The London Lounge

Some pictures of a fitting; two trousers involved: dark grey flannel, olive green whipcord. Not bad; already requested fuller thigh (+1cm) and shorter trousers (-1cm).

In the last one I dress a coat for another customer (a friend); not bad fitting anyway.

Feel free to critic.

Enjoy.

Giona.

(pictures posted in PJ too, member's pictures area).

I think the two trousers fit and drape very nicely. Very trim with a nice line. You look comfortable in them.

I agree with the decision to widen the thigh as there is a little bit of pulling from the rear view (of the flannel); but I think the length is already good without shortening more.

Or do you want to show off your shoes more?

It is interesting that you choose no cuff for flannel and cuff for olive.

Are you training your tailor to cut in the English style with the braces and the forward pleats?

And where is your hat? Next time, let's go and buy a hat from your maker, for sure!!

On the subject of trousers, I must say that I have had my ups and downs.

The best luck I have had were trousers cut by Steven Hitchcock and I must say, that he did a superb job on the first try.

The trousers hold themselves up perfectly well without the help of a belt, and hang nicely, making two nice straight lines down the front and back creases even though the material is light weight. Two forward pleats and no excess material in the hip area, they have only two fastening points at the waist and a zipper fly; don't underestimate how nice it is to have just those 2 fastening points, one botton and a metal fastener; some trousers I own have no less than 9 buttons to botton and require more patience than I have. A nice, high rise, and cut in such a way that they stay put, resting above my hips, not slipping down all day. Very comfortable. Steven wanted them longer, but I kept them with a very modest break, cuffed, resting nicely on my shoe tops. Very little handwork, largely sewn by machine but superbly cut and made.

I have had less luck with the Italian tailors with respect to trousers. What Steven accomplished, they did not. I think Steven's cut will be the model that I will use in future.

Uppercase

Now you have a pair of trousers that suit you, it will be easy for a good Italian trouser maker to reproduce them for you. They will take your trousers, and make a pattern that follows the design. In doing so, you will have the best of both worlds: English cutting and Italian sewing.

Cheers

Yes, absolutely, Michael.
I never realized how problematic getting trousers just right could be but I must say that Steven Hitchcock nailed it the first time around, more or less right on the first fitting, with no fuss or muss.
I think that Jona also has the idea of the English cut/style using his home tailor.

Bravo!!

Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful looking trousers Giona! I would love a pair!
The coat, even though it is not yours looks like a beautiful fit around the shoulders and the length is perfect!

Yes, I want to reproduce a fuller cut trouser, fuller then italian cut anyway.

I absolutely want NO break on my trousers.

As Mr Alden pointed out, they have to be fuller on the front/pleat area, there is pulling. More will follow.

Giona.

Yes, Giona, i too am gravitating to "no break" as well. But also going toward a narrower leg at the same time.

It is a very delicate balance, really.

I had one pair of trousers shortened quite a bit; the tailor kept telling me "enough"! enough!! But I said no, make it even shorter.

So finally, I got a trouser that had no break at all when standing up; and I thought that that looked very nice and elegant, as the trouser leg was also pretty narrow, so the look of the trousers was in balance. And the coat was also pretty slim, close fitting.

But the problem for me with the "no break" is when I walk and the trouser leg goes up too high and the sock shows too much. I felt that when walking, with that much sock showing , that was not very good looking.

It is really a balancing act and I am not sure really how to achieve the right balance.

I think , generally speaking, that the English make a bit fuller trouser leg and a bit more break - perhaps 1 break fold, with a higher rise. The Italians make a lower rise, a narrower trouser leg and a bit less break. I find the English style much more comfortable.

So to keep things in balance, I think that one has to choose either a fuller leg plus bigger break or a narrower leg with little/no break. I don't think that a full leg plus no break will look in balance.

It's a question of proportion and balance, I believe, and ofcourse needs to balance with the coat silhouette as well. And be comfortable too. It's a big project!

Was just looking at the drape of my trousers today in a full length mirror - not so good.

So what should a perfect pair of trousers actually look like?

Something along these lines? I've never seen trousers like this and wouldn't even know how to begin to specify them. What makes them so beautiful?

Dear Uppercase

In the case of the picture above you can bet that is 18 ozs worsted at the very least. Heavyweight cloth creates the drape and line you see as long as the cut is right.

To get trousers like the ones above, make sure you have enough width around the hips. Cut the trousers full at the waist and hips and then taper discretely. Most tailors and especially Italians, design the waist and hips much too tight, which creates pulling of the pleats.

With the right cloth and cut, it is relatively easy to get the effect you seek.

Cheers