Culottes vs. Gaucho Pants—What’s the Difference?

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 two, well, three different names for them? Though oftentimes the terms are used interchangeably—i.e., culottes are called gaucho pants and vice versa—there is actually a very subtle difference between the two styles. Below, we break down the culottes vs. gaucho pants debate as well as how palazzo pants fit into this confusion, too.