Faux Pas Report : Highs and Lows of Slacks Length

Flood Warning: You might be wearing a $200 pair of slacks right now, but unless they’re properly hemmed, they are not firing off their full style power.

“It makes an impression when you walk into a room with poorly hemmed slacks, but not a very good one,” says David Gaines, a fashion designer in Fullerton.

“It’s really too bad when you see someone in a great pair of pants and they’re hemmed either too short or too long,” says Cornelia Steinmepzkeller of Konkret, a men’s clothier in Irvine.

For dress slacks, there should be a break in front and the back should start at the top of the heel, she says.

The Thin Black Line: More natural, bushier eyebrows are being sported by high-fashion models, which has caused many women to put away their tweezers.

“Thin eyebrows are becoming passe,” says Beverly Baumgardner of the Nail & Skin Care Salon in Orange. “Unfortunately, when thin eyebrows were in style, many women plucked them into shape, and now they’re unable to grow them back. This has left many women with eyebrows that are permanently skinny.”

Women who wish they didn’t do such a serious job in thinning their eyebrows are adding color with eyebrow pencils to make them look thicker, she says.

Button-Down Blues: You’re late for a dressy evening party. You’ve got to rush home and change into your new, double-breasted suit, and to save time, you’re not going to change out of your button-down shirt. Bad idea.

Button-down shirts are a staple for office wear, but when it’s time to party, they belong in the closet.

“They’re great with two-button suits, but a double-breasted suit is a different look,” says Bill Snyder of Posh Gentlemen’s Clothing in Fashion Island Newport Beach. “Wear a button-down shirt with one and you risk looking like you haven’t put much thought into what you’re wearing,” he says. “It looks incomplete.”

For a dressier look, don a spread- or point-collared shirt in silk or cotton.