or clients.

But the latest crop of short trousers present a particularly tough call: On the one hand, Capri pants are effortlessly chic, and they reveal little more than a flash of ankle. Yet they are traditionally a beachy look, which won't help you hone your image as the person who can close a deal or hit third-quarter revenue targets.

"The vision is clam diggers on Cape Cod," says Sandy Dumont, a Norfolk, Va., image consultant. Even if Capri pants are crisp and neat, she says, "they reflect the exciting place for which they were named."

Stylish pants have risen above the ankle for men as well as women. High-fashion brands such as Marc Jacobs, Thom Browne, and Jason Wu are promoting everything from slightly cropped pants for men to wear without socks, to dress shorts for women.

The look of the moment involves peg-legged cropped pants, or pants that are rolled up sloppily—on purpose—above the ankle.

Bigger brands and retailers are interpreting the runway styles for wider use, and they're planning to carry the cropped look into the fall.

J. Crew's best-selling women's pants right now are the Capri-length "Café" pant in cotton. For fall, it will come in office-ready wool in a variety of colors and patterns including raspberry, mustard, tweed, and checked, says Jenna Lyons, J.Crew's president and executive creative officer. Currently, the brand has slim wool suiting slacks, called the "Paley" pant, that are cropped a few inches above the ankle.

Jon Putnam, a Boston-based economist, says he noticed cropped pants being worn in Federal District Court in New York, where he was giving testimony in an intellectual-property case. Breaking with convention is "probably not what a courtroom outfit is supposed to do," he says.

Ms. Lyons, who is in charge of interpreting high-fashion looks for J. Crew's broad audience, says she has given a lot of thought to wearing cropped pants in a professional setting. "The most important thing is to pay attention to the length—just above the ankle," she says. "Shorter gets too casual.

"For a suit, a slim trouser with heels and no socks looks a little more polished," she adds, suggesting cropped pants be worn with a simple, classic pump.

Another, more dramatic look being promoted by high-fashion brands for several seasons is shorts suits. Ms. Cain says she won't be going there. Clients "expect you to look like grown-ups," she says. "Shorts are equivalent to wearing a miniskirt."

The risks for men are another thing entirely. While the cropped or rolled-above-the-ankle look is popular for men, the style is almost entirely casual and best worn outside the office.

... Almost no one is recommending that professional men outside of some creative jobs wear cropped pants to the office.

... "My husband asked, 'Can I do that?' " Ms. Lyons said. "No," she told him. "The world is not ready."
I love the Capri look for Summer. It will be interesting to see how J.Crew translates that into Fall. Not going to lie, the described shade of "raspberry" sounds a-ma-zing. As for wearing it in more professional settings... not so sure about that one. It really can be tricky.

What are your thoughts on article? Do you wear them at the office? If so, please share how you style them! :)

22 comments:

  1. I teach and the café capris are perfect for the classroom. They're casual but tailored at the same time. I don't mind getting paint on them, and they look presentable when I'm with administrators or parents.

    I'm curious to see if/how women in other professions wear ankle pants. I know that many businesses have dress codes and cropped pants (even ankle pants) are frowned upon. But to echo the article, I think they look lovely with a heel!

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  2. I like the way they look, too. As long as they are, as is apparently the rule, just above the ankle. I work in an office setting, but I rarely see clients. Plus, I'm in MS and it's always hot here. Cropped trousers are perfect for when you don't want to wear a skirt (AKA shave your legs).

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  3. I am in the minority for the love of capri pants...I do not like them and will always prefer skirts and/or dresses over any kind of pant. I wore capris when I was younger, but do not even own a pair now. I haven't found the right pair for my leg shape, so maybe if I found one that worked I would change my tune!

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  4. My office is business casual and I wear them all the time--cafe capris, skirts, and dresses are my go-to summer looks for work. To keep the look work-appropriate the key is what you pair them with.

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  5. I'm on the taller side at 5'9" and I have slender calves with very skinny ankles. Capris tend to hit me in an odd spot and make my look out of proportion. The only way I can wear them is if I fold out the cuff a couple of times or more. I can't wear them to the office so I only have a few pair and they are rarely worn.

