In Fashion, What Is a Tapered Leg?
One of the key features in the design of pants is the way that they fit at the lower calf and ankle. Straight leg pants, for example, have an opening at the ankle that has almost exactly the same circumference as the pants do at the knee. Therefore, there is very little variation in the fit along the leg and the pants have a "straight" look. Pants with a tapered leg have an opening at the ankle that has a smaller circumference than any other point in the leg of the pants.
Depending on the style of the pants, the taper in the leg may be quite drastic or very subtle. One of the most extreme examples of a tapered leg are the kind of pants that M.C. Hammer made popular in the late 1980's and early 1990's. "Hammer pants," as they came to be known, are very baggy throughout the thigh and upper calf area and quite fitted about the lower calf and ankle. Most pants with a tapered leg have a much less extreme difference in the circumferences of the upper and lower sections of the leg.
Pants with a tapered leg are generally fitted close to the body and closely match the shape of the leg. One of the most common kinds of pants with this kind of leg are skinny jeans. These jeans fit very tightly all along the leg and are closely fitted about the ankle. Unlike jeans with a straight leg, jeans with a tapered leg can fit inside of boots that extend up above the ankle.
The tapered leg is the exact opposite of the flare leg. A pair of pants with a flare leg will be sewn so that the circumference of fabric around the leg widens progressively from mid-calf to ankle. A bell bottom leg is similar to the flare leg except that the widening of the leg begins at the knee instead of at the mid-calf such as with pants with a flare leg. Both bell bottom pants and pants with flare legs have opposite patterns in the lower part of the leg than the patterns for pants with tapered legs.
Styles of jeans often define an era. Jeans with bell bottoms, for example, are associated with the 1960's and 1970's. Jeans with flares at the ankle were very popular in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Since then, jeans with tapered legs have become popular. These styles also define trends in trousers and pantsuits.
Written by Diane Goettel
