SR and shallow pleats

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bry2000
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Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:02 pm

I think this point was started in another post, but thought I would explore it further in a separately. I have noticed that several SR tailors typically make trousers with very shallow forward pleats. I prefer deep forward pleats that lie flat. While I am sure that the shallow pleats serve their purpose, they seem to open up even if the trousers fit properly.

Are shallow pleats the norm among for SR tailors? If so, why is this? Will SR tailors accomodate a request for deeper pleats?

Thank you.
dopey
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Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:14 pm

This is the case with what I get from Dege. I have not asked them for deeper pleats. Raphael cuts a fuller trouser with deeper pleats. I know I prefer the deeper pleats and while I think I prefer the fuller trouser, I am not sure if the trimmer SR style may actually be more flattering for me. I also don’t know how well the deeper pleats would work with the trimmer cut so I have left well enough alone.
manton
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Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:27 pm

Raphael cuts the deepest pleats of any tailor I have used, a full 3" for the inner pleats. Frank is more like 2", perhaps a little more. My SR trousers are shallower still, but they are well cut and stay closed.
whittaker
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Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:06 pm

You definitely have to urge SR tailors for deeper pleats. A&S produced the deepest pleats from the off. They are not deep enough to stop them opening up to some extent.
uppercase
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Wed Nov 08, 2006 8:58 am

Does Savile Row typically produce 4 forward pleats; is that the classic English style?
manton
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Wed Nov 08, 2006 2:07 pm

uppercase wrote:Does Savile Row typically produce 4 forward pleats; is that the classic English style?
To the best of my knowledge, yes.
couch
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Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:19 pm

Timely topic. My first trousers from (he who is not named) were a full 2" but no more. Just enough to drape well, but could have been fuller. To be fair, the trousers were otherwise fine. My first pleated trouseers from Dario Rodriguez (I know, not SR) were about 1.5" (probably because he cut for reverse pleats first rather than the forward I'd ordered) and I've requested 2.5" pleats for my next order (in progress). Will report back.

Just arrived last night from a short-notice conference week in London, where I had a second basted fitting with Philip Parker at Poole (neither of us was happy with the first, and this is my first suit with him). The pleats were still not a full two inches, and really did not hang well, so I confirmed that I wanted 2.5" and he assured me there was enough cloth to do it. (To judge proportion, this pleat depth is on a 30.5" waist.) Forward fitting will be in Feb in NY.

The coat is looking very appetizing now. I'll do a full report on the finished suit.

It's always seemed to me that a pleated trouser was a different aesthetic beast than a flat-front, and that skimpy pleats were a bad compromise. I like both styles, and sometimes get one pair of each on a suit--with the flat-front pair being notiecably leaner. But SR, unless I'm badly mistaken, used to cut fuller pleated trousers before the mid-'60s, so wouldn't there be some of that DNA left on the Row?
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