Can Culottes Ever Be Cool?

Oh, like you're not secretly jonesing for a pair, too!

Hello, Gorgeous!

This morning I was scrolling through Instagram (maximalist Balkan weddings seem to have caught my timeline's fancy) when a pair of pea-green pants showed up and I took notice. Well, not pants exactly. Culottes. The pattern was borderline barfy, but the style. Oh, the style. It sent me spiraling back to my days of skinned knees, freckles, and pigtails, gamboling in the summer sun and thinking I looked amazing. I probably didn’t, but I always felt cool in culottes.

Pants or Culottes? You decide

Remember culottes? Those not shorts, not palazzo pants that exist in the liminal space in our wardrobe between cute and heinous. Well, I, for one, have always loved them. Judge me if you will, but for someone who looks better in a pencil skirt than jeans, culottes have always been an oddball if interesting option.

Anyway. I’m thinking that if caftans are now considered downright cute (It must be true. Liz Lange just declared it so in Tablet Magazine), it’s time we welcome back the ‘lottes. And it looks like I’m not the only one with this mission. A quick search brought me to the Ulla Popken website where there are dozens of culottes, or maybe just loose pants or split skirts/divided skirts. So varied are the culotte offerings that there are even faux silver leather (these are totally not culottes, but I’ll give it a pass. Silver faux leather culottes/pants $70 on ullapopken.com) and studded versions. Some of them are cute while others are giving I gave up on life so I’ll wear extra loose pants vibes though. And I remember Tim Gunn once earnestly insisting I promise never to wear pants that cut mid-calf.

Incidentally, the 2026 runways seem to have been embracing the trend as well. And let us never forget that Princess Diana rocked some culottes from time to time and the world followed suit. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I have several embarrassing vacation pics from the ‘90s where I’m wearing not just culottes, but matching tops or jackets. Fun fact: during the French Revolution, the rebels were called sans-culottes — without culottes — because they rejected the fancy pants (some say even underwear) worn by the aristocracy. So culottes have always been a little rebellious.

Big question. Are we going to make this spring about culottes? I’m feeling tugged toward a most emphatic yes. How about you? Let’s meet in the comments section to discuss.

Rachel, Your beauty concierge 💋

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