My Hunt for Culottes That Don’t Make Me Look Like Louis XVI
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Oh, the poor, misunderstood culotte. It has long been a contentious article of clothing. It was during the French Revolution that trouser-wearing, working-class revolutionaries — thesansculottes, literally meaning “without breeches” — helped do away with culottes (and the heads of the aristocrats who wore them). Later, at the turn of the 20th century, some suffragists adopted them (which went over about as well as you would think). Their reputation precedes them even today: In the Cut,Véronique Hylanddescribed them as “torso-truncating, leg-bisecting, [and] aggressively unsexy.”Grace Coddington can’t stand them. I, on the other hand, can.
This year, I haven’t stopped seeing them at department stores, mall brands, and just about any shop you can think of. Unlike pantaloons or bloomers, culottes don’t know what they want to be. They are a walking identity crisis — not a pant or shorts or a skirt — and that’s what makes them ideal for the transition between seasons, especially right about now. I like how they flounce and bounce (there’s a reason the Edwardians biked in them). But proportionally, culottes shouldn’t work on me. I’m wide-hipped and short-legged. For reference, I’m around five-foot-two, and I usually wear a size eight or ten and the letter-size medium in most bottoms. I don’t want to look like Louis XVI (I’ve watched Sofia Coppola’sMarie Antoinettea thousand times to know), but I can’t get images of a culottedPrincess Dianaout of my head. I’m looking for something Goldilocksian: not too long, not too short, full but not too full. So I called in some culottes for myself. Here, everything I hunted down:
The Too Long
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I might be mistaken for a whirling dervish in COS’s Voluminous Culottes. (I would take this as a compliment.) Unfortunately, I have the same problem with these as I have with nearly every pair of pants from COS: They’re too long. They came down to the top of my foot, and I suppose I could get them hemmed (or at least try to). One plus: They have a drawstring on the inside of the waistband that lets you tighten them to your midsection’s content.
The Too Shorts-y
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I imagine if J.Crew’s culottes were in an old catalogue, they’d be by the Bermuda shorts. That’s because they are simply more shorts than they are culottes — they show a lot of calf. I don’t think the length (just under the knee) is right for me, either. It cuts me off the way a strap around the ankle might. This bummed me out because I like the thickness of the cotton blend, which is 88 percent cotton to 12 percent linen. (When’s the last time you found a good cotton blend?)
Editor’s note: These are sold out in most sizes now, but you can sign up to receive an email when your size is back in stock.
The Too Skirt-y
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GU,Uniqlo’s sister shop, launched a U.S. e-commerce site last year and opened a flagship down in Soho. Strategist senior writersLiza CorsilloandLauren Rostopped by the store when it opened and found that the size range was similar to Uniqlo’s, albeit slightly limited to XS to XL (rather than XXL). I’ve found that the brand’s pants may run small, these included. It’s a miracle I could get them over my hips; it was only through the divine intervention of the elastic in the back (you can’t tell it’s there from the front tucks) that I did. A look in the mirror reminded me of a Catholic-school uniform — and I didn’t even attend Catholic school. So anotherno.
The Too Pants-y
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If this were ahuntfor full-length wide-legs, these might be a winner. Madewell’s culotteisn’ta culotte. (It doesn’t stop “mid-calf,” as the product description led me to believe, either.) This doesn’t mean I don’t like them! They’re made with a cotton poplin that’s, to borrow an expression from our writerErin Schwartz, “so crisp you could crack an egg on it.” It’s as if your favoritebutton-downmagically became a pair of pants — and about as put-together as apull-ongets. Still, it’s too pantslike to satisfy the criteria.
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I hadn’t so much as window-shopped at H&M in years, but these Wide-Leg Culottes caught my eye. They turned out to be even less culotte-legged and more wide-legged than Madewell’s. Again, a culotte these are not. At $40, they were one of the cheapest culottes I tried. They’re 80 percent rayon and 20 percent polyester (compared to GU’s 95 percent polyester and 5 percent spandex blend). They’re not as breathable as Madewell’s, but they are easier to move in. I had enough leg room to kick or split (if only I knew how to do a split).
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Mango Cotton Culotte Pants
I felt like I was trying on someone else’s (a long-legged, long-waisted someone else’s) wide-legs while trying Mango’s culottes. I also had a hard time with the waist’s highness and what it did to my intestines.
Editor’s note: These are sold out in all sizes now, but you can sign up to receive an email when your size is back in stock.
The Almosts
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At last, we’ve gotten to the culotte-culottes, beginning with Uniqlo’s Nylon Culottes. They fit me well everywhere: through the hips and thighs and around my butt. Made completely out of nylon, they make satisfyingswooshandswishsounds with every step. But I can’t help but think about my track pants from gym class. They’re very Sporty Spice (and I lean more toward Victoria Beckham — I can’t run a mile to save my life).
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Okay,Free Peoplesays these have a “culotte silhouette,” but I’d just say they’re a culotte. They’re actually cropped on me (and I think would be for anyone else under five-foot-four). I didn’t think I’d like the gathering up top — there’s an elastic band on the inside of the waist — but it’s surprisingly cinching. I also couldn’t resist the colors that these come in: Flame Red, Pink Peacock, Chocolate Tort, Malibu Orange, and Amparo Blue. Seen here is the first. I’m thinking of getting the brown ones next.
The Just-Rights
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I couldn’t decide between Free People’s Ivy and Lucca. They’re the culotte-iest of the culottes I tried. I wanted all the comforts of a pant, shorts, and skirt in a culotte, and I got all the comforts of a pant, shorts, and skirt in these culottes. The length is what I was looking for all along: long enough and short enough. They’re each made from 100 percent cotton and billow out with the wind (in the style of theSeven Year Itchscenewith Marilyn Monroe). They have a fullness that’s very laissez-faire. I now know how Louis XVI felt every day — that is, like a few million livres, or however muchMarie Antoinette’s diamond necklacewas.
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