My New Bespoke Gray Flannels - Pictures! - What Do You Think?

[Johnny J]

I like them too Rudie. Congrats. I do want to mention something that I notice that can improve the vintage look. At the front pleat tell your tailor to make the seam that goes from top of pants to start of pleat longer, like 2 1/2 inches. Look at these 40s pants I have. It will make your pants look better. I have made about 5 pairs myself and I have paid close attention to these small details.

Also on the back pocket check and see if its not too close to the top.

And on the zipper, I think they can be longer. These are almost 13 inches from bottom point to the top.

 

[Johnny J]

These pants fit me about 1 1/2 inches higher than my navel. I think yours should be at least 1 inch higher than navel. Nick D also has made these pants and maybe he can comment about that too.

 

[Rudie]

Thanks for the tip Johnny. The cut is pretty much copied from 1937 dated trousers. They sit right at my navel and the rise has exactly the same measurements as the original. I must agree, though, that I prefer my trousers to have a even higher rise. For the next pair I'll likely add about two inches to the rise.

 

[Nick D]

Regarding the pleats, I have trousers both vintage and which I made myself with the pleats stitched down a bit below the waistband and left free. Without fail, those stitched down as Johnny J has described have pleats which drape better.

Very nice trousers, though, I love the fabric.

 

[GBR]

I carry a wallet in my right rear pocket and a key case in the left. I am not nobody.

Quite right, so do I - I fear that the poster in question grossly exagerated for an unkown reason.

 

[Edward]

I guess your only chance for premium quality cream coloured flannel is either lightweight (Holland & Sherry have 10oz. or something like that) or having a mill weave it specially for you. You'd have to commission at least 60 meters, though. I'm not sure how high the demand is, but you could ask people here or at London Lounge who would be interested. If you manage to get enough people to order this should make for a very good price because there's no middle man. Maybe Pendleton still make cream coloured flannel in a heavier weight?

I suspect there's very little demand for Winter weight flannel in a cream colour simply because convention has for so long had it that that is a "Summer" colour. I tend to that view myself, less on the basis of the colour itself, more a matter of simple practicality. In what is a fairly wet climate in Winter (even moreso back in small-town Ireland where I grew up), light colours would get dirty and stained very easily - maybe in a much dryer climate that would be different. Take that FWIW as just my own opinion, though: my only rule for white or near white trousers is that they must be machine washable (the exception being a linen suit trouser). I can be a clumsy boy at times, so that definitely helps....

Thanks.

I have lots of trousers without belt loops. But I find myself wearing trousers with a belt instead of suspenders quite regularly. If belts were good enough for Fred Astaire they are certainly good enough for me as well.

Regarding the rear pockets: As long as I can remember I dislike the look of trousers with no rear pockets, so I wouldn't even consider eliminating them. For me they have only aesthetic value, I'd never carry my wallet in my rear pockets.

I'm the same. I don't like carrying anything in the rear pockets, but even so I like them there as a design feature. For a trouser you might wear casually, I think the belt loops there as an option are a good idea. For a suit, I personally always prefer braces where that is an option, but I would still have at least one belt-loop on the right hand side of the trousers if I was going bespoke, as something handier than the braces to which to clip my key chain.

 

[davidraphael]

Here's my newest acquisition. Trousers from a mid-gray 17oz. flannel by J. & J. Minnis. Very expensive cloth, but looks marvelous and has a wonderful hand. You won't believe how soft and light it feels when you wear it. The cut is pretty much copied from 1942 dated American trousers, except that I opted for a button fly instead of a zip fly.

Fishtail back, Hollywood waist, drop belt loops, outside suspender buttons, outward pleats, 4.5cm cuffs

Two back pockets, one buttoned

Horn buttons

J. & J. Minnis tag

Front view. Waist is exactly at navel height.

Back view

Side view worn with belt.

Side view worn with suspenders. Note how much better they drape when they hang from the shoulders instead of the waist.

Please let me know what you think.

Great trousers! Would love a pair in tweed. Maybe I'll look into it....
Rude to ask, I know, but expensive?

 

[Edward]

Price was mentioned above i this thread- I think (from memory) they were about EU140, with Rudie supplying his own material. I worked out the cost a while back - can't recall it all now, but I think it was somewhere between GBP150 and GBP200. Quite expensive, but on the other hand for fully bespoke (and on the Row, at that) really not so. You'll pay in the region of that for a pair of OTR suit trews in Jermyn Street.

 

[Johnny J]

Side view worn with belt.

Also, even though all trousers do hang better with braces, I would think these pants could hang better than this with a belt. I hardly ever wear braces and mine hang better. Maybe a small adjustment is all thats needed Rudie. Or maybe they need to be a little fuller cut.

 

[Tomasso]

Also, even though all trousers do hang better with braces, I would think these pants could hang better than this with a belt.

I agree. It may have to do with combining both braces and belt in one trouser.

 

[Rudie]

You mean wearing both braces and belt at the same time? Nah, can't do that.

 

[Feraud]

Very nice trousers. Your tailor did a fine job on 'em.

 

[Johnny J]

You mean wearing both braces and belt at the same time? Nah, can't do that.

I agree.

 

[Smithy]

You mean wearing both braces and belt at the same time? Nah, can't do that.

Agree x 2.

The perfect way to look like a prat is to wear both at the same time.

Never trust a fellow who doesn't trust his own trousers enough to wear either a belt or braces but rather both

 

[Rocky Montana]

Very nive pair of trousers, wish I could go and see the tailor too........

 

[Audi S5 TC]

I like the heavier flannel weights, I am tired of being 'sold' super thin weights. I don't like the way they feel, or look on me. I think dress trousers should have an element of form and weightiness to them. Much of today's thinking is I think based on keeping cost down by using as little fabric as possible by selling the idea of "coolness". But the thinness of typical dress trousers today seem to contribute to a tendency for trousers to accentuate the features of the individual underneath, or they just hang formlessly on the person. They lack the substance to establish their own identity.

I like those trousers Rudie, and would likely buy some myself, if they didn't have to be bespoked.

I agree with you 100%, Tommy. However, I think it applies to all tailored clothing (suits, tuxedos, pants-as mentioned before, cutaway coats, tail coats, vests, skirts, dresses and especially overcoats).

 

[Fidena]

I agree with you 100%, Tommy. However, I think it applies to all tailored clothing (suits, tuxedos, pants-as mentioned before, cutaway coats, tail coats, vests, skirts, dresses and especially overcoats).

Hear, hear! I don't like the thin, wrinklyness of the modern day suit.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Well, the fabric has Savile Row on the label. Don't know that a Savile Row tailor would run quite so cheap on a pair of trousers. Señor Hussein of Hanbury Street, on the other hand …

(and on the Row, at that)

 

[cookie]

The next trousers I have in mind will be from a 19oz. Thornproof Donegal tweed. I don't think these are going to have have belt loops.

Can't wait to see them!

 

[Gin&Tonics]

Awesome trousers. Yes, suspenders certainly are the bee's knees. I'm a recent convert to the suspenders phenomenon, though I prefer to hide them beneath my waistcoat.