On first glance, you may be impressed but not know why.
The reason is deceptively simple: they hang pin straight. This is more obvious when you compare them to trousers that don't hang so cleanly.
It's not easy to get trousers to hang this straight. There are a few reasons for this.
First, if you were to take off all your clothes and look in the mirror (do this privately, not on the internet), you'll notice your body is not perfectly symmetrical.
It's likely that one hip is higher than the other. You may be knock kneed or bow legged. Your may stand with your hips forward and knees locked (like an auditioning porn star). Your thighs jut out and your calves form a lump at the back of your legs. Plus, you have a butt.
It can be challenging to get trousers to hang pin straight when your body is not shaped like a perfect tube. Thus, the tailor's job — or the pattern maker for ready-to-wear — is to work with this asymmetry and still make trousers that drape cleanly.
Couple this with the fact that slim trousers are still the dominant silhouette and most people don't have access to quality tailors who can shape a trouser with a heavy iron. The slimmer the leg, the more shaping you need with ironwork, but that's only in high-end bespoke.
So much of this is about identifying your own particular fit challenges and finding ways to solve them. If you're bow legged or knock kneed, you may need an alterations tailor to reshape the trouser legs by adjusting the inner or outer leg seams.
For bow legged people, that means taking in a bit from the inseam and adding a touch to the outseam so the legs hang straight instead of curving outward. For knock kneed, it’s the opposite — letting out the inseam and trimming the outseam.
If you have a large seat and small waist, you will need enough material through the fork but likely have to add darts above the back pockets. This can require removing the waistband. Jeffery at the brilliant tailoring blog Tutto Fatto a Mano shows how to do this for jeans:
If you see ripples going down the back of your legs and fabric collapsing under your seat, it's likely the back rise is too long. To fix this, you will need extra material in the crotch seam. Tailor can shorten the back rise and drop the crotch to compensate.
Getting the right fit depends on the silhouette you want to create. If you want a bit of shape through the legs, then it's about riding that fine line between getting shape but also good drape. Getting the back to hang right is also easier with a fishtail back (worn with braces)
Reviewbrah acheives a good, clean fit here, even with belted trousers, because he has done two things. First, his trousers are a bit fuller. It's easier to achieve a clean fit if you don't go slim. Second, he's wearing clothes made from a heavier wool fabric.
Have you ever seen a ripple on a peacoat? Of course not. That's because most are made from something like a heavy duty 32oz Melton wool. Compare that to a dress shirt, which is made from a lightweight cloth. Any mismatch between the pattern and the body will show in lines.
Men used to wear much heavier fabrics, which is why their tailoring looked better. Today, luxury clothes are often sold on the idea that the fabric is very soft, silky, and lightweight, but there's a tradeoff.
When shopping, look for heavier wool (better than cotton).
So, to answer the question: "How do I achieve this?"
— Identify your particular fit challenges
— Find solutions, esp in conjunction with your local alterations tailor. Don't micromanage them. Tell them what you want to achieve and let them find solutions.
— Wear heavier fabrics
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As some may know, my family is from Vietnam. My parents fled Saigon shortly after the Tet Offensive, as bombs were falling around them and they weren't sure what was going to happen once the North Vietnamese took over the city.
When my dad left Vietnam, he wasn't able to take much with him — just some family photos of life back home, some clothes, and a 1960s Rolex Datejust he bought as a present for himself. Growing up, I always saw my dad wear this watch. It was basically part of his body.
Earlier this year, it was reported that JD Vance has a tailor in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a charming story about an Italian immigrant named Romualdo Pelle, who has worked as a tailor since he immigrated to the US in 1960.
Watch the story very closely. What do you notice?
Those familiar with tailoring will see something very peculiar:
In the 19th century, gentlemen wore black frock coats or tailcoats with a white shirt and dark waistcoat. As the frock coat gave way to the suit, the white linen shirt — a mark of respectability and propriety — remained.
For much of the 20th century, this was the standard uniform of the American male that sat at any social station above blue collar. And even then, blue collar people often wore these clothes to churches and weddings.
A couple of weeks ago, Trump struggled with a broken umbrella as he boarded Air Force One.
Let me tell you how we got to this point — and the tragic downfall of the noble umbrella. 🧵
It's hard to imagine now, but it was once controversial for a man to carry an umbrella. The modern umbrella's progenitor, of course, is the parasol, which 18th century French women carried to preserve their light-colored skin (at the time, a mark of class and status).
British men considered the accessory too French, too foreign, and most importantly, too effeminate. That was until 1756, when Jonas Hanway, an upper-class philanthropist, started to carry a waterproofed version around London to protect himself from the rain.
Fall is upon us and soon it will be time for waxed cotton jackets. Let me suggest ways to wear one.
But first, which outfit do you think is more stylish? Choose before opening this thread. 🧵
If you choose the right outfit, then we have the same taste. But why do we like it better? To understand, we must go back to the invention of this fabric itself.
In the 18th century, English sailors repurposed the linseed oil-soaked canvas they used for sails.
These "oilcloths," as they were known, repelled rain and blocked wind, so sailors made them into capes and smocks for sailing on the high sea. But the material was stiff, heavy, and prone to cracking, so the British maritime company Francis Webster & Sons refined the process.
Of these four pairs of shoes, which do you think is the lowest quality?
Make a choice before opening this thread. Then I'll tell you something about shoe quality. 🧵
When it comes to leather shoes, there are broadly two dimensions of quality.
The first and most important is the type of leather. Quality leather shoes will be made from full-grain leather, which shows the natural grain of the hide.
However, not every hide is suited for full grain leather. The animal may have picked up a lot of scars along the course of its life. In such case, the tannery will sand down the surface and apply a chemical coating to produce a consistent finish. This is called corrected grain.