Come on, "cuff" it up

Ok, like many people, when the weather heats up, the hems of my pants tend to get shorter. Capris, clamdiggers, walking shorts and even short-shorts appear, but probably one of the most common trends involves us rolling up the cuffs of our jeans. Here's the problem--how do you get it to look like you meant to do it, versus the "oh-crap!-my-bathroom-flooded" look or the ever popular "it-might-rain-and-I-don't-want-to-mess-up-these-oh-so-fabulous-dirty-ripped-jeans" look. Either way, clearly a dilemma deserving the highest level attention possible. So here we go, dear reader, let's plunge into these tricky waters and see how best to avert the flood.

To provide a visual aid, I have a rather poor resolution picture here that does happily give us an example of what not to do.

I could mention the platform nurse shoes, but I'll leave that for another segment and keep my focus on the cuffs. They are not "bad" per se, but definitely not good. It's all about balance.

Rule #1: if you are short, be very careful with this look.

In general, cuffs work best if you are amazonianly tall. Now, if you, like me, fit into the 99.9% of the population that is not of that demographic, think long and hard about this look. It can really cut your legs out from under you, making you look even shorter.

Rule #2: if you have to roll them up to be able to wear them without dragging on the ground like a kid playing dress-up, then for the love of Pete, get them tailored.

If you notice the picture shows a lady with cuffs that seem a little thick, trust me they looked thick in public, it just looks like her pants are too long. Not really saying "fashionista." Now, when you see maybe the single roll that keeps a narrow profile, much better.

Rule #3: if you are going to cuff, you better be wearing cute shoes.

I know I said I wouldn't get into it, but I couldn't help it. They are sooo ugly. She has shapely ankles and then these huge Herman Munster clunkers on underneath. A cute pair of flip flops or maybe some sweet ballet flats would be a much better choice here.

So, to cuff or not to cuff, that is the question. But seriously, if you are 5' or under, do you really want to look the size of an oopah loompah? Let's think tall, long, elegant, not short and stubby.