Eclectic Joy

I have a couple pair of pants that I'm considering shortening for culottes and would like your opinions. There is also a pair of EF viscose culottes that I picked up on clearance at The Rack in a size larger than I usually wear that I'm including for your opinions.
First are black JCrew Italian wool wide pants. I'm sorry that the black does not show up well.
1: Full length
2. -6: Trying to show some possible lengths. Should I cut these off? If so, how short?
7-9: EF culottes. Again, how short? Should they also be narrowed? Or should I return them?

Inspired by Angie's Challenge and by my challenge this week to wear light toppers that don't fit easily under coats, I came up with this outfit to meet friends for a casual lunch and have a casual dinner. The topper is a Bobeau almost sweatshirt knit worn over an EF silk print shell. Jeans are EF cream denim worn with legs turned under to shorten. I'm not sure that the length is working. Booties are SE taupe suede. Scarf (silk) worn infinity style provides some pattern mixing and was a gift.
Does this work for me? How can I improve this outfit?

Sorry to make this quick and not include footwear. With the furry collar, I'd probably wear tan suede loafers. Is the collar too maximal? It actually goes on a denim jacket that I could wear with the shirt and tee but it is a different shade than the crops but not different enough to my eye. Should I add pearls?

My challenge on ElCee's thread is to wear toppers this week that don't play well under coats. My difficult topper today for teaching and dinner out....long jacket ( often too long under other coats) or poncho? Either would work for the occasion.
Photos1/2 are a long jacket.
Photo 3: poncho
Photo 4: outfit without a topper
Which should I wear? Would black booties be a better choice of footwear?

Using Angie's blog post on casual layers and bling, I put this together today. It gets more maximal with a leopard cardi with blue, cream, black and grey. The gold leaf necklace is s nod to a lovely autumn day and belonged to my mother. Is this too much? Would different jeans or boots be an improvement? Photos 5/6 are the outfit without the cardi.
This outfit also fulfills my weekly challenge on El Cee's thread to dress for weather changes during the day.
I welcome your thoughts and ideas.
I tried the formula on Saturday with two button-down shirts, blue and white stripes under a red/blue flannel plaid, but got no photos. This combination was too fussy with the two sets of long sleeves.