you ue: [thots] trend: culottes, love them? hate them? how to wear them?

In this fashion desert known as Irvine, CA, a stay home mum has to have strong enough will power not to follow the Lululemon-wearing trend running mundane errands and I truly, wholeheartedly, hope that I can stay determined!

Very much at the opposite ends of the spectrum to skin tight yoga wear, culottes are baggy, airy garments that hangs like a skirts but are actually trousers. Wikipedia tells me they originated from the early C19, were worn by European upper class and the word itself is French.

Culottes are a bit like marmite I think, you either love it or hate it.. either way they have been back for a few years now and be it winter or summer I feel that they are here to stay~

My newly acquired culottes from H&M

Just doing a quick google image search for "culottes" one can find numerous trendy images, and here are some images that I screen grabbed from google.

I personally feel that culottes are super versatile, suitable for almost all occasions, there's something very stylish and sexy about exposing that little bit of ankle. Admittedly at the beginning they don't seem to be the easiest item to match, a few tips that I feel makes culottes matching a breeze~

1. Go bold

Be brave and select prints or patterns that are adventurous, although I like solid colours too, bold prints are a real statement piece .

2. No denim thank you

PERSONALLY, I am not a huge fan of denim culottes, it can seem very granny and somehow dated. Material wise, I perfer either light and "flowy" or thick and sturdy, quite literally, no in betweeners and leathers are great for the cooler seasons.

3. Pleats please

I usually look for pleats at the front especially for single coloured culottes. The wide legged nature of it is visually very grabbing (if that makes any sense haha) as there's a so much of it (in terms of area in proportion to the body) if the culottes has no front pleats or detail, it can seem a little like a nun skirt... and we all know those are not made to be trendy.

4. What top?

If one feels brave enough to show off some midriff, crop tops are great with culottes! For the less adventurous like myself, I like to match them with more boxy/ structured tops.

Shirts goes really well too, when selected right, they are even smart enough for professionals.

5. Any Shoes

Flip flops, platforms, slip on sneakers, heels, sandals, boots for winter...litereally anything and everything in my opinion, depending on the look that one wishes to display.

Wear them like a maxi skirt, like a comfortable pair of track suit bottoms, like a midi skirt, like jeans; dress them up with heels and down with slip ons, the versatility is immense!

Here are some of my takes on culottes with shoes

Casual flip flop