Capri pants are fashionable again: an expert tells why they divide opinions

That one of the cornerstones of early 2000s fashion has crept back: capri pants are making a comeback.

Some have never stopped wearing them, but in the fashion world, the return of capris has been shocking news.

Are capris really back? Here’s how you’ll use them in 2024, title Vogue.

Capri pants are making a comeback and we don’t hate it, write The Zoe Report.

Capres, i.e. pants that cover the knee, have been seen for a long time at the shows of fashion houses and on fashion influencers. However, that intermediate form between shorts and long pants strongly divides opinion.

To my mind the tips from fashion magazines and programs of yesteryears about how the leg length of capris is unflattering for many. The older generations in particular are familiar with the advice on dressing according to their body type.

In online discussions, there is a lively debate about capri pants: are they really horrible or not? For example, a popular one vauva.fi -site’s comments are like straight out of a fashion guide from 20 years ago:

Creates a shorter impression because it visually breaks the leg line.

Capris emphasize the calves and shorten the length. For most, it is disadvantageous. Ok for tall and slim.

Old magazine stories are downright scary with the use of capris:

Pantyhose are making a comeback – watch out for these pants! title Evening newspaper in 2017.

The top model wore controversial pants that flatter very fewwrote We women in 2018.

Street style photographer and founder of the Gem app Liisa Jokinen believes that the return of capris is related to the return of the fashion of the early 2000s, or “zero fashion”, which has already been proven in the last couple of years.

“It often takes about 20 years before a trend returns. It’s a long enough time span to get enough distance from something. The generations have changed and the younger ones can adopt the trend as if it were new.”

Jokinen, who previously worked as a stylist, remembers that capris have been in fashion exactly in 20-year cycles: first in the 1960s, then in the 1980s and so on.

“At the moment, the capris are quite sporty, similar to leggings or loose and country-style.”

Capri pants were developed in a fashion magazine Marie Claire in the late 1940s. A new leg length was introduced by a German fashion designer Sonja de Lennart and he named it after his favorite vacation spot, the Italian island of Capri.

The past years warnings about capris sound old-fashioned to Jokinen’s ear. They are based on the idea that clothes should flatter the body in accordance with traditional beauty ideals, i.e. make a person look as tall and slim as possible.

“To that, I would say that everyone just wear capris, there’s no need to think about that. I think we can give capris absolution. If you feel comfortable in them, that’s the most important thing. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to use them. There are many other options.”

In Finland, capres have been seen from summer to summer on women and men. They are the perfect piece of clothing for summer in Finland, Jokinen reflects.

“You can feel too naked in shorts after a long winter.”

If you wanted to wear capris this summer, what could you wear them with?

“I’ve seen pictures of them paired with an oversized top, like a blazer or other big coat. There’s a fun contrast in that silhouette,” says Jokinen.

“Trends do not have to be literally copied from the past. You can come up with a new twist to them, which brings the outfit to the present day.”