Style Guide: How to Cuff Your Jeans

Image via Complex Original

It's that time of year again—warm weather and summer footwear mean that one of our favorite trends is back in season. Cuff, roll, turn up, whatever you want to call it, now that everyone is showing some ankle, we figured we'd let you in on a few tips for doing it right. In this Style Guide, we're going to look at three popular ways to cuff your jeans: single cuff, "ragga roll", and the tight roll. Keep your pants on and bookmark this page. You'll thank us later.

The "Single Cuff"

This one is for beginners. The single cuff is simple and works with most jeans.

• Short guys should steer away from a huge cuff because it'll make them look even shorter.
• Roll the ends of the pant legs—it's called the hem—up so the inside seam shows.
• Try different widths for the cuff with your shoes on to see what looks best.

The "Ragga Roll"

If you care about looking like you don't care, here you go...

• Make a single cuff, then double up so you get a tapered leg.
• Avoid the ragga roll with heavy raw denim, you won't get a clean cuff.
• This one works best with Wallabees or chukkas.

The "Tight Roll"

Get a skinny, tapered look even if your jeans aren't.

• Fold the hem of your jeans over once so that it's tight around your ankle, then roll upwards twice, so you get a snug wrap.
• With slightly more relaxed fitting jeans, you get a nice carrot shape leg. With skinny jeans, you get a more cropped, pegged look.
• This style cuff is good for keeping the hem of your pants up high if you want to show off some fresh socks or new kicks.