Finding pants for this jacket has been driving me regularly loopy lately.

[otacon]

This being my first post, I'd like to say hello. Nice little community here. I'm about to come off as being extremely picky, but I've put a fair amount of research into this and have come up pretty much flat to my original end. Finding pants to match this jacket has become something of an epic quest for me, as silly as that sounds, the adventure probably outweighing the worth of the jacket itself. Anyone who helps me will live on in my memory and have my gratitude.

I recently bought a jacket that I'd passed by many times in the mall, never really liking the look but, after seeing something similar in action on television, decided to give it a go. The fact that it was on sale was lovely as far as price goes but not so much in fit, as I fear it may be a bit short, though that on the bright side that does add a bit of variety to my look. As it's discontinued, here it is on a third party website: http://muahangmy.com/product/detail/...-tux-trim.html A google search for 'express, "2 button slim-fit blazer", tux trim' may turn up some more images. It is wool with a pretty fine herringbone pattern that may not be discernible in the image. Express' website doesn't seem to have the item listed anymore, though search engines will still come up with it. Since I bought it, I've been looking for matching pants. It was on sale because it's been discontinued--I emailed the company on help finding the pants but, unfortunately, was correct that they were. I had thought to have found the pants on the website, (Herringbone Producer, Military style) though not in my size, so it's possible the pants the respondent employee mentioned to me were the ones I had seen there. After an embarrassing episode where I purchased the pants in-store and had to return them after comparing them to the jacket at home, I've been considering that matching pants were never made. I've scoured google and been in four or five stores to look for them, but nothing's turned up. In lieu of Express-made pants, I've found something similar at Banana Republic: http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse...4092002&vid=-1 and http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse...6716002&vid=-1 though I fear the former to be too light (and reportedly has a bit of red thrown in) and the latter too brown. I'll have to try to find a pair in a store for comparison. Something similar showed up at Target's online site, and I'll need to check there too. I'm considering somehow trying to darken the wool if I find the pattern to be the same but the color too light, but I don't really know anything about that procedure. I don't like to approximate with suits, and approximating with patterns can just end up accentuating their differences, so if it comes to it, I may just keep wearing black pants or some other type of grey, non-wool pants with them. I have found an alternative that is in the same school of thought--my Express jacket and this jacket either came from the a same source or one was copied off of the other: http://www.topman.com/webapp/wