Cropped Jeans: How to pull them off

Cropped tailored trousers have been around for a while and growing in popularity each season. When cut properly, they elongate your legs and update your look making it look more modern. And so it seemed pretty logical for the cropped jean to follow suit.
After being a big hit as a new shape for women last season they're now being translated into men's shapes for the spring/summer season. It should be noted that while they work with different personal styles they are not for everyone – don't let your dad wear them.

They are, in essence, the cropped version of a straight jean. But beware, you will not achieve the same effect from chopping off your old 501's. Like all jeans, they taper ever so slightly and the heavier bottom hem makes them fall and move in a particular way.
The trick for a great fit is to find a style that feels like a slim jean from the thigh upwards and that loosens up downwards. Always make sure that 4-5cm of your ankle are bare – your jeans must never touch your shoes when you're standing.

Although you may wear them as you please, I'd recommend staying clear of high tops or chunky shoes. Low sneaker styles similar to Stan Smith's or Stefan Janoski's are your friends. Most smart shoes should also work.
When wearing socks go to the extremes. Either go invisible ones or wear longer than standard socks – remember your jeans will go up when you sit down and there's nothing worse than that awkward bit of skin shown between trousers and socks.

To give this new shape your first go I'd recommend one of these three styles (from left to right):

ASOS Cropped Straight Jeans in Light Blue, Diesel 848I Tapered Fit Cropped Jeans
or ASOS Cropped Straight Fit Jeans in Dark Blue.

Note: If, like me, you need to get your jeans altered even when they're cropped make sure get your alterations done by someone who understands denim and who will keep a light tapered hem and keep the original denim finishings.

The Summer of Denim

I spent part of my Sunday evening clearing out my computer folders. Over the years I've piled up a lot of editorial and street style images and I like to go through them every once in a while to keep the ones I still like after years and get rid of the rest.
With hundreds of pictures gone it was pretty clear that I always have been very drawn to denim. Yes, we all wear jeans pretty often but I do genuinely never leave the house without denim on my back. Luckily for me the experts (?) predict this summer to be very denim-based even encouraging us to go for the much-dreaded double-denim, which I've actually always loved.
There are two ways of wearing denim. The first, to include only one piece, be it jeans, a jacket, a shirt (chambray counts) or even this season trendy piece – the work jackets. Oxford shirts, blazers and cardigans are much welcome for combinations. Especially in white, black and beige or, my two favourite, khaki and navy.
The second, less safe, way is to double your denim. You can hardly go wrong by wearing your blue jacket with your grey or black jeans, or vice versa  (see Fig.1) – you need to really suck to make this look bad. But it becomes trickier when playing with different shades of blue. My personal advise is to keep washes classic. Avoid too many sand shades and and crotch side lines and try for either the jeans or the jacket to be a tad darker than the other (see Fig. 2)

I bought my new favourite pair of classic jeans recently in Paris by my current favourite brand AMI. They have a slight air of 80's, which gives outfits a really easy feel. For a denim jacket I would recommend All Saints. Their slim (not tight) fits and timeless washes make them perfect to go with you through the year. But for the picture below I chose a Levi's Vintage Clothing style with some very cool distressed detailing.