Decent dress trousers

[Pat_H]

There may be a thread on this already, so my apologies if I'm being duplicative, but I need to order some wool dress trousers of the type you'd wear with a sports coat or blazer. I generally like cuffed trousers, prefer suspender buttons, and like them to be pleated.

The last time I ordered any, I ordered them from Lands End and they turned out to be very light, and they blew out nearly immediately. I'm not repeating that experience. I've had L. L. Bean ones in the past that were much better. But, I know that in the 30s-50s trousers of this type had to be made of heavier wool and more durable, as many men wore them every day.

Suggestions? I don't like to buy clothes of this type frequently, but I do have a need to have them, so I'd like some that will hold up and I'm not keen on them being really light.

 

[jkingrph]

From my limited experience, you might consider buying from a local store. I live in the deep south, ie E. Texas, much like N. Louisiana where I was born and raised. I found heavier weight clothing up in N Carolina and Tennesse than you generally find down here, and would suspect the same would be true for Wyoming.

 

[stevew443]

I have gotten some very good deals on nice wool pants from Jos. Banks. If you find one of their sales the prices are not too bad, and they will finish them with cuffs if you wish. I have purchased some suits from Banks and the pants came with suspender buttons, but their wool trousers do not.

My local dry cleaners said that they would put suspenders buttons on my trousers for $2.50 per button (their standard charge for buttons).

 

[Pat_H]

Thanks jkingrph, but menswear stores are almost completely absent here. Except for professionals, and even with professionals on a limited basis, men don't wear this kind of clothing up here much, so there's no local store. The one really good one we had here went out of business, no doubt for that reason.

Sevew443, thanks also. I've never bought anything from them so I should look into it.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Hello Pat_H;

I am not sure if you know about a store that handles frontier clothing, something to do with Cattle Kate as a designer, you may want to google it and find what I am talking about. I would think they have some trousers with the button fly, suspender buttons and in a style of real vintage? I've not had my coffee yet, or I'd already have that information for you, but you will find what I am talking about. That store may be fairly near to you and have what you are looking for.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

http://www.oldfrontier.com/ofcc_custompant.htm Here is the link to the store I was telling you about.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

I'll second Jos. A Banks, but BUY THEM ON SALE, Banks stuff is worth what you pay for it on sale. Not bad, but not great either. Depending on what color you want, What Price Glory carries Khaki (Pinks and Greens) colored Wool pants. At the Front does also, but ATF's don't have suspender buttons. You could buy some from either guy.

Of course, that only works for olive / khaki stuff.

Just my $0.02

 

[Edward]

Military repro is a great way of getting a quality pair of trousers at a fraction of the cost a garment of the same quality would skin you in mufti. You do have to deal with a limited colour palette, though that is lessened if you're creative, and if you're not prissy about wearing a pair of trews that happen to approximate the lower half of an Axis uniform (I just wish the Panzers didn't have those damn pulled-in fastening cuffs, or they'd be *great* black trews...). If you're patient, you can also turn up some great stuff from modern day (or relatively modern, given the nature of surplus) dress uniforms. I have a crakin' pair of RAF grey-blue dress trews with a nice high waist (sewed on my own braces buttons - presumably after issue that's what the RAF boys have to do too, as there are no belt loops), and a superb pair of Danish trousers in a hefty grey wool. The former are a good later-mid fifties cut to my eye, the latter a tiny touch wider in the leg. Both cost me less than forty quid total, including two separate lots of postage (currently about sixty USD).