Some guys are down-right passionate about leg openings. And most guys have an opinion about how wide leg openings should be.

The leg opening is the width at the bottom of your pants. There are three usual types of leg openings: ‘tapered,’ ‘straight’ and ‘bootcut.’  We’ll also add a fourth type: ‘slim’, which is the “leg opening of the moment” for fashion aficionados. 

Semi Straight-leg (Recommended)

Straight-leg in theory means the pant is straight from the knee down to the bottom opening. We consider Todd Shelton pants to be closest to straight-leg, although we have a slight taper (approximately 1” circumference) from the knee down. This slight taper eliminates the risk of the pant looking flared, while providing enough footwear coverage. We’ve found a slightly tapered straight leg is our best balanced pant.

We offer two pant fits: a generous straight leg and a less roomy straight leg. Our ‘Generous’ straight leg is approximately 19” at leg opening. Our ‘Standard’ straight leg is 17” at leg opening.  Let’s look at the two fits:

Our Trim Fit pant has a more narrow leg which extends to the leg opening.  Notice how this fit provides less coverage  to the footwear compared to the Generous fit below.

Our Generous Fit has a more wide leg opening creating a full, straight leg silhouette. 
Let’s look at the different leg openings in more detail:

Tapered

Nearly all pants sold to the masses are considerably tapered. The taper takes place from the knee to the leg opening. Industry standard is a 3” taper (example: 21” circumference at knee, 18” at opening). We hear most guys say they don’t like their pants too tapered, generally because when a full cut pant is strongly tapered, it creates a clown-like proportion. And for some, a tapered pant doesn’t provide enough coverage for their footwear.

Bootcut

Obviously, most guys drawn to bootcut pants don’t actually wear boots. But bootcut pants are their best option for a wide leg opening. You’ve got to be cautious, though, because there’s a potential problem with bootcut pants: when the knee is narrower than the bottom opening, the leg shape becomes flared. And a flared leg can look feminine—especially when you’re walking!

Here’s a simple test you can do to check for the “flared” effect. Lay the pant leg flat, then fold the bottom opening to the knee area. If the bottom opening is greater than the knee, we would recommend you look for another pant.

 
Slim

The ‘slim’ leg opening is worth discussing—it’s everywhere these days. Although most guys will not feel comfortable with a slim leg, the style is here to stay—at least for a while. Slim pants are mainly embraced by designers leaning towards the European aesthetic. A slim leg is sophisticated, but they come with issues! You need to be slim, they don’t hang properly and the bottom opening is very narrow. There’s a very fine line between looking sophisticated and looking bad in a slim leg pant: treat them with care!

Hem Lengths Affect on Leg Opening

You can help visually control the width of your leg opening with your hem length. See our recommendation for hem lengths

If you have any questions regarding leg opening or any other pant related question, please contact us. 

We hope you found this article helpful.  Would you like to view our pant collection?