You’ve likely stumbled upon these terms in your shopping search over the past few seasons: culottes, gauchos, and palazzo pants. And when you see them, you might wonder how they differ because they have a very similar design. They’re wide-leg trousers that come in all different colors and fabrics, so why are there three different names for them?
Though often the terms are used interchangeably, there’s actually a subtle difference between the two styles. Below, we break down the culottes versus gaucho pants debate as well as how palazzo pants fit into this confusion, too. Of course, we’ve also made it easy to shop the styles (whichever it is you ultimately land on) along the way.