Flare Pants: The 1960s Shape That Keeps Coming Back

The V&A describes bell bottoms, also called flares or wide legs, as trousers that widen from the knee and take their name from their bell-like shape. It says flares first became popular for men and women in the 1960s, as the hippie era approached, with rock stars including Elvis Presley helping the cause. The museum also holds a 1964 Sunday Express illustration by Veronica Papworth showing Chanel's bell-bottom trousers, which the clipping calls her latest brain child. Flare pants have been a design question for sixty years.

A flare that starts at the knee is the classic. One that starts at mid-calf is subtler and easier on shorter legs. Look at how the fabric moves when you walk. A stretch crepe or a ponte flares gracefully, and a stiff cotton flares like a bell. Make sure the hem skims the top of your shoes, since flares that drag pick up dirt.

A high rise lengthens the leg and keeps the line smooth. Flare pants want a heel or a platform, but a pointed flat or a loafer works too if the hem is tailored. In our fashion dreams she walks to work in black flares and a fitted turtleneck, her boots hidden under the hem. Try them on with the shoe you will actually wear.

A flare is a wide shape at the bottom, so balance it with something fitted on top. A bodysuit, a tucked tee or a cropped sweater all work. Add a belt for definition. Long jackets look good if they end at the hip, not at the knee.

I would skip flares with a low, tight waist that dig in when you sit, and a flare so wide it swallows the shoe. If the hem has to be pinned to walk, the proportions are off.