men and capris...

capris pants

(often just called capris) are a style of trousers worn primarily by young women during the summer.

They are designed to end near the mid-calf or just below the calf.

Capri pants became popular in the United States during the 1960's, largely due to the influence of the popular television series The Dick Van Dyke Show. Laura, the young housewife played by Mary Tyler Moore, caused a fashion sensation by wearing snug-fitting Capri pants in many episodes. After a drop in popularity during the 1970's through the 1990's, Capri pants again became a dominant trend during the early 21st century. *capri definition for fashion industry from wikipedia

a very common fashion trend for women and becoming more and more popular for men.  i should first say that i think capris are a difficult fashion trend to pull off successfully.  a cropped pant creates a weird proportion on the body.  most of us are attempting to look longer and leaner through the camouflage of clothing.  what?

okay ladies, visualize with me.  let's say you want your legs to look longer than they are.  if you choose to wear one color that fits at the widest part of your leg (typically the top of the leg) and that pant skims the floor, your legs look miles long.  now if you add a pointed toe heeled shoe to that, you just visually added more length.  it is a long lean seamless look from the hip to the toe.  now imagine you take those same pants but chop them off at the calf.  visually your legs have shrunk.  add a flat and you look like you are in a hole.  put on a heel, well you've added some height and lengthened the lower part of your leg, but it still isn't ideal.

now we move on to the men.  i am not sure if this is a european trend, but i'm having a hard time accepting the capris movement in men.  there are just certain fashions that are not dual gender.  for instance dresses, can't say i have ever seen a "straight" man in a dress and thought he really pulled that off in a uber masculine way.  felt i needed to clarify "straight" because there are some transgender men who pull off women's fashion beautifully, sometimes better than the ladies.  skirts are another one, although there is an exception and that is the kilt, but even then unless you are irish this is not a common practice.  rompers, now really these should only be worn by children under 5, but never by an adult man.  hot pants or short shorts, i can't think of one exception to this, men shouldn't parade around in these, unless this a kinky thing you like and then it should just be behind closed doors in your red room.

case in point, the look above, awful.  sorry mr. kutcher, but i'm not feeling it.  at 6'2" he is not a short man, but to me he looks like a hobbit.  now this could just be the overwhelming sloppy look of the whole ensemble.  or maybe it's just that his dirt brown capris look like something frodo wore.  but i am almost positive that if he were wearing full length pants in any color or material it wouldn't look so hobbit-ish.

as for these fellas, well i am just not sure.  granted runway looks are just that, a show for our viewing pleasure.  most of the time these looks are not "ready made" looks, so it is really hard to gauge this look for the common everyday man.  i do think that if my man, if i had one, were to come out of the bathroom dressed like any of these fellas i might say is that what you are going to wear?  i am really not all the particular about the way my man dresses, again that is if i had one, but i really don't see myself linking arms or intertwining fingers with a capris sporting stud.

well ladies and gents this is clearly my own opinion.  am i guilty of the unflattering capris pants?  yes i am.  do i think they are my best look?  no i don't.  i wear them because they are comfortable.  this seems to be an overriding factor in how many americans dress...comfort.  however this is a whole other topic to be saved for another day.