Pants that eat your feet: how to wear long-lined trousers without destroying the hem

Floor-length trousers, such as Julianne Hough’s at the Oscars, might survive a red carpet, but to last on the street, they need a higher hem. Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety/Getty Images

I’m waiting in line at the post office (procrastinating by running errands) when I see a woman in front of me wearing grey, low-rise bootlegged jeans and a black singlet that shows off her midriff. The look catches my eye because it’s the kind of outfit I so clearly remember wearing in the early 2000s. Then, I was too young to pull it off (but she’s in her early 20s and is also cool).

The jeans are loose through the leg and she’s wearing them so long they almost cover her trainers. As she explains what she wants to the post office assistant she hooks her right foot behind her left. Since her heel is raised I can see the bottom of her jeans has actually slipped beneath the sole of her shoe and the hem is starting to fray from being repeatedly stepped on.