Reader Question: Boo to boot cut?

Yes, there is a case for boot cut pants. A very specific one. And that is – do you wear boots? The real sh*t kickers worn by the characters of Friday Night Lights (RIP FNL!), or, I don’t know, actual cowboys? If so, keep on keepin’ on in your boot cuts, since you truly need the wider leg opening for which the style was created.

If that’s not you, then…no. You’re not going to find any love for the boot cut look from me.

Of course, you’re not the only guy with a bigger upper leg than lower leg – that’s, umm…all guys. Meaning, plenty of guys with your same body type have already hopped on the straight-leg train, leaving behind the bootcut pant they favored in their college days. If they can do it, so can you.

Because your suspicions are right: for the foreseeable future, a straight leg pant is where it’s at.

(Bonobos Straight Leg Khaki washed chino, $88)

In terms of your desire to “balance” things out, I mean, I get it. I’ve got my own badonk to worry about. But I’m not sure when it was decided that boot cut pants balance anything at all. The clothes that look best on your body are the ones that follow your silhouette most closely. Since your ankles don’t flare out, neither should your pants.

To put it bluntly, the only thing boot cut pants cover up on a guy are the tops of his shoes.

What’s more, straight leg pants are so much more versatile in your wardrobe. You can’t dress up a boot cut pair of pants with a suit jacket (or if you do, you shouldn’t). Straight leg pants go with everything from a t-shirt and sneakers to a sportcoat and loafers.

To me, a guy wearing boot cut pants conjures up – at best – Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused, and – at worst – the frat guy uniform of faded, frayed jeans, school hoodie and a Milwaukee’s Best in one hand. That means, in the absolute best scenario, you remind me of a guy preying on high school girls while sporting a child molester mustache…in 1976.

(Aw’right aw’right aw’right)

And while it should go without saying, I’ll say it anyway – a straight leg pant style is not the same as a skinny one. Donning straight leg pants will not make you look like your parents’ thirteen year old emo neighbor who always looks angry in concert tees for bands whose names you don’t recognize and pants that look painted-on. So long as you buy in your size, you should feel just as comfortable in a straight leg as you do in your current boot cuts.

Now, is your pant leg opening going to make or break your look with a girl? No. But she’ll be more inclined to give you the once over in a pair of straight cut pants rather than a style that hit its popularity peak in the Bush era.