Could I Culotte?

It would appear that cutting your calves into halves, is not reserved exclusively for skirts, but shorts too. Historically culottes come from the knee breaches worn by the gentlemen of the European upper class in the early-nineteenth century, and were later adopted by women so that they could straddle with the best of them when horse riding.

Today, the wide-legged culotte reminds me of lazy days spent in the French Riviera (you know, all chic and effortless in the way that only French women can do), and have been a big trend for AW13 and now SS14 too. I am totally besotted with this pair from Topshop, and for £30 you can’t really go wrong (they’re also available in white), but I’m not convinced that at 5ft-nothing I can culotte, or whether this is a look better suited to those vertically gifted? What do you think? Do you think shorties can wear these shorties? Some tips please girls – they are currently sitting in my basket on the Topshop website!