Are culottes chic or a fashion calamity?

I WAS delighted to see the Duchess of Cambridge in stylish green culottes on a visit to London’s Natural History Museum (Mail). I have loved culottes since my senior school days, when my PE teacher used to wear them. Setting a good example to us girls, she wore them as a cross between a skirt and shorts. Every summer I scour the shops for a new pair, and I am most annoyed when I can’t find them. I would much rather wear culottes than a skirt.

G. RAWLINS, Rushden, Northants. I DISAGREE with Jan Moir regarding the Duchess of Cambridge’s culottes. Dare a mere male comment on women’s fashion? In my humble opinion, they were not culottes, but simply short trousers, which women can well get away with, while men would simply look stupid. As a red-blooded male, I feel there are few garments in a woman’s wardrobe more elegant than a pair of well-tailored culottes. They should hang around an inch above or below the knee, unlike the Duchess’s trousers, which finished just short of her ankles.

MIKE JAMES, Nottingham.

I DO hope the Duchess does not bring about a return of culottes. The last time they had a fashion moment, I tried on countless pairs without success. If you are apple or pear-shaped, they are not flattering; loose-flowing, palazzo styles make you look like an extra in Aladdin; and what shoes go with them? There is an uncomfortable amount of fabric flapping around the widest part of your legs, and unless you are model-thin, you will end up looking frumpy. M. SPRINGER, Reading, Berks.