Culottes: Why we can’t seem to get enough of these unflattering pants
(Pierre Suu/Getty Images)
For the past few seasons, celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Victoria Beckham and Olivia Palermo have been making a case for the culotte.
The trending pant typically features a wide leg or A-line cut that flairs out from the waist before abruptly cutting off halfway between the knee and the ankle. Not the most flattering look for most body types, this hasn’t stopped the pant from “cropping” up everywhere including high end designer collections from Chanel and 3.1 Phillip Lim to mainstream brands like H&M and Zara. Referred to as “famously finicky, difficult to understand, and known for their pouch-centric orientation” in a recent article by The Cut, we’re left wondering: why are culottes so hot?
Kendall Jenner in culottes (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
Olivia Palermo in baby blue culottes (Brian Ach/Getty Images for Rolls-Royce)
Gigi Hadid in culottes (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Samsung)
During the French Revolution, culottes were a symbol of the aristocracy. Also referred to as breeches, being able to forego full length pants meant that you weren’t a part of the working class – who arguably required full protection of their calves and ankles for practical purposes. You likely were also a man.
Louis XVI was an early supporter of the culotte as seen from his many painted portraits featuring culottes, although he preferred to wear his tight.
Louis XVI donnant des instructions à La Pérouse, le 29 juin 1785 (Nicolas-André Monsiau)
It wasn’t until later that women began dressing in culottes. First introduced as a split or bifurcated skirt, which looks like a skirt but is actually shorts, culottes allowed female equestrians to ride with open legs instead of side-saddle. Next came more of a ‘skort’ version, which quickly became the go-to school uniform for girls schools in the U.K.
Victoria Beckham hiding her face while wearing culottes (Josiah Kamau/BuzzFoto via Getty Images)
Culottes re-entered the fashion world in the ‘30s thanks to pioneers like designer Elsa Schiaparelli and actress Catherine Hepburn. Women often wore them while participating in activities like bike-riding and playing tennis. They again were spotted in the ‘60s and ‘70s during the hippie era on actresses like Ali MacGraw. Like many fashion trends, the return of the culotte may simply be nothing more than a case of history repeating itself.
For those considering taking the culotte jump, The Cut offers these guidelines, “Never sit. Subsist on lemonade. Only use pockets as holsters for your delicate hands. Never use pockets to hold anything common, like money or keys.” With that in mind, can someone please pass the lemons?
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