Boot wearers united all know it can be a pain to keep pant legs inside even the deepest boots. Somehow, they manage to bunch up, ride up and mess up the overall look. Jeans have the best chance at staying in place, but many of us also wear slacks of slick cotton and other materials with our boots. Some fashion boots are shorter and make it all too easy for those pant legs to slip out. Here’s a solution for us all.

For pant legs that never slip out of the boot and remain nice and straight as when you first put them on, buy a good ol’ pair of stirrup pants. Yep. That’s right. If you remember the fad of the 80s (that’s 1980s), stirrup pants were all the rage. Fashion trends come and go, but a practical idea is timeless. The Click to visit this external linkhistory of stirrup pants reaches back to the 1950s with uses in sports such as skiing and cycling, and some wear them today in horse riding. Retroland dates the fashion Click to visit this external linkpopularity of stirrup pants to the 1950s.

Stirrup pants don’t have to be the ultra-tight-fitting slinkys you’ve seen before. Many are very stylish and look like any normal slacks, just a bit slimmer near the bottom. Not just rayon and polyester, stirrup pants come in many hefty fabric choices and complement most wardrobes nicely. Your pant legs will be sure to stay in place with them. Search online for a great variety of pant styles (and costs, I’ve found $2.99 and up), but don’t forget about your local second-hand stores. They can provide a treasure trove of goodies.

Can’t find any stirrup pants to buy? Retrofit your own!

Most any pants can be retrofitted to have the same functionality as stirrup pants. All it takes is a needle, thread and some elastic cut to about the length of ankle ball, under foot, to ankle ball plus 2 inches. (Add a couple inches to the length to avoid having buttons rub against the ankles. You’ll thank me later!)

There are two ways to do this. (1) Attach buttons to the ends of the elastic pieces and slip through buttonholes made in the pant legs, or (2) attach buttons to the inside of the pant legs and slip through buttonholes made in the ends of the elastic pieces. Either way, a buttonhole is necessary. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just secure.

• Click to visit this external linkHow to make a buttonhole
• Click to visit this external linkSew a buttonhole by hand
• Click to visit this external linkSew a buttonhole by hand – video

Here’s a quick tip for tucking non-stirruped pants far and smoothly into your boots:

Instead of bulking up your socks by tucking your pants in them, simply use the old “itchy leg in a cast” trick – use a yardstick. A yardstick is the perect tool for inching a stubborn pant leg down a deep and narrow boot. There’s no guarantee your pant leg will stay in place forever, but it will be neatly in place.