You might not think of wearing your ankle pants in the winter, but I feel like our closets can be so much more versatile if we discover the secrets and tricks to wearing most items all year long.
Besides your definition of winter can vary depending on where you live.
Quote of the day: “I’ve always been adverse to the quote ‘Act your age.’ The older I get, the more I try to embrace my inner kid.” Sylvester Stallone
In all reality, the key to winter outfits is layering, as we all know so well. The adage that if your trunk is covered and warm, you will be warmer is true. And it’s amazing how you can hide so much layering with thinner tops, camisoles, and even plain t-shirts.
The three of us incorporated some secrets for how we wore our ankle pants in winter. And in all honesty, the weather was cold this day. None of us were prepared for it because the forecast was wrong.
So what you don’t see in these photos is how we added more jackets on top and even covered our heads with extra scarves we had in the car. You’d laugh if you saw my mom at one point. She was wearing our car blanket around her and looked homeless, LOL. Poor mom, there are no secrets from my virtual world.
Wearing ankle pants in winter
1-What are ankle pants?
2-Ankle pants, ankle boots, and a blazer with a turtleneck
3-Ankle pants, ankle boots, and a jacket with a layered sweater
4-Ankle pants, flats with socks, and a dickey and sweater
What are Ankle Pants
Ankle pants are any pants that are made to be shorter than full-length. You could call them cropped, but they will end either at the ankle or above the ankle.
Insider tip: If you went through a stage growing up where they were called “floods”, that’s something we need to erase from our memory. Remember that styles evolve and change, and that means our mindset needs to evolve also. Otherwise, if you only wear what was cool from your younger days, you might appear dated and frumpy.
Why even consider ankle pants? Showing off a bare part of your body that is smaller than the rest of your body is very flattering. It’s no different than pushing your sleeves up on your shirts which many stylists talk about.
The other detail is that ankle pants really show off your fabulous footwear.
For shorter women like ourselves, buying ankle pants can be smart because many times then they are the correct full length without having to shorten them.
We have styled ankle pants other times in warmer weather.
What shoes to wear with ankle pants
Ankle pants for casual days
Wide-leg cropped pants outfits
Insider tip: In a way, ankle pants aren’t all that much different from capri pants or even midi skirts. Finding the right balance of proportion with the other elements in your look can be key.
Did we succeed at this? I’ll discuss it below.
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Wearing Ankle Pants with a Long Blazer
Charlotte has never been a huge fan of ankle pants because she stems from the days of thinking of wanting our legs to look longer. And the idea that ankle pants cut off the vertical dimension above the ankles is something that was frowned upon in those days.
I get it. You’ve been hoodwinked to think that looking taller is better. When in reality, no one can tell how tall (or short) you are in photos unless you are standing next to other people.
Taller just doesn’t relate to looking modern, stylish, or unique. Yet traditional stylists still push this concept. Well, I say it’s time to wear all of the newer styles and figure out how to make them work for us.
Let’s talk about proportion in Charlotte’s outfit. A long blazer like this isn’t always the best choice because it creates a 1/2 to 1/2 proportion that you can especially notice in the rearview.
What works for her is the fact that she added a scarf draped around her collar which gives an asymmetrical detail to the front of the look.
Insider tip: For those of you that tend to be more minimalistic, the proportion is even more important because you don’t have all of the extras to trick the eye.
The other aspect that helps skew a proportion issue is the crossbody strap of her purse, especially in the rearview. It helps to break up the expanse of the white color of the blazer.
Another trick with proportions and ankle pants: You could change the length of your ankle pants by cuffing them. None of us did that this time, but I have in the past.
Accessories and Details
I love that my mom has embraced snakeskin booties. She picked these up at a discount store a couple of years ago and has worn them many times. They are a lighter neutral with the tans and ivory that lighten up many winter looks.
The other details that make this outfit stylish are the fringe necklace and earrings. The fringe trend has been going strong for years now and these are great examples of how incorporating modern accessories makes us look like we live in the present time.
Polka Dot Ankle Pants in Winter
Lesley also went with the idea of wearing ankle pants in winter by adding in her ankle boots. She kept her top half cozy and warm with a blouse under her sweater and then added a wool jacket.
Want to hear her fun commentary on this look? “I don’t wear ankle pants because most that are described as ankle are full length on my short self. Living dangerously and pushing my boundaries with this outfit, I did print mixing and showed skin between the bootie top and pant hem. I guess at my age it’s (almost) OK to live dangerously.”
This is such a fabulous example of print mixing, and in fact, she has three prints in the look if you include her purse. Brava, brava!!
Stripes are touted as the universal print because they go with everything so well including other prints.
Insider tip: Print mixing 101 will have you pair prints with the same colors together. That’s what Lesley did here with the black-and-white stripes and black-and-white polka dots.
The Details
I was commenting on Lesley’s headband and she was saying how surprised she was that it was super comfortable. In the past, most headbands that ended behind my ears will give me a headache and be annoying with my glasses. Yet, Lesley shared a couple from her pack, and I have to admit, they were easy to wear all day.
The image below takes you to these exact headbands but there are more where those came from on Amazon.
Ankle Pants for a Mild Winter Day
I’ve had these ankle pants for years. If I knew it was going to be so cold, I would have worn my combat boots with the look.
However, I wanted to play with the idea of showcasing fun socks since the weather was supposed to be nice.
In all reality, I could have worn taller and warmer socks if I thought it was going to be cold. Trouser socks are always a good option, and you can even incorporate colorful options. Your socks DO NOT have to match your pants or shoes.
I wanted to wear this amazing dickey under my sweater. I wasn’t planning on wearing the jean jacket, but funny how the tulle at the bottom of the jacket really goes with the feathers on the dickey.
Dickeys are one of those things that have come a long way. Did you know they have straps for under the arms now, so they stay in place better?
This one is from one of my favorite local boutiques, Just Be Youtiful, and it was only $10. If you are interested, reach out to her on her FB page and she might be able to get more and ship it to you.
Otherwise, check out the ones similar that are from Amazon. You can see the straps I was talking about in the one below.
Insider tip: I did wear a camisole under the sweater. There are very few times I wear a sweater without some kind of camisole or shirt under it for washing purposes. It’s much easier to wash a shirt, than a sweater.
The Extras
If you’ve seen the young “it” girls lately, then you’ve seen the sling bags over a shoulder this way. It’s basically a belt bag but worn like a crossbody purse.
You can certainly purchase a sling bag, but if you have a belt bag, then why not refashion it to be worn this way?
And then when you can’t find the right color of socks to wear with your outfit, why not some that are basically sheer? I just thought these were so cute. My pair is from that same favorite local boutique Just Be Youtiful (She might have more if you ask her), or I found some on Amazon.
Conclusion
I always have many secrets for making your closet work for you.
Here are a couple of other ways to wear your ankle pants in winter
1-Pair them with tall boots. The advantage of ankle pants is you wouldn’t have all of the material as full-length pants that need to be tucked into your boots.
And if you need them to stay put, tuck them into your socks.
2-Wear hose. silk, long underwear, or thin tights under your pants. I know many of you scoff at this idea, but it works.
3-Or do as Charlotte and Lesley did here and show off your favorite pair of ankle boots. With the straight-leg ankle pants, you can easily wear taller ankle boots so there is no bare skin showing if it’s really cold outside.
If you are evaluating proportions, they can be seen easily in this photo below of all three of us. Lesley wins with the best 1/3 to 2/3 proportions with her ankle pants in winter.
But I think I’ve shown how we can skew those “rules” to make our outfits still look fabulous.
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Welcome to Jodie’s Touch of Style. I’m here to prove that it’s never too late to look great. Clothing and style are meant to showcase your inner personality. So let’s have fun and try new things.
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