& Other Stories Cropped Jacket: Hem and the High Waist

I buttoned the & Other Stories cropped jacket in the fitting room and looked at the waist, not the sleeve. The hem has to clear the trouser rise. If it lands on the rise, you get a second waistband and the jacket looks small rather than cropped.

Shoulder first, same as a blazer. The seam sat on the bone in the size I kept. The smaller size closed at the button and pulled across the back when I reached for the hanger. Cropped does not mean tight. It means short.

& Other Stories cropped wool jacket

The wool version had the weight. It held a shape at the hem instead of collapsing into the trouser. I wore it open and closed. Closed, one button, the hem stayed level. Open, it needed the high waist underneath or the front edge swung past the hip.

That is the same rule as the cropped jacket at the high waist. Stories is softer through the shoulder than that jacket, so I did not size up for structure. I sized for the seam. The wool did not need a belt. A belt on a cropped hem stacks hardware on the rise.

& Other Stories cropped blazer

The cropped blazer was the sharper of the two. Notch lapel, one button, hem at the top of the hip. I tried it over a fine knit, not a shirt with a collar fighting the lapel. The knit hem stayed tucked. If the knit escapes, the cropped line breaks.

Button stance mattered more than I expected. Too high and the jacket flared under the button. The one I kept buttoned at the narrowest part of the waist and stopped. I have a longer note on shoulder and button in the Babaton blazer. This one is the short version of that decision.

& Other Stories black cropped jacket

Black was cleaner with a light trouser and harsher with black denim. Beige, the other color on the rail, showed the hem against a dark waistband, which is useful in a fitting and a little costume on the street. I kept black for the wool and left the boucle. Boucle added width at the hip the crop was trying to avoid.

Denim and leather were on the same search. The denim cropped jacket worked open, sleeves pushed once, over a straight trouser. Leather needed the hem perfectly level or it read as a bolero. I am not buying a bolero. The wool and the blazer were the two that still looked like jackets after I walked to the door.

The fitting note I wrote on the receipt: high waist trouser, hem above the rise, shoulder on the bone, one button or none. Sleeve at the wrist bone. If the sleeve is long, do not fix it with a push that hides a bad shoulder. Fix the size. Black wool for the commute, blazer if the office wants a lapel, denim only if the hem still clears the waistband.

Lining on the wool cropped jacket is smooth and short. It does not hang below the hem, which is the fail on a cheap crop. I raised my arms. The lining stayed put and the shoulder did not climb past the bone. If the lining pulls the hem up in the back, the jacket is small, not cropped.

I tried the black cropped jacket over a light shirt and over the knit. The shirt collar fought the neckline. The knit disappeared, which is what I wanted. A cropped jacket is not a layer you style on top of another collar. One neckline. Hem clear of the rise. That was the whole fitting.

Office note: the blazer version reads as a jacket in a meeting if the button is fastened once. Open, it reads as a cardigan with lapels, and the hem has to be perfectly even or the shorter side looks like a mistake. I pinned that in my head and checked both sides in the three-way mirror before I decided.

Care is ordinary wool care. I am not steaming the hem into a curve. A curved hem on this length dips at the hip and lands on the waistband again. Flat hem, high waist, black if the trouser is light, blazer if the day wants a lapel. That is the note I am leaving on the piece. I also tried the jacket with the trouser unbuttoned at the top, the way a low rise sits, and the hem collided. Button the trouser, then judge the jacket. The order matters.

How short should the & Other Stories cropped jacket be?

Short enough to clear the trouser rise, not short enough to cut the ribcage. On me that was the top of the hip. Lower than that and it sat on the waistband.

Wool or blazer?

Wool if you want the hem to hold without a lapel. Blazer if the office wants a notch and one button. Both failed when the shoulder was small. Both worked when the hem cleared the rise.

Does black work with black trousers?

It can, if the hem is visible as a separate edge. On me black on black hid the crop. A lighter trouser showed the length I had just checked.

Can I wear it open?

Yes, over a tucked knit and a high waist. Open over a long shirt, the front edge swung and the crop disappeared. Closed, one button, the hem stayed level.