Thanks to those who answered my querie about capris in Italy. After looking at the site recommended by nnolen (thank you very much) I see capris won't look out of place. I read some of the snippier comments about size and fitness being as (or more) important than clothes. I'm happy being a US8, which I know is fat by a lot of people's standards, but it looks OK on me. I like to fit in with the local fashion wherever I go. Nobody is going to mistake me for an Italian, but it's nice to respect the custom of how people dress in their localities.(I live in a suburb of San Francisco, and I would never go into town in shorts.) Part of the fun of trip planning is deciding what to wear.

Well said. I too think it shows respect to look appropriate when one is travelling. And planning what to wear and pack, along with planning what to see and do, is part of the fun of preparing for a trip.
There are far too many snippy and rude posts on here (by one person in particular, who seems to take great delight in being nasty).

With apologies to The Wizard of Oz...

"A snip snip here and a snip snip there; and a couple of lah di dohs; that's how some pass the time away when they give advice on clothes"

YOU WORE THAT IN ITALY?

Just kidding. Anyway, since I don't care what people wear when they travel, I never respond to what-to-wear-in-Europe queries and hence I'm sure you are not thanking me.

However, as a good citizen of San Francisco, we do at rare times experience a few days of hot and humid weather where shorts or short skirts are the most appropriate to wear. I just want to inform would be visitors to our city that it's not local custome here that we have to wear pants and long skirts 365 days a year.

mdotsie, you will have a fine time in Italy wearing your capris. I am also a US8 and I wore either capris or skirts for two weeks in Italy last September. I got plenty of compliments about how well turned out I was, and I'm sure you will too. Enjoy beautiful Italy!

Ezliving- present few months excepted, where it has been extraordinary warm (and thus, extraordinarily nice in your fair city by the bay) shorts weather is typically Sept.-Oct.

As someone who worked for an American fashion designer for a number of years, I think it is neither rude nor snippy to comment on a fashion faux pas. If you are not thin, tall, narrow-hipped, and small-ankled, you will look horrid in capris.

Let's face it, most of us have figure flaws and can't wear whatever we want. At 34, I have come to realize that I can't wear a Speedo bathing suit anymore.

Make an assessment of how you look in capris. If they make you look short and squat, with bedpost ankles, leave them at home!!!!

Like Trinny and Susannah, I am just trying to help you.

Yikes! This latter discussion might be better appreciated on the "David got a bath post!"

Ladies...please tell me that everyone is not walking around America looking like a lollypop lady.....Size 8 is NOT big at all. I have been away from the states for a few years but I am shocked you think this is fat. I do remember my friend's sister in her size zero jeans looking like a she was half starved. I think an 8 is a UK 12 which is a normal size NOT fat. I was underweight for most of my life despite eating very well, now I am an average size here in UK/Ireland.

I don't think you have to be skinny to look good in clothes. Confidence and a bit of flirtiness makes a person look like a million.

I'm with you, Siobhan. The post about a US8 being fat made me very sad.

I'm another who simply cannot let that remark about a size 8 being fat pass without comment. Unless you have a tiny frame, a size 8 is on the slim side of normal in my opinion.

Thin, the world mourns the retirement of your speedos.

Sorry for the rant but I have to listen to a "friend" over here in Ireland constantly talk about how fat she is and fishing for compliments that I have no time for. She is very underweight and makes me seems huge. This am I fat nonesense when a person is obviously not I find a bit freaky and attention seeking. If I ever said she was thin she would be delighted as I never say it either way and it would hold more seriousness coming from me. Now I just get annoyed when the topic comes up and say I have better things to worry about like can I pay the Mortgage and is my friend who is ill going to be ok. I want to look good and stay slim but I certainly would not bore the pants off anyone who will listen about it, I just try to feel good.

Heaven help our society if someone who wears a size 8 is considered fat.

I'd be willing to bet that many American women, the majority of whom are size 14 & above, wear capris & cropped pants as an alternative to shorts and speedos.

What's wrong w/that?

I never wrote that a size 8 was fat. I was referring to body type, not size. A woman can be anorexic and still be short or have "chunky" ankles.

If I were a woman, I wouldn't wear capris if I had vericose veins, no matter if I was a size 0.

This isn't about size, but covering up flaws.

If you were a size 0 and had stretch marks on your tummy from childbirth, would you wear a tube top? I don't think so.

People here can be very mean and its really sad. I agree that a size 8 is certainly not fat.

As for you Thin, I don't know where you get your facts from and of course there are certain things one should never wear (Speedos for one) and a tube top with stretch marks for another. However, nice capri pants look fine on most women. You may have worked for a designer, but please try to remember that doesn't mean all that much. Afterall there are aprox: 3,000,000,000 women on earth and only 12 of them are Supermodels.

SiobhanP said it best "I don't think you have to be skinny to look good in clothes. Confidence and a bit of flirtiness makes a person look like a million." This is so true....

I was also very sad to read that a size US8 is considered fat. I'm 24, an avid runner in excellent shape, and I wear a size US6 to US8 because of muscular legs. I could not run 6+ miles per day if I was a size 0!! I think capri pants look just fine on any woman of this size, of a larger size, or a smaller size. I mean come on, who really stares at a woman's ANKLES anyway to determine if they are "bedpost large"??

Question for Thin:

I am a size 2, 100 lbs, thin ankles, no veins. But I'm only 5/2, so I'm anything but tall, everything is in proportion though. I hate wearing tacky shorts and I'm uncomfortable in skirts/dresses while traipsing all over the place on vacation. Are capris my friend? I also prefer them to shorts as I no longer tan and white legs don't do it for me.
Just curious, thanks.

One other thing about the capris; I have several pair of them and have found that the closer to the shin they are-the better. I have one pair that is flared and they look positively ridiculous! They make even me look FAT.

Rosemary, as someone who is both short and thin, I think capris will make you look child-like. I think you would look better in a linen pant for summer. Make sure your clothes are fitted, close to the body. Otherwise, they will "swallow you up." The longer your pant, the taller you will look. You will also look taller if you wear a shoe with at least a two-inch heel, making sure your pant leg falls to the center of the heel. You will also look taller if your pant leg flares out at the hem.

Actually, the capris that flare out would look much better on a woman with a larger hip because they would balance her out, taking the eye from the hip area to the calve.

Most women look terrible in capris. My friend, Leslie, wore a pair last weekend. I took one look at her and said, "Burn those!"

Remember the gaucho pant, worn with cowboy boots????? One day you will all look at pictures of yourself and say, "What was I thinking when I put on those capris?"

As Dorothy Parker said, "You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think."