style guides · July 5, 2010

Should I Wear: Peg-Leg Pants

Every year new fashion trends are introduced or revamped. The turnover certainly keeps our undying interest!

Often, we admire from afar the hottest trend on the streets or on celebrities in the magazines before we make our purchase. Some of us even shut the door on the trend before we try it, incorrectly making the assumption that we have to be eternally the age of twenty-three to pull it off successfully.

Trends are fun! We may not want to experiment with all of them, but closing the door before we even knock on it is a shame. It’s all about finding ways to wear the trends that work best specifically for us and our individual lifestyles.

A popular fashion trend over the last few years has been peg-leg pants. And this chic trend will continue into the Fall/Winter 2011 season. If we thought we couldn’t wear tapered pants, we would be mistaken. The popularity and coinciding mass production of the skinny jean has led to the peg-legged pant resurgence. This style of pant continues to sharply narrow in the pant leg towards the bottom hem.

Here are some tricks to wearing peg-leg pants:

  • Environment: Decide where you are going to wear the peg-leg pants. If you plan to wear them to work, note whether your environment is business casual/creative or at an office that requires a corporate dress code. Peg-leg pants have been designed from all types of fabric, so this information will help us focus our options. In this particular case, peg-leg pants in cotton or denim would work well casually at the office while a wool blend may suit your more formal dress code. Or, wear a silk pair to an upcoming party. Fabulous!

  • Length: The trickiest part about peg-leg pants is the hem placement. The most popular are right above the ankle bones and just before the ankle expands into the calf. If you’re lucky and have long legs you can wear both of these lengths. We gals with shorter legs must find the perfect spot in-between these two regions that give the illusion of a longer leg line. It will vary per individual. Just look at yourself in the mirror carefully and you should be able to see which option or hem length works best for you. See the next two tricks for additional help in that regard too.

  • Shoes: The best way to pull of a peg-leg pant and make sure the gams look long and lean is style them with a pair of high heels. Those fortunate with really long legs can get away with flats, but most of us would benefit with the added height of a high heel. The length of peg-leg pants visually shortens the line of the leg and can easily make our bodies appear stunted. So, additional height will counterbalance the effect.

    It is also important to style with a substantial shoe for two reasons. First, the shoe needs to appear heavy to draw the eye down towards the bottom of the body rather then where the hem stops to continue to create a lengthened physique. Secondly, a shoe with some substance will create a visual balance to our hips. A substantial shoe would be one that is either somewhat chunky or appears chunky due to lots of bell and whistle design elements.

  • Tops: Discover the best tops to wear with your new peg-leg pants. This too can work with a little magic! The key is to keep the entire body proportional. Since the peg-leg pant narrows towards the hem our hips will appear wider relative to our legs. Just as a substantial shoe can balance out our hips, so can the right top.

    A surefire way to achieve this body balance is with a slightly loose top that still highlights our waist. We can draw attention to the waist by tucking in the top, adding a belt to cinch it in, wearing a jacket or sweater over a more form fitting underpinning or the top, itself, may have a design element or fabric pattern that emphasizes the waist.

    • There are a variety of design styles and styling options available for the peg-leg pant trend. Here are some favorites showcased by design masters:

    LENGTH: ANKLE and ABOVE ANKLE

    Chris Benz – F10 – Style – Gray Scott
    Emanuel Ungaro – F10 – Style – Marcio Madeira – FirstView (L-R)

    ROLLED

    Elie Tahari – S10 – Style – Marcio Madeira

    PLEATED

    Stella McCartney – S10 – Style – Marcio Madeira

    JUMPSUITS

    Elie Tahari – S10 – Style – Marcio Madeira

    Have I successfully encouraged you to take the plunge into the peg-leg pants craze? If so, please let me know how it goes!!!

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    1. Rosa Williams wrote:

      A popular fashion trend over the last few years has been peg-leg pants. But i am always afraid of that it will suit me or not so i never experimented this trend. But the pics shown i this post are so amazing that i want to try peg leg pants as soon as possible. Thanks for sharing this informative tricks of peg leg pants. I will definitely follow your tricks and surely try this new trend.

      formal pant suits

      Posted 8.11.11