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Original poster

Culottes - do they ever look good?

51 replies

Instawhat · 09/03/2022 08:02

www.icebreaker.com/en-gb/womens-pants-leggings/merino-culottes/0A56B7.html?dwvar_0A56B7_color=001

Are they ever a good substitute for a skirt, or do they always look weird? What footwear? Bare legs or tights/leggings?

OP posts:
MoonOnASpoon · 09/03/2022 08:06

I think they only really look ok if they’re indistinguishable from a skirt. For example I can understand wearing them if you want a skirt-like look but also want to ride a bike/horse. But usually they just look weird imo. The more thick/stiff the fabric the weirder they look.

MoonOnASpoon · 09/03/2022 08:09

Also I love icebreaker - if I had £129 to spend there I’d get lovely merino trousers/hoodie which are more suited to being merino IYSWIM.

TabithaTittlemouse · 09/03/2022 08:09

They look awful in that photo.
I wear them slightly longer, bare legs and with ballet flats.
I agree they don’t look great on everyone.

jarbert · 09/03/2022 08:09

Tbf, in that link they are styled in the most revolting way possible. I think those would look good with no socks / white trainers, or smarter with black pumps / heels.

I can't wear them because I've got generous calves, but I often think they look great on women with slender lower legs. Wide leg styles like that can be very balancing for people with wider hips.

Dillidalli · 09/03/2022 08:09

I used to love culottes back in the 80s/90s when I was pre teen so they have a special place in my heart.

Anjo2011 · 09/03/2022 08:14

If they were longer they would be lovely. I think they look a bit like very long sports shorts in this pic, also I’m not keen on the socks and sandals look. The Model is probably very tall so possibly on a shorter body they will be fine .

TheYearOfSmallThings · 09/03/2022 08:14

They often look good from the front, but rarely from the back.

The way they've styled it there is exactly how the mum's at DS's school wear theirs. I can't quite get my head around it but I'm sure they don't love my supermarket chic either!

Everydaydayisaschoolday · 09/03/2022 08:15

My adult DDs wear them but longer, in more flowing materials and with nicer shoes/boots and they look great. I couldn't wear them because I have short legs and a round belly and would look like Winnie the Pooh.

RonCarlos · 09/03/2022 08:17

I would look awful in those.

Short black ones a la Lynda Day I could get back on board with.

Original poster
Instawhat · 09/03/2022 08:26

Tbf, in that link they are styled in the most revolting way possible.
I can't get past this! I wouldn't wear them like that, definitely. But can't picture them without now! I don't know if they look like baggy mountain biking shorts or if they would look smart enough for church/restaurant with elderly relatives.

Im quite tall (5'9) with wide hips, chunky calves and couldn't go shorter as I've ugly scarred knees.

OP posts:
Purpleavocado · 09/03/2022 09:25

If the length would work on you in a skirt it would be alright. Personally, that length of skirt on me makes me look frumpy, especially in black. I like longer culottes.

BoodleBug51 · 09/03/2022 09:28

I think they look OK if the wearer is very tall, and they're not fitted around the arse area otherwise they can look really odd from behind.

Those ones in the OP are beyond hideous, sorry. What the hell is that look about?!

Nomorefuckstogive · 09/03/2022 09:31

They look great with high boots IMO.

Original poster
Instawhat · 09/03/2022 09:42

They look great with high boots IMO.
As in high heels or boots which come up high on the leg?

If the length would work on you in a skirt it would be alright.
I never wear skirts, but have been told I am expected to. I have also never worn culottes!

OP posts:
MarshaBradyo · 09/03/2022 09:46

Not those, but not so flowy and with knee high boots can look good

Vohgue · 09/03/2022 10:16

That's a skort surely.
Culottes are longer, less fabric in the leg

Vohgue · 09/03/2022 10:18

Actually I've just looked at all of the pictures and i dont know what that is.

ScreamIntoTheWind · 09/03/2022 10:20

The ones in the OP really remind me of the long black shorts my DS and his friends wear for rugby (over skins). Or that my ex wears to the gym/for cycling (again, over skins).

I just can’t imagine them looking like part of a proper outfit.

Original poster
Instawhat · 09/03/2022 10:23

Actually I've just looked at all of the pictures and i dont know what that is.
Grin

OP posts:
Glaciferous · 09/03/2022 10:35

I love culottes. But mine are all more tailored/structured than those. And longer.

Original poster
Instawhat · 09/03/2022 10:47

But mine are all more tailored/structured than those. And longer.
Do you have a link?

OP posts:
User76745333 · 09/03/2022 10:49

They look good in 1989

Boood · 09/03/2022 10:56

They look good with knee length boots in winter (puss in boots, in a good way) or sandals/wedges in summer. With those falling down grey woolly socks they look like a 1950s schoolboy.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 09/03/2022 11:09

I have black culottes I wore for work pre-covid. Mine are midcalf and a more a-line shape, I guess more like wide cropped trousers. I wore them with a tucked in top (often a Breton) and white trainers mostly.

Those linked/the styling make me think of kids’ books about evacuees.

I feel like wide leg crops are kind of past for me, and I haven’t worn them since being back in.

averythinline · 09/03/2022 11:14

Why are you expected to wear a skirt??
I would be pushing back on that sexist nonsense for a start...

As for culottes really tricky to look great but if you like them so what?? Whose the judge!
I have a pair I wear in the summer as more practical than a skirt for dogwalking/ picnics but they are longer than those