Bagging out at the knees: how to fix it?

[Chrenetique]

One month ago, I shelled out the pleasant sum of $320 to acquire a pair of Cucinelli dress pants (well, in cotton). Nice fabric, nice cut, tight in the crotch, etc.

But after wearing them 5 or 6 times, I find the knees are abnormally bagging out (see picture below), which is extremely vile considering the price.

How do you proceed to fix this? Do you iron yourself, press yourself, or give it to a cleaner? At what frequency?

And how would you prevent this? Especially, is there a recommended way of hanging pants?

 

[acecow]

They are simply too long. Shorten the pants and it will get better. If it doesn't, then find a good tailor and ask him to slim down the leg a bit. I've done that to a pair of trousers I bought from GILT. They were great, except for being too wide in the knee. They were wool, though, so they really didn't bunch up like yours do.

 

[Omega Man]

These are cotton right? Cotton will stretch if you sit down and cross your leg a lot (and for a long period of time). I get the same problem wearing chino, ditto to jeans as well. Warm/hot washing may help, but it may shrink in other places.

 

[Joenobody0]

Originally Posted by Omega Man

These are cotton right? Cotton will stretch if you sit down and cross your leg a lot (and for a long period of time). I get the same problem wearing chino, ditto to jeans as well. Warm/hot washing may help, but it may shrink in other places.

This is correct. I've had this happen to most of my cotton "dress" pants. Particularly cheap ones.

 

[a tailor]

all trousers will bag at the knees. some more some less.
yours look like a slim leg pant. the slimmer the leg the more they will bag.
when you walk or sit, your knees strain at that level of the legs.
and thats where it bags. just dont sit or walk,then no problem.

 

[texas_jack]

Originally Posted by a tailor

all trousers will bag at the knees. some more some less.
yours look like a slim leg pant. the slimmer the leg the more they will bag.
when you walk or sit, your knees strain at that level of the legs.
and thats where it bags. just dont sit or walk,then no problem.

^this

there is a reason why pants aren't tights.

 

[Chrenetique]

I understand that cotton + tightness = double evil.

But there's still a question: what can I do to fix my problem?

 

[cptjeff]

Well, on jeans and chinos, washing solves the issue, so washing them would be the obvious solution. Hang dry if you're not sure if the fabric is preshrunk.

 

[Master-Classter]

in the biz, we call them "knee-boobs". that's all I have to contribute.

 

[Mr. Mystery]

Great post, I was always curious about this.

I actually find that the knee crease is worse with looser pants because there is more fabric to fold and spill out.

Does a crease line help fix this?

This has really been a piss off for me and I always wondered how some people never had this happen, I always thought it was tighter pants around knees had less bag and was my main incentive to go slimmer. I've found a little less bag since going slimmer too with jeans and now have the motive to start creasing most my pants, even white jeans

I just had two pairs of chino's slimmed, ( really slim ) they actually turned out a touch tighter than I wanted. Now I'm worried to wear them, thinking I should get them taken out a bit now possibly.

Also can you have achieve a good crease at home with an iron?

 

[Recoil]

Slim the leg to 8" at the leg opening and tailor with no break. I did this one my cotton trousers and it works great.

 

[Mr. Mystery]

I think the 8 inch exactly would vary depending on the person. Instead, I'll take this as meaning a slim leg opening.

 

[Will C.]

Less break and more width => better looking and less knee-bagging... better to save this type of cut for jeans, in my opinion

An ironed crease might help but different weaves of cotton seem to vary in how well they take a crease...

 

[luftvier]

Do you hang them over a hanger? That also contributes.

 

[Chrenetique]

Originally Posted by luftvier

Do you hang them over a hanger? That also contributes.

Actually, I fold them on the trouser bar. It's poor, but I can't do better for the moment.

About ironing myself: I'm worried about the crease. I may not be able to do it right.

About washing: only hand washing in mild water is accepted + cool iron afterwards. Or dry cleaning.