Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Return of the high waist?

Metatron

One Too Many
Messages
1,536
Location
United Kingdom
This was prompted in part by Baron Kurtz's comment in another thread,
I googled 'High waist trousers men 2014'
and found this:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/her-joaquin-phoenixs-high-waisted-668298

Apparently they feature as a trademark of upcoming movie Her [about a reclusive author falling in love with his AI operating system], which has resulted in a collection which includes such trousers.
Pretty interesting. Are there any other signs of the return of the high waist?
 

GoldenEraFan

One Too Many
Messages
1,164
Location
Brooklyn, New York
If it does finally make clothing companies design higher waisted than the low low low no waist pants in general I'll be happy. Reminds me of when I met a designer at Paul Stuart last year, who bluntly told me that "high waisted pants are never coming back".
 

Nick D

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,166
Location
Upper Michigan
"Extreme high-waisted pants"? Not quite:

tumblr_mxhv4xm9pr1rqd5coo1_500.jpg
 

herringbonekid

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,016
Location
East Sussex, England
sorry to be a doom monger, but i wouldn't expect the trousers inspired by that film to be a hit with FL members, especially as most FL members want wide legged high waisted trousers.
there are numerous things to get right in making a pair of good looking, 20s-50s style trousers and the high waist is only one of those things.



edit: there's a shot of the 'high waisted' trousers from the collection here:

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/212600/her-clothing-line/

they might pass as part of an early 20s inspired outfit.
 
Last edited:

scrawlysteve

One of the Regulars
Messages
213
Location
London
If it does finally make clothing companies design higher waisted than the low low low no waist pants in general I'll be happy. Reminds me of when I met a designer at Paul Stuart last year, who bluntly told me that "high waisted pants are never coming back".

Yes, I fear that away from this forum--out there in what is laughingly called "the real world" -- the high waisted trouser will be indelibly and ignominiously forever associated with Simon Cowell.
 
Hezza is of course correct that these trousers of fashion are unlikely to be to the taste of people who want something non-skinny. Neither are they likely to be what we would call high waisted.

However, this trend might get people to stop pointing and hollering at us, hanging drunk, stoned, and filthy from endless betting shop doorways, so self obsessed as to imagine that their idiotic croonings hold any importance. Ho hum, we can but live in hope.
 

Metatron

One Too Many
Messages
1,536
Location
United Kingdom
sorry to be a doom monger, but i wouldn't expect the trousers inspired by that film to be a hit with FL members, especially as most FL members want wide legged high waisted trousers.
there are numerous things to get right in making a pair of good looking, 20s-50s style trousers and the high waist is only one of those things.

True, but I guess it wouldn't be something new if it was 100% accurate repro.
I think that if the style of perhaps not 'high waisted' but 'waisted' trousers enters the mainstream, it will be a welcome addition to the increasing number of revived retro things, and in any case will perhaps make people look better.
I want to add that women have been rocking high waists for ages, so it's surprising how tentatively men's fashion has been moving in that direction.
 

herringbonekid

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,016
Location
East Sussex, England
Metatron, i agree it's surprising.

there's nearly always some small designer label or other offering high waisted trousers (e.g. Joe Casely Hayford, Herr Von Eden) but they never seem to influence the mainstream.
 

Rudie

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,069
Location
Berlin
Which is also surprising I think. Only once did I get a negative comment for wearing high waisted trousers. From a drunken hipster type. On the other hand I constantly get compliments on my style. And that's in Berlin, where the biggest compliment you get is usually "da kann man nicht meckern" (roughly translates to "you can't complain about it"). And I don't have the perfect outfits many of you gents here have. So people actually do notice and appreciate the pleasing lines and cuts of Golden Era clothing. Makes me wonder why not more mainstream makers jump on it.
 
I'm afraid so. The East End is not welcoming (at least middle aged white Eastenders are not welcoming). I made the mistake of being out after dark in East Ham the other day. Never again. Reminded me A LOT of the dingier parts of Glasgow (typically a very dingy city in general, but some parts worse than others) - the postwar architecture, etc, but especially the general air of danger, of tension bubbling under the surface (if tension can bubble), and of course the proportion of drunk Glaswegians, who seem to gravitate to the worst parts of London. More betting shops probably; like moths to a flame.

does that really happen to you ?
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,188
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
I think that if the style of perhaps not 'high waisted' but 'waisted' trousers enters the mainstream, it will be a welcome addition to the increasing number of revived retro things, and in any case will perhaps make people look better.
Agreed. It would be a great relief for men to realize wearing trousers at more or less their actual waistline wears and looks a heck of a lot better then this god awful trend most engage in now.
 

rocknroper

New in Town
Messages
26
Location
NYC
I have been wearing vintage for the last 30 years. In Sydney London and New York. The last thing I would want is vintage or repro high waisted trousers, hats , suits etc, becoming mainstream.
 

Strapped-4-Cache

One Too Many
Messages
1,112
Location
Lawrenceville, GA
Agreed. It's hard enough to find affordable ones in the right size NOW. Can't imagine what it would be like if they become popular again.

I discovered shortly after starting to wear waistcoats that high-waisted trousers are often necessary for the outfit to look correct. Otherwise, the shirt can often be seen between the bottom of the waistcoat and the top of the trousers. NOT a good look.
 
Last edited:

Metatron

One Too Many
Messages
1,536
Location
United Kingdom
on a positive note, there were no reports of Joaquin Phoenix complaining about the clothes he wore in 'The Master' which was set in the late 40s.

But it might be that he simply accepted that it was a period style, so it would be a moot point to comment on it being weird or geeky or whatever.
Great film btw, definitely made me appreciate Joaquin Phoenix as an actor.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,640
Messages
3,085,581
Members
54,471
Latest member
rakib
Top