Cuffs or plain hems? Let your height decide

Quick answer: If you're about 5'9" or taller, a cuff usually helps. It adds weight at the bottom of the leg and breaks up a lot of length. If you're shorter, a plain hem with a clean, slight break is the safer finish, and a narrow cuff is the exception, not the rule. Either way, the finish matters less than the length.

What a cuff actually does

A cuff is a fold of fabric at the bottom of the leg, usually somewhere around an inch and a half deep. Two things happen when you add one.

First, it draws a horizontal line around your ankle. The eye stops there. On a tall man that's a gift, because it chops a long leg into something that looks proportionate. On a shorter man it does the same chopping to a leg that didn't have extra to give.

Second, it adds weight. A cuff is four layers of cloth at the hem, and that pulls the trouser straight down. The leg hangs cleaner, the crease holds longer, and the hem stops swinging against your shoe. Lightweight wool and thin cotton benefit most.

That's the whole mechanism. Everything below is just applying it to your height.

If you're under about 5'8"

You have less leg to spend, so don't spend it on a cuff by default.

Go plain-hemmed, and get the length right. The hem should touch the top of your shoe and rest there with a slight break, one small fold in the front of the trouser, or none at all if the leg is slim. Anything pooling over the laces eats your height.

Cuffs aren't banned. If you love them, shrink them. Ask for 1¼ inches, not the standard 1½ or more, and keep the leg narrow so the cuff doesn't look like a tire around your ankle. Also keep the trouser at no break. A cuff over a break is double the clutter in a small space.

A rule of thumb, and it's only that: the shorter you are, the plainer the hem and the longer the unbroken line from waist to shoe. Matching trouser color to your shoe color stretches that line further. A dark brown shoe under a dark brown trouser reads as one piece.

If you're between 5'9" and about 6'0"

You can wear either, and the choice comes down to the trouser itself.

Cuff it if the fabric is substantial: flannel, tweed, heavier cotton twill, a mid-weight wool. Cuff it if the trousers are fuller through the thigh, because a plain hem on a full leg can look unfinished, like the trouser just stopped. Cuff chinos if they're your everyday pair. It's a casual finish and it works.

Hem plain if the trouser is slim and cut from thin fabric, or if the trouser is part of a suit. Suit trousers with a plain hem look sharper and more serious. Save the cuffs for odd trousers and for the days when you want to look relaxed. For weddings, funerals and interviews, plain-hemmed is the safer play, and for tuxedo trousers it's essentially the only play.

If you're in the middle of this range and can't decide, try both on the same pair at the tailor. A good tailor can pin one leg each way. Stand in front of the mirror for a full minute. You'll know.

If you're 6'1" or taller

Cuffs are close to a default for you, and for good reason.

A tall man in plain-hemmed trousers can look like he's mostly leg. A cuff adds a visual stop and brings the whole frame into balance. It also solves a practical problem. Tall men often have trouble finding trousers long enough, and a cuff uses up fabric that would otherwise go to waste at the bottom.

Go a little deeper than standard if you like. Anywhere from 1½ to 1¾ inches suits a longer leg, as long as it's in proportion to the width of the opening. A thin cuff on a wide leg looks wrong. A deep cuff on a tapered leg looks heavy.

The one thing to watch is length. A cuffed trouser should sit with little or no break. If you let it pile on top of your shoe, the cuff sags and the whole thing looks borrowed.

Before you commit, check these

Some of this is annoying. It's also what separates a good finish from a wasted afternoon.

• Can the trouser take a cuff? A cuff needs extra fabric folded up inside the leg, roughly three inches or more. If the factory already hemmed and trimmed the legs short, there may be nothing left. Ask the tailor to check the inside of the hem before you decide.
• Wear the shoes you'll actually wear. A dress shoe and a work boot have different heights at the heel. Hem for the wrong pair and the length is off from day one.
• Stand naturally. Don't stiffen up or look down. Tailors pin what they see, and a slouch while you're being measured becomes a trouser that's too short when you stand tall.
• Check the back. The hem should slope very slightly lower at the heel so it clears the back of your shoe without dragging. A tailor who does this without being told is worth keeping.
• Cuffs collect things. Gravel, crumbs, lint, a little snow in January. You'll turn them out and shake them now and then. That's the price.

If you want a refresher on what to look for before you hand a garment over, the checks that tell you a garment actually fits is worth five minutes.

Where cuffs don't belong

Skip them on anything very formal: tuxedo trousers, a black-tie rental, a dark suit for a funeral. Skip them on very slim, very thin trousers, where the extra fabric looks like a mistake. And skip them on jeans unless you're deliberately rolling them. A sewn cuff on denim is a different look than a rolled one, and most men do better with the roll.

The fix that costs the least

Most men don't need new trousers. They need the ones they own hemmed to the right length by someone who watches them stand.

Pull out the pair you wear most. Put on the shoes you wear with them. Look in the mirror and find where the hem lands. If it's bunching on your shoe, take it in. If it's riding above your ankle bone and you're not wearing it that way on purpose, you may be able to let it down, provided there's fabric to spare.

Then decide: cuff or plain, based on your height and the weight of the cloth. If you're still unsure, start plain. A hem can become a cuff only if the fabric is there. A cuff can always be taken out, but only if it was cut generously in the first place.

When you're done, you'll have trousers that look like they were made for you. That's rarely about the brand on the label. It's about an inch and a half of fabric, and where it ends.

For more on building a wardrobe around pieces that fit properly, ten garments that get you through almost any week is a good place to start.