The London Lounge

I have two pair of these, MTM and cut from heavy Brisbane Moss fabric. It occurred to me this morning as I was wearing the lovat pair that these are great. Warm and casually stylish, long wearing and actually more comfortable than flannel, if that is possible. Readily available in just about any color and weight that you could want. Good texture and not expensive. Does not drape as well as flannel, but still not bad. Yet, one rarely sees them in America. Wonder why?

rodes wrote: Wonder why?

Dear Rodes,

simple answer I'm afraid. Jeans & chinos do the job in America. And elsewhere

Cheers, David

PS: Agree with your praise. My standard casual trousers in winter are moleskin and corduroy.

As said, I think the reasons are historical. In America, denim became the cloth for workwear followed by chinos whereas in the uk corduroy and moleskin were used. It may have helped the popularity of corduroy that during clothing rationing in world war two, corduroy trousers were designated workwear and required fewer coupons to buy. I don't know if it was the same for moleskin.

Moleskin had a revival in the 1980's in the UK as something less formal than flannel to wear with a tweed change coat, but corduroy was / is still more closely associated with workwear IMHO.

I have just bought a pair of R M Williams moleskin trousers, direct from Australia. The bone coloured fabric is substantially different from what is normally understood as moleskin in the UK - for starters it is significantly heavier (15oz?) than my last pair of Cordings ones (partly thickness and partly density) and has less nap.

They are good quality for ready to wear, are breaking-in quite quickly, but certainly fall into the casual end of the spectrum.

Moleskins are a staple for me. Wearing some lovat ones right now myself.

rodes wrote: ... one rarely sees them in America. Wonder why?

This may be more a consequence than an explanation for low popularity: many gentlemen catalogues in the US (Orvis, Peterman, Ben Silver, etc.) do regularly offer moleskin trousers for a variety of purposes that range from hunting, horseback riding and pseudo working gear to stylish casual wear. But even in the best of cases, their pants are one or two notches below what you will normally find in the UK, in terms of quality and formality of construction. The typical Cordings garment, for instance, is cut with long rise, slim flat front, extended overlapping waistband closure, side adjusters, slant pockets and a soft suede finish. You could wear those in gold, camel or maroon with a blazer anywhere and you would cut a dashing figure. On the other hand, the American RTW stuff is no match in cut nor in texture for a nice tailored jacket (not to mention the drab colors that seem to be the only options available).

hectorm wrote:

rodes wrote: ... one rarely sees them in America. Wonder why?

This may be more a consequence than an explanation for low popularity: many gentlemen catalogues in the US (Orvis, Peterman, Ben Silver, etc.) do regularly offer moleskin trousers for a variety of purposes that range from hunting, horseback riding and pseudo working gear to stylish casual wear. But even in the best of cases, their pants are one or two notches below what you will normally find in the UK, in terms of quality and formality of construction. The typical Cordings garment, for instance, is cut with long rise, slim flat front, extended overlapping waistband closure, side adjusters, slant pockets and a soft suede finish. You could wear those in gold, camel or maroon with a blazer anywhere and you would cut a dashing figure. On the other hand, the American RTW stuff is no match in cut nor in texture for a nice tailored jacket (not to mention the drab colors that seem to be the only options available).

True, and why I buy from Cordings myself.

what's the most traditional and versatile colour for moleskin trousers?

For me it's lovat.

Slh wrote:what's the most traditional and versatile colour for moleskin trousers?

Moleskin RTW trousers are a fairly inexpensive item. Even those from Cordings are only around US$150. So you could disregard versatility in favor of the perfect match for the blazers or tweed jackets that you already own. For instance, I particularly find the lighter shade of lovat very suitable for my black blazer. Camel also seems to be perfect for most tweed's earthy tones, and rust for blue blazers. All of these are very traditional colours.

hectorm wrote:

Slh wrote:what's the most traditional and versatile colour for moleskin trousers?

Moleskin RTW trousers are a fairly inexpensive item. Even those from Cordings are only around US$150. So you could disregard versatility in favor of the perfect match for the blazers or tweed jackets that you already own. For instance, I particularly find the lighter shade of lovat very suitable for my black blazer. Camel also seems to be perfect for most tweed's earthy tones, and rust for blue blazers. All of these are very traditional colours.

cordings are a nice option, however I saw the sizing guide and for a 28" waist the leg opening is 18 inches? Seems overly big.

Slh wrote: ...cordings are a nice option, however I saw the sizing guide and for a 28" waist the leg opening is 18 inches? Seems overly big.

It´s a mistake. The width for a size 38 is around 9 inches.

hectorm wrote:

Slh wrote: ...cordings are a nice option, however I saw the sizing guide and for a 28" waist the leg opening is 18 inches? Seems overly big.

It´s a mistake. The width for a size 38 is around 9 inches.

i sent an email to cordings and unfortunately they changed the cut of their trousers just recently and 9inches opening is for a 28" waist too. Apparently no matter what your waist is the leg opening is 9 inches which is huge in my opinion.

Slh wrote: i sent an email to cordings and unfortunately they changed the cut of their trousers just recently and 9inches opening is for a 28" waist too. Apparently no matter what your waist is the leg opening is 9 inches which is huge in my opinion.

I understand you concern with that lack of balance. My 13 y.o. son´s school flannel trousers are also size 28 and the leg opening is only 6,5 inches.

hectorm wrote:

Slh wrote: i sent an email to cordings and unfortunately they changed the cut of their trousers just recently and 9inches opening is for a 28" waist too. Apparently no matter what your waist is the leg opening is 9 inches which is huge in my opinion.

I understand you concern with that lack of balance. My 13 y.o. son´s school flannel trousers are also size 28 and the leg opening is only 6,5 inches.

I don't care for too narrow trousers either. I have a trouser with a 7,8 inches and I consider it a generous cut, however I have quite skinny legs being 5ft7 around 128lbs. 9 inches for a 30" waist is huge