Cuffed Jeans

[John in Covina]

I would suggest, if you are getting several pairs of pants get one with cuffs and one without. You will ab able to appraise the look and action under your lifestyle by trying them out either way. It will give you the best idea of if it works or not and under what situations.

 

[Cog]

This winter I’ve been wearing flat-front, cuffed corduroys or wool trousers almost everyday. I don’t go with the idea that cuffs are only appropriate for pleated pants. I’m not a fan of pleats but I like the feel and look of cuffs. They do require some maintenance but it’s not a big deal.

 

[scotrace]

I'm a fan of everything cuffed save formal and semi-formal wear (i.e. morning dress trousers, black tie and white tie evening trousers).

Agreed.

 

[Mr Badger]

With the khakis that I own (Cramerton cloth Polo GI pants and two Dockers K1s, plus a pair of Garbstore French naval trousers), they all came with a 'natural cuff', i.e. they've all got a deep, visually striking hemline about 1.5" from the end of the leg. I find that this is a 'Captain Kirk' solution to the cuff/no cuff dilemma!

Sometimes I self-cuff my GI pants and K1s — i.e. turn the legs up 'one notch', to the depth of the ready-made hemlines — if I'm wearing 'em with lace-up or engineer boots, to stop 'em pooling atop my footwear. That works a treat, too...

I've never found proper cuffs on dress pants to be a pain but, there again, I've always had 'em dry cleaned.

 

[hardline_42]

I cuff everything except jeans (five-pocket pants) and any pants meant for the outdoors (hunting, hiking etc.). A cuff doesn't just affect the look of the pant hem. It adds weight to the bottom of the pant leg which helps the pants drape better. Creases stay sharper and pant legs don't ride up or stick to OTC socks. I think of cuffs as the crown molding of pants. Some people think it's stuffy or unnecessary, but it's much harder to make an unadorned edge look good.

As for laundering pants with cuffs, the only ones that require an iron are my cords because of the thickness of the fabric.. For chinos, I just wash them, shape the cuffs by hand and hang them dry. No iron required.

Regarding the body-type/cuff correlation, I'm 5'-3" and I don't shy away from cuffs. I just make sure they're proportional and don't ever make them bigger than 1.5"

The pleated/cuffs, plain-front/no-cuffs thing is, IMO, misinformation propagated by lazy tailors who don't want to cuff pants (and take advantage of the current popularity of plain-front over pleated pants). Straight-hemmed pleated pants have been in use in the UK for a long time, and plain-front, cuffed pants are an American Trad staple.

 

[TheSwingingBee]

Besides the practicality of no cuffs that others mentioned, it also depends on your build. The further you get from tall and slim, as in short and dumpy, the less cuffs are flattering.

Thanks for this comment JimWagner. I'm wanting to make some pants for my hubby, but he has an incredibly short inseam and very long torso, so this makes me think that no cuffs would look best.

 

[majormajor]

Cuffed jeans or not??

Noticed a little banter on here regarding the practice of wearing your jeans cuffed or not.

Back in my Mod days in the 60's, we certainly DIDN'T cuff our jeans - it was more of a bikeboy thing - but we were the ones wearing US made jeans (Levi & Lee).

Nowadays, it seems (for some) to be about showing off your selfedge seam.

I do like a small cuff on mine these days - but no more than an inch or so - anymore is just too "rockabilly".....

Here's my Freddies:

Some folks do, I'm afraid, take it a little too far. Saw this on a site t'other day....

So what is the consensus on here?:eeek:

 

[Sloan1874]

Looks like the guy's stolen another person's jeans! I notice on the pull-off label that comes with Freddie's that the 1950s model is wearing a turn-up that's three or four inches high but isn't 'double-cuffed'. I prefer an inch or two on a double-cuff. The 'once-over' just feels somehow unfinished. [huh]

 

[Seb Lucas]

Yours look good in that shot. I always worry that they fray more easily when worn like that. I don't personally cuff any jeans, but my legs are long and there's rarely any extra material. But maybe I should but out since I refuse to pay more than $60 0r $70 for a pair of jeans and denim has never captured my imagination.

 

[Feraud]

I show some cuff if the particular jean is too long. The idea of consciously cuffing to show off selfedge strikes me as a poseur move. That second picture with the 12" fold is ridiculous.

 

[Mr Badger]

Funny, MajorMajor, seems like we were both of the same mind in our younger days!

As I've gorn backwards (in terms of dress, cultural tastes and musical selection) over the decades, I now favour 'turn ups' of 3-4", which looks about right to me... the second pic you posted is just silly!

The re-emergence of selvedge (self-edge, selvage, call it what you wanna!) denim does lend itself to cuffing jeans, as a badge of pride. However, I do regret shortening my Levi's 201xx jeans and only putting a 1" cuff on them now – did it ten years ago and didn't like the wider turn-ups back then... silly boy! :eusa_doh:

Here's a few of my selvage jeans getting a back yard airing a couple of years ago, with my 201s second from right – it's a wise move when we actually get some rain-free breezy weather!

 

[majormajor]

Some nice denim there Mr B. Good to see some Lee's in amongst. My fave jeans for a VERY long time!

 

[Mr Badger]

I show some cuff if the particular jean is too long. The idea of consciously cuffing to show off selfedge strikes me as a poseur move.

Guess I'm a poseur, then! I do have a few pairs of selvedge jeans without cuffs, as they're only 34" leg, but – and this goes for the non-selvedge workwear jeans I've got, too – all the others I just cuff 'em to the right length, rather than have 'em shortened. One thing that looks totally wrong to me, and very much a poseur move, is when hipsters roll up the bottoms of their far-too-tight jeans, leaving 'em hovering several inches above their sock-less boat shoes (bleugh!)...

Some nice denim there Mr B. Good to see some Lee's in amongst. My fave jeans for a VERY long time!

Yeah, overall, the Lee 101z (particularly the first European run, with the half-lined back pockets, which came out in the late 1990s) are a stellar jean – I still have one of my original pairs, which seems quite slimfit now, and a pair of the later, wider-legged 101b... which reminds me, I need to repair the inner front pocket bags on 'em both!

However, my all-time fave is the Levi's 1944 model – they've got a slightly higher rise, aren't too wide-hipped and are pretty straight-legged... for those on a budget, the Edwin Nashville model is pretty much on a par, and even more hard-wearing!

Slightly OT, I know, but here are my oldest jeans, had all of 'em for well over a decade, making 'em quite early LVC, and they've developed some serious patina, which is one reason why *most* selvedge denim beats the regular stuff hands-down! Two pairs of LVC 1944s and my 201s:

 

[majormajor]

Very nice, Mr B!!!!

BTW, what is the width at the bottom of the 1944 Levi model?

 

[bretron]

Cuffs are a must IMO. I'm about a 30" inseam, and prefer all by denim with a post shrinkage inseam of approx 34".

 

[Feraud]

Guess I'm a poseur, then!

Nah, I think you're good. We tend to weed out the poseurs here.

 

[gtdean48]

When I wear my ropers, I stack.
When I wear my iron rangers, I cuff.

 

[Dr H]

That second picture with the 12" fold is ridiculous.

Scott's going to be offended - took him an age to work that up... ;-)

 

[Edward]

I like 2-3" of a cuff on my jeans - whether selvedge or no. Poseur, schmoseur.... it's no different than preferring a cuff on a pair of trews from a lounge suit.

 

[Feraud]

Scott's going to be offended - took him an age to work that up... ;-)

I can appreciate the sheer bravado and effort that goes into the look but there is this...pointless aspect to it.