Point me in the direction of stylish non-frumpy 3/4 length trousers, please? And tell me what to wear with them!!!

[JessiCake]

I love the jauntiness of a flash of ankle as the weather gets warmer (and as I DON'T DO dresses or skirts it's the only way I can look at all spring-like!)

But I need help!

I have bough Boden Richmond 3/4 length trousers in the past but they don't fit me brilliantly and I prefer a slightly skinnier leg (they say they're a straight leg but they always come up too loose for me). Also I always worry that Boden veer into frumpiness somehow, can't quite put my finger on it.

I'm a freelance mum of a pre-schooler so they don't need to be work type trousers but I do like to look vaguely pulled-together...

I'm 40 (hence the horror of frumpiness) and a tall size 12.

And even if I find these Holy Grail trousers, how do I wear them in a way that isn't (wait for it) frumpy or conversely too young for my age? And I don't really have a clue what to do about footwear - slip-on trainers? But if so, what on my top half? Plain T-shirt and cardi strikes me as boring but don't know what else to try... Ballet pumps for the Audrey Hepburn look (even though I'm no Audrey...)

My style is very minimalist but I like flashes of interest...

Can I look anywhere for inspiration?!

I feel that if I get this right, it will be the building block of my entire spring-summer wardrobe and thereby CHANGE MY LIFE. I hate S/S in general as I'm not fit or tanned enough to wear anything revealing and I get sweaty in anything over 20 degrees... this year I would like to look chic/glam and NON-FRUMPY, please...

Thanks citychick. Getting custom orthotics next week so will wait on buying anything new until I've got them to try. Those Superga look good though. I've got normal ones.

Hi @JessiCake

I'm 5'11 and although that may sound good I don't have the delicate gazelle-like ankles to pull off the 4/5 trousers (Capri pants I'm looking at you) but I can pull off a slightly longer look, of the 7/8.

I've also been loving these holy grail trousers instead of jeans, teamed with neat 'mannish' shirts for (in my dreams) a kind of ad-agency-meets-Angelina-Jolie-at-the-United-Nations kind of vibe...

For footwear, when it gets hotter I was thinking of trying sliders (like a wedge open sandal), but I live abroad and brogues (patent) or Derbys with no socks looks fab with jeans or these kinds of trousers. I have also tried a chunkier version of the 'driving shoe' , i.e. a patent funkier moccasin, to stay on the funky side of things, and not swerve into great aunt Zelda territory.

I must say though, the genuine light-weight tan driving shoe thingy is everywhere here, complete with snaffle, à la Gucci.