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Suit trousers worn with a sportcoat

Loudly

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I'd appreciate your thoughts on wearing suit trousers as odd trousers (with a sportcoat etc.). Bad idea? Is there anything tell-tale in suit trousers that would look strange?

A local shop is selling MTM suit trousers that were cut too short for the order at around 10% of the retail price for an extra set of suit trousers. Luckily a couple of these fit me.

They are mostly normal wool twill, no pinstripes or the like. A couple with side adjusters rather than belt loops.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but its not the easiest search term to formulate.
 

Manton

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Certain colors are fine. I wear light gray suit trousers with odd jackets with some regularity. Gab is also good. Blue never. Striped, never. I would also stay away from classic suiting patterns like nailhead, birdseye and the like.

Some will warn you about uneven wear. This could be a problem with flannel. I would not worry about worsted.
 

AntiHero84

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I can understand why you would want to stay away from patterns, or anything resembling patterns, but why blue?
 

Manton

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Originally Posted by AntiHero84
I can understand why you would want to stay away from patterns, or anything resembling patterns, but why blue?

Longstanding iGent argument. Blue odd trousers = major yuck for me. Not quite as bad as black suits but close. Flame away.
 

Doxe

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Originally Posted by Manton
Longstanding iGent argument. Blue odd trousers = major yuck for me. Not quite as bad as black suits but close. Flame away.

So, the question is, what colour of odd trousers to wear. Especially if one is using the "Italian backgound" of blue on blue to tame a loud sport coat? Grey? Dark grey?

What about blue flannel for odd trousers? Does the admonition against blue odd trousers only extend to navy?

I've actually thought about this a great deal because every time I go out on the weekend I invariably end up wearing dark denim with my gun club sport coats. I'd rather wear wool instead of denim. But no other colour works as well as navy blue.

Thoughts?
 

Loudly

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The options are basically all charcoal/darkish grey.

Wish one of them was an exact match for one of my suits, but so it goes!

Thanks for the input so far.
 

AntiHero84

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Originally Posted by Manton
Longstanding iGent argument. Blue odd trousers = major yuck for me. Not quite as bad as black suits but close. Flame away.

I see. It seems that grey might be the way to go. There are certainly enough shades that would be suitable for an arrange of odd jackets.

I would imagine that brown and khaki would work as well, but I suppose it would be rare to find brown suit pants.
 

Manton

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I will never wear any shade or fabric of blue as an odd trouser with a jacket. I will wear pants from my blue linen suit with a light linen shirt but never with a jacket.
 

Parker

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Have you always had an aversion to blue pants? Is there some Apparel Arts precedent for it?
 

Manton

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Originally Posted by Parker
Have you always had an aversion to blue pants? Is there some Apparel Arts precedent for it?

Always.

This is not from AA, though I don't recall ever seeing it there. This is from youth. The way I was taught, it just Is Not Done.
 

Parker

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Blue is such a strong color (relative to grays and browns) that I think it overwhelms any jackets you try to pair it with. Unless the jacket is also blue, then you might as well just go for the suit. Though I don't mind denim with a casual linen or cotton jacket.
 

Macallan

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Originally Posted by Manton
I will never wear any shade or fabric of blue as an odd trouser with a jacket. I will wear pants from my blue linen suit with a light linen shirt but never with a jacket.

Not even light blue?

I can understand why someone would not wear have navy odd trousers or wear the trousers of a navy suit with another jacket; however, ruling out all shades of blue seems strange to me.
 

bowtielover

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I don't see the big deal, yes it shouldn't be done but I doubt anyone is going to know your wearing suit pants and not just a pair of dress trousers on their own.
 

Prince of Paisley

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Originally Posted by Manton
I will never wear any shade or fabric of blue as an odd trouser with a jacket. I will wear pants from my blue linen suit with a light linen shirt but never with a jacket.

I'm actually with you on this one. I wear French blue/navy blue pants in the summer with a light shirt, but I never wear them with a jacket. For some reason it just looks wrong, and I always reach for grey pants instead.
 

GBR

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No - they will always look like what they are and you will know what they are.
 

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