Reader Question: Rolled Pants?

Reader question:

“What is with the rolled up pants thing?”

Good question, and I’m here to help.

Trends come and go, like the women I spend my Saturday nights with. A trend right now (and for awhile actually) is for pants to have no break (the place where your pants hit your shoes). We’re seeing this in everything from chino to denim, and as the trend climbs higher and higher up the ankle, menswear swag stars are rolling their pants higher and higher to keep up. 

Joshua Kissi & Travis Gumbs of Street Etiquette

If you want to be trendy and look fashionable, try rolling your pants a bit, though this shouldn’t look forced or overly thought out. The idea is to look effortlessly cool, not like you’ve been fussing in front of the mirror for an hour. You are a guy, after all. 

If not, no worries. You can still be a well-dressed, stylish dude. Remember, style is achieved by foundational essentials: properly-fitting clothes, quality pieces that are versatile, balanced color schemes, etc. In general, I’d aim for  slight to no break with your pants and trousers. If your pants crumple on top of your shoes, it makes you appear short (like your pants are too long for your legs, or like you’re sagging. Do people still do that?) Similarly, showing a lot of ankle makes your pants seem too short, which can make you look taller by comparison. 

My personal recommendation is to buy pants with a slight break. You can roll them to achieve no break, but you can always roll them back down should the trend fade. Ideally you want pants to last as long as possible, not as long as they are cool. 

High                                                            Low                                                         Medium 

Hope this helps,

MD