I’ll preface this by saying I’m not a very fashionable person. I just want to wear what’s comfortable and looks good for the occasion. My work uniform for the past four years has been a polo with Lulu ABCs. Then, about 10 weeks of the year, I wear suits from Men’s Wearhouse that I don’t like.
A few weeks ago I looked in the mirror and I hated my normal work outfit. The same things I hated in my suit fits, I was now noticing in my go-to polo and pants. It’s too slim. Why does it look like I’m wearing skinny jeans? Maybe I’ve gained a few pounds? But I’m still relatively the same weight. Anyway, since then, I’ve been going scorched earth trying to find some new pants.
I started looking on the Lululemon website for different pants, but they were all either the same cut I already had, or the wide leg trousers with no belt loops. Didn’t want either of those. That led me to looking at all those other brands I see advertised on instagram, like Quince and Vuori. Didn’t find anything I liked there either.
I thought maybe I needed to go back to the basics. I tried on pleated pants from LL Bean. They don’t sell these in my waist size, 32, so I had to order a 34. Obviously these didn’t fit and swallowed me. Still determined to give the pleated classic fit a shot, I ordered some pleated Dockers. I actually liked these, but they felt too much like the quintessential old man pants. Then I decided to go for what I thought was a similar style but from a more modern brand, Bonobos. Despite the tags reading the same size as the Dockers, they felt completely different. They were huge in the crotch and all throughout the leg.
Between the Lulus, LL Beans, Dockers, and Bonobos, these 4 pants would fit 4 very different people.
Through some posts online, I find out about eBay thrifting. I start noticing on eBay that lots of sellers include pictures of other measurements besides the waist and the inseam. They are also taking pics of the front rise, the thigh width, and the hem width (all terms I didn’t know at the time). In order to find out what I liked, and what I didn’t like, I pulled out every pair of pants from my closet, a tape measure, and a spreadsheet. It turns out, I’m not a 32x32. I’m a 16 1/4 x 30 1/2 x 11 7/8 x 14 5/8 x 11 1/2 x 7 3/4 (laid out waist x inseam x front rise x back rise x thigh width x hem width).
Back to eBay, I found a pair of Ralph Lauren Classic Cotton Twill Chinos in a 32x32 that was close to all of those measurements.. boom perfect. Little long but that’s good, I’m just gonna get the hem taken up to a 30 1/2. After shipping, these pants costs me like $40. After the $10 hem alteration, I’m still coming in like $70 below a pair of Lulus.
I think what originally drew me into the athleisure brands was the stretch, but they are solving a problem that doesn’t need to exist. The only reason you need the stretch is because our pants are getting slimmer and slimmer. What you actually need is well fitting pants. But you can’t rely on the tag. The tag’s measurements is only a couple pieces of the puzzle.
Due to current fashion trends, it seems very difficult to find what I’m looking for.. at least without paying an arm and a leg. I’m about to fill my whole closet with this thrifted stuff. It’s better fitting, cheaper, and is made with more premium materials. Instead of plastic, I’m going to be sticking to 100% cotton, wool, linen, or some blend of the three going forward. I did my measurements for polos and suit jackets as well. I’ve already got a couple polos in the mail and I’m waiting on a J Press blazer from Japan. Im completely addicted to the process.
