DAK-waisted pants

[Mike K.]

Hi everybody,
I've noticed a few threads on DAKS-waisted pants, mostly vintage ebay finds. According to Dressing the Man by Alan Flusser, "the genuine Daks top waist design is expensive to manufacture and therefore typically found only on higher-priced ready-made or custom-tailored suit or sport trousers."

I don't know how long they have carried such an item, but Lands End has them in stock right now.
http://www.landsend.com/pp/PlainFro...html?sid=2791194443495133030&CM_MERCH=SRCH_f3

Does anybody know if it is a "genuine" Daks waist design? If so, it's nice to know somebody now carries the pants...even if they are only plain-front cotton twills.

 

[Orgetorix]

I believe that on the original DAKS design, the tab was attached to elastic that ran inside a cloth tunnel on the back part of the waistband. It looks like the tabs on the LE trouses go the opposite direction, and I don't think they're elasticized.

Picture of the original Daks waistband:

 

[Mike K.]

the tab was attached to elastic that ran inside a cloth tunnel on the back part of the waistband

That was my understanding too. There's no mention of any elastic on the LE pants. Seems that would somewhat defeat the purpose of the original design.[huh]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

what i really want to do someday is dissect a vintage DAKS waistband and study the construction. I just can't bring myself to destroy a pair of trousers, though . . .

bk

 

[Orgetorix]

what i really want to do someday is dissect a vintage DAKS waistband and study the construction. I just can't bring myself to destroy a pair of trousers, though . . .

bk

I'll keep my eyes open for any destroyed Daks trousers for you.


As for the lack of elastic defeating the purpose, yeah, sorta. The non-elastic tabs still let you adjust the waist's fit by a couple of inches, to allow for weight fluctuations and such.