Elegant and practical, capri pants give off Audrey Hepburn vibes | Jess Cartner-Morley

These tailored trousers are ideal for those sunny days when the forecast looks dodgy later on – or when there’s a heatwave but you still have to go to the office

I think we can probably agree that Audrey Hepburn would not have been seen dead in jorts. The baggy, grunge-adjacent knee-length denims that were everywhere last summer and are creeping back around are definitely cool. Totally a vibe. But elegant they are not.

The capri pant is an undeniably elegant solution to the problem of what to wear when jeans or tailored trousers are too hot and cumbersome, but you don’t want to wear shorts. For instance, when it is sunny while you are getting dressed, but you are going to be out all day and the forecast looks dodgy later on. Or when there is a heatwave but you still have to go to the office, so Daisy Dukes are not going to work.

Capri pants were invented in Munich in the late 1940s. Diminutive German designer Sonja de Lennart was frustrated that the Katharine Hepburn style of blousy trouser didn’t flatter her shape. She came up with a below-the-knee crop, ending with a little kicker of a slit at the hem and elongated at the top with a high waist. Presumably because she recognised that Munich pants was not the most alluring moniker for her new style, particularly in postwar Europe, she named them instead after the Italian island, to capture their sunny sprezzatura. American film costume designer Edith Head was an immediate fan, and dressed Audrey Hepburn in de Lennart’s capris for the 1954 film Sabrina.

Capris kicked happily around the south of France for a couple of decades before fading from vogue, but enjoyed a renaissance in the 2000s, when their retro glamour became a signature look for Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City, showing that the capri can work as well on city streets as on the beach.

They haven’t been around for a while, so we need to figure out how they fit into our wardrobes. It’s all about balance. You don’t want to go too literal on the 50s nostalgia, or they can get a bit cutesy. On the other hand, they have a specific set of proportions that need to be considered when putting your look together. You want your capri outfit to look intentional, not like you rolled your trousers up to go paddling.

It works kind of like this. Go sparingly on the milkshake-drinking-bombshell stuff. If you want to wear gingham, I would do a boxy short-sleeve gingham shirt but maybe not a gingham lace-up bodice top. Or you could wear a broderie anglaise top with your capris, but then I’d suggest a casual flip flop or thong sandal rather than kitten heels or mules. Just so that it’s not too cherry-on-top pretty, if you know what I mean.

You might consider a silk scarf, but perhaps tie it around the handle of your bag or in your hair, not jauntily at the neck. If you want a simple starter outfit, you won’t go wrong with head-to-toe black: a cap sleeve T-shirt, your little capris, and ballet flats. (Head and Hepburn knew what they were doing.) But if this all feels a little too midcentury and costumey for you, capris also work well with a bomber jacket or a zip-up windbreaker.

The right shoe is crucial. Anything too heavy throws the silhouette off, and showing some skin below the bend of the ankle makes the line much more graceful. The v-shape of a flip flop works well. For a little more coverage, a slender lace-up jazz shoe beats chunky trainers.

The joy of a capri pant is that it feels kind of snazzy, but is practical at heart. This is a piece that understands summer. You can run for a train. You can sit cross-legged on the grass. You can cycle (they are not also known as pedal pushers for nothing, after all). They may not have the ironic cool of a pair of jorts, but they have a founding myth, a film star and a sun-drenched Italian island behind them. They have summer romance in their DNA. They make life feel slightly cinematic. Jorts may have the edge, but capris have the pedigree.

Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Model: Maria Diaz at Milk. Hair and makeup: Sophie Higginson using Sam McKnight and Dr Sam’s. Styling assistant: Charlotte Gornall. Earrings, £25.99, Pilgrim. Coat, £395, The Fold. Shirt, £110, With Nothing Underneath. Scarf belt, £22 Next. Trousers, £99, and shoes, £99, both Mint Velvet.