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  6. Aren't "capri" pants (aka "pedal pushers"!) something shorter? Like below the knee or midcalf? The JC pants I have been buying for a few years now are a bit above ankle length which seems completely professional to me (although I am in one of the creative fields). This doesn't seem like news to me. I have decades old pants in this length. I don't see the big deal?

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  7. I like to see that we're slowly moving past the workplace uniform of trousers & buttondown shirt w/collar Can't recall if it was an article mentioned here or something I found somewhere else, but that look was mentioned as a modified man's suit. I like the idea of capri pants moving into various workplaces. Capri pants as edgy. Cracks me up. I agree the length and silhouette have to be right for each person, otherwise they look like awful, baggy floods.

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  8. I love their Cafe capris, but find the New Cafe capris to be too peg. Agree: right above the ankle. I got the Maggie cropped trousers, which work the same on me at 5'5". In terms of "work appropriate" it does depend on the setting. I am in a hospital, which is conservative dress, closed toe shoes, etc, but I can wear ankle length pants if the shoe is right. Personally, I love them with strappy sandals best :>

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  9. PS... wish they made the Classic Capris in the variety of colors as the New. Hint, hint.

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  10. I am in a male-dominant engineering field and can wear ankle-length cropped pants with heels if I wear a blazer.

    It's a great way to keep rain and puddles from ruining the pant legs, and I can switch from heels to work boots and socks for field observations without getting my pant legs soiled from mud on the job site.

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  11. these are ankle length, not pedal pushers. that is a good thing.

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  12. I'm with XOXO. I too am taller and if I'm not careful, crops and capris tend to hit me at a weird spot and make me look stumpy, which at 5'9" I am not. That said, when I can find crops that flatter I'm all for wearing them in the workplace (I teach at a college). In a dressier fabric like a refined wool, worn with a heel I think they can look very professional. I don't know if I would go as far as calling them edgy, but youthfull maybe.

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  14. My office is conservative business attire part of the year and business casual the rest of the year. Cafe capris are a mainstay for me during my more casual summer months. Typically you'll find me in a cardi, silk cami or dressy tee, and cafe capris with sandals, ballet flats, or espadrilles.

    During my conservative season, I sometimes wear ankle pants in the stretch wool suiting. Shoes and hosiery are challenges, however. Bare legs (even ankles) are not appropriate in my office during the that time of the year, so I never know quite what to wear.

    At 5'4" I'm fairly petite, and I'm aware of the conventional wisdom that cropped trousers visually shorten the legs, but I think I look better in crops, because they are more to a petite "scale."

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  15. I'm pear-shaped and relatively tall (5'8") so I have to watch the capri length or they emphasize my hips in an unflattering way and make me look short. As much as it's nice to change up a pants look, I hate to see real pants being more difficult to find because the industry is pushing the capri length even though it's often a cost cutting measure when they're promoted out of season. I don't want to wear capris or ankle length pants in November. It's cold in November! For the past two Falls, J. Crew has had the Minnie, thin and sometimes unlined suiting pants, and jeans but not trousers. Don't take away real pants!

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  16. I really like the cropped wool pants they are showing for fall, but like nomoneynofun, I wouldn't know how to wear them outside of end of Sept/Oct once it starts getting cold. Yeah, they look great with heels, but with no sock or boots, my ankles/feet would be freezing in late fall. I would like to see if any fashion maven could come up with a way to successfully style these for colder weather.

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  17. I am very excited for the cafe capri in wool this fall. Impractical, but I bet they'll be pretty!

    I hate the new cafe capri, love the classic cafe capri. My workplace is... gosh, I don't even know if there is a dress code. We're talking people wearing tevas with socks. So, I wear capris all the time... they are totally appropiate for business casual!

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  18. Cass, you know JC wants you to wear those capris w/colored socks and your open toe heels. It sounds like J.CrewJD's workplace got the memo. *lol*

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  19. Cass, for business casual I wear my various wool ankle pants with a bootie (such as the Sutton) and socks in a complementary color.

    Still could use some tips on styling for more conservative business setting, though.

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  20. I'm curious how to wear ankle length past October. I live in the midwest; the past several years JCrew catalogs show ankle length pants and sandals for work wear and I always wondered if they just have a huge market in California! I would love more option in the winter months from JCrew.

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  21. Ladies Capri paired with shirt a check pattern will make you look young and trendy...

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  22. i like your blog. it was amazing capri for mens thank you

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