"So won't you let me help you Mister
Just pull your hat down the way I do
And buy your pants just a little longer
And next time somebody laughs at you
You just tell 'em you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway"
I have noticed since being at Texas State, in a way that I have never noticed before, that Texans do wear their pants really long... on the verge of crazy long, in some cases. A great number of students walk around in jeans so long that they are worn out at the ends from where they step on them. When it rains, a high percentage of the student body have wet jeans halfway up their calves from the fabric wicking the water that they walk through.
And while this is the most noticeable when they are wearing extremely thin-soled flip flops, long pant lengths are the norm no matter what shoes are being worn. It's not just the women, either, or I might put it down in part to them buying jeans to wear with heels - and anyway, you would expect to see the pant legs folded up in that case and not worn really scraggly and long unless that were actually a desirable fashion statement in itself. (Note: I don't think folded up jeans are particularly fashionable either, but my understanding is that the correct option there is to buy different pairs of jeans so that they are the right length for heels and flats.)
In an extreme case, a while back, one of our neighbors who is the right age to be a fellow Bobcat, was coming down our apartment stairs with bare feet and jeans so long that I was left speechless but Robert rightly observed "That guy is wearing his jeans as shoes" because of how the bottom of the jeans protected almost his entire foot from the ground.
Robert reports that long jeans were the norm for him growing up in Fort Worth, and that his mother would sometimes borrow his jeans when he was a teenager, despite them being a 36" length and her being sort of short.
Now, I recognize that I have a tendency to wear my pants too short and I have to really fight against it. But surely it is not de rigueur to wear jeans so long that you can step on them, right?
So, here is the length of my jeans, that to me are long enough. What do you think?
I wonder if part of my too-short-pants problem stems from liking to wear mary jane style shoes and colorful socks, which is a combination that does not look as good when wearing pants of the proper length. With jeans, I do generally wear sneakers instead, which is more compatible with the longer length.
8 comments:
Your jeans look a proper length to me, for whatever that is worth. My own jeans are a bit longer, but not by my intention - I'm just short (even for "petite" length).
I think your jeans are long enough, too. I have the problem of having short legs so that sometimes a petite length isn't long enough and the regular length is too long. Unlike men who can buy pants in specific inseam sizes, which vary by only one inch from one size to another.
Jeans at the lengths I buy them (34 or 36 inches) tend not to come in odd-number lengths, at least not in the brands I buy. I do (or did, since I just replaced several) have pairs which are worn out at the cuffs, because of being walked on.
I just searched on "Texas Jeans Length" at Google, and got a bunch of ads for Wranglers and...this post, in slot 18.
I think your jeans/pants should be within about half an inch from the floor when you're wearing shoes. I used to wear too-short jeans (having fairly long legs but being short-waisted) but have gotten pickier in recent years to get just the right fit. A longer jean will lengthen the legs, but too long and bunched up shortens the legs.
Jen, your rule of thumb (literally, since my thumb is 1/2" wide, though this would be hard to measure while wearing the pants) is something for me to consider in the future when shopping.
Perhaps some of my too short pants could be made into shorts. I have more pants than I need right now and not enough shorts for the warm becoming hot weather that is upon us.
Mom, too bad it is not convenient for me to shorten your pants for you, since that is one of the few sewing skills I am pretty solid on.
When you watch stuff (films, tv shoes, whatever) from the 80s or early 90s, it's clear that pants were worn shorter then. So these things change over time, clearly.
So are my too short pants the fashion equivalent of mom jeans? Arggggghhhhh.
Paraphrasing a book I read once:
The perfect length for (men's) pants is about half an inch above the sole of the shoe in back, but they may be slightly longer (as long as they don't touch the ground) or shorter (as long as your socks don't show when you walk). Tapered-leg pants look better when slightly shorter than flared pants. If you're wearing sandals without socks, your pants may be shorter, even showing your ankle.
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