What Are Culottes Pants?

Culottes pants are wide cropped pants. Their history goes back to the XVI century. Today, this item of closet is experiencing another renaissance. Culottes pants have not left the catwalks for several seasons and are included in the collections of many fashion houses. They are worn by stars and style icons - Duchesses Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, model Gigi Hadid, blogger-stylist Marianna Eliseeva. This is a short part of the list of celebrities whose hearts have been won by revolutionary pants. Why revolutionary? Most of their appearances at the forefront of the fashion scene have caused hype.  

They can afford fair sex of any complexion and age. Possessors of high growth and long slender legs will go in any style, and the rest should note the following points.  

Culottes pants visually "cut" the figure horizontally, and it is recommended to correct the proportions through a high heel. Not necessarily a stiletto, stable heel and wedge are acceptable. Pull out the silhouette of shoes of nude colors and so-called decolletized. Similarly works monochrome, that is, the top and pants made in one color.  

For low women are optimal straight models of high landing with arrows or shields at the waist. Additionally emphasize the waist can be tucked into the shirt or knotted.  

Being overweight is no reason to give up on culottes pants. Appetizing forms will hide wide or flared from the hip pants. Choose a monochrome color or unobtrusive pattern and heel, like opera singer Anna Netrebko, going for a walk in milk culottes pants.  

The initial harmonious silhouette is a wide bottom and a shortened top. Emphasize the waistline with a high basque or belt. If you need to correct the opposite, then the ideal choice will be monochromatic images. If you prefer oversize silhouettes, it is worth choosing ankle-length culottes to harmonize proportions.

The word "culottes" comes from the French culotte, which translates as "short pants". In France, they were initially worn exclusively by men - representatives of the nobility. They were a length just below the knee, where they fastened on the cuff. Pants that fit so tightly into the body that sometimes without the help of servants neither put them on nor remove them did not work. Count d'Artois, who introduced the custom of riding in suede culottes, was assisted by four footmen!  

In the distant XVIII century, only men of noble origin wore this style of pants. French revolutionaries fundamentally ignored short pantaloons, considering them an attribute of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. They wore pants of coarse fabric, which later received the name - sans-culottes, from the word sans - without and culotte - short pants. This word was later used to dub all revolutionaries. Women from unprivileged strata of society also began to wear long pants, but the reaction was sharp.  

The lower strata of society did not recognize such clothes on principle. They were much more comfortable in length, sewn from coarse fabric sanquelots (sans means "without", i.e. "without short pants"). Pants commoners even became associated with the protest movement that swept France in the XVIII century, and revolutionary-minded commoners began to be called sanquelots.  

In the 19th century, horseback riding was considered a popular pastime for ladies in society, and gradually, for safety reasons, women began to use men's saddles. Thus came first divided skirts, and later skirt-pants — that is, a combination of riding pants and a detachable top skirt .  

But at the end of the XIX century appeared bicycling began to slowly replace riding, and ladies from the upper classes had to again redesign their closet to follow the new trend of social behavior. Thus, skirts had to give way to pants, which became a kind of uniform for cycling.  

At the beginning of the twentieth century, women had an even greater need for comfortable clothes. Eccentric fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli constantly created clothes that were comfortable for sports, including the great-grandfathers of modern culottes pants. They require comfortable toilets for cycling, sports and other activities. Fashion designers were looking for a replacement for corsets and floor-length dresses. Parisian designer Elsa Schiaparelli made a move – offering something between pants and skirt. In the early 30s, she sewed for tennis player and famous feminist Lily de Alvarez culottes, in which she made a sensation at the Wimbledon tournament.  

In the 1920s, the ideal of a new woman - slim, athletic, active and self-confident, choosing a non-feminine profession and masculine things – was established. Almost simultaneously with Elsa Schiaparelli, the American couturier Charles James also offered culottes in his collections.

The idea of Parisians was instantly picked up in England, it was introduced in his collection by the American couturier Charles James. The models were unfamiliar, and society took them in a flip. For several more years in newspapers, such experiments with closets were condemned.

The second birth of culottes pants, closely related to progressive sentiments, was received in the 90s of the last century. They still "went to the people." Princess Diana has appeared in them more than once in society. In Russia they were also worn a lot and with pleasure. True, then we had more often the name skirt-pants, but that does not change the essence.

For a few decades, skirts of different characters supplanted culottes pants, and these feminine pants were revived only in the modern era of cold elegance.

One of the fundamental rules of fashion says that a wide bottom should be worn with a narrow top, and vice versa.

Of course, there are exceptions, but in the case of culottes pants, this principle should be taken into account and try to observe it until you learn to combine these pants with a variety of things.

A great pair of culottes pants will make blouses, shirts, fitted jackets and vests. In cool weather, you can put a thin sweater or leather jacket on top. In summer culottes can be worn with a variety of tops, including shortened ones.

If you have chosen a top of free silhouette, it is recommended to tuck it behind the waistband of pants to indicate the waistline.

As outerwear to go along with culottes pants, modern fashionistas choose voluminous coats, jackets and jackets, so this style is perfectly combined with clothes in the style of oversize.

When creating a stylish image with culottes pants, the biggest difficulty faced by girls is the choice of shoes. If you can not boast a high growth, favor only those shoes that visually lengthen the leg.

First of all, it is shoes with high heels: shoes of different styles, sandals, boots, etc. Adding a few centimeters of growth will help flesh-colored shoes or shoes of the same shade as the tights or stockings worn on you.

Those who are not afraid that fashionable culottes pants visually make them a little lower, stylists recommend wearing such pants with comfortable sneakers or slipons, mules on the heel, narrow, high boots (in this case, the pants will cover part of the shank), various boots – oxfords, loafers, sandals-gladiators, etc.

Nothing helps in creating a bright and harmonious bow as well as properly selected accessories. With the help of these little things, you can completely change the perception of the image for better or for worse.

The choice of accessories for the outfit with culottes pants – the task is quite simple: there are no rigid requirements and restrictions, so you can experiment with your favorite shapes and colors.

Since the pants themselves are quite voluminous, bags for them usually choose small, but capacious. It can be an envelope bag, trapeze, valise, etc. Both bags on a long strap and models with a handle are well combined with culottes pants.

Large sunglasses, bright belts, eye-catching jewelry – accessories that are most often worn with culottes pants. We recommend that you also pay attention to such stylish details as hats and elegant gloves.

Culottes pants, despite some specificity, are almost a universal thing that can be used to form a look in different styles. Culottes pants can be part of a business suit or evening attire, and can successfully fulfill the role of everyday wear. Read more about how and with what to wear culottes in different life situations below.

In everyday life culottes pants can be combined with your favorite, practical clothes – t-shirts, short tops, shirts, sweaters and turtlenecks. With all these things, they will look great with culottes pants, sewn from democratic materials such as denim, velour or dense knitwear.

Let's look at a few successful examples of casual outfits, which include culottes pants:

Shopping: blue denim culottes pants, a striped long-sleeve top that opens the shoulders, a roomy brown bag and sandals in tone.

To study: long mint-coloured culottes pants, white short-sleeved blouse, light-colored ballet flats and the same shade bag.

In the movies: light denim culottes pants, a short print T-shirt, green high-heeled sandals and a tiny green handbag.

Below are examples of seductive outfits with culottes pants:  

For a night out: a deep wine-coloured openwork set consisting of perforated culottes pants and a sexy long-sleeve top.

For a date: snow-white culottes pants combined with a black lace sleeveless top, black classic loafers and a massive necklace.

Interesting examples of images of culottes pants in business style:

A great pair: dark grey culottes pants with a small pattern and a strict white shirt. A small, eggplant-colored handbag and sandals in tone enliven the restrained image. A bit playful: dark blue culottes with arrows combined with a polka dot shirt and blue shoes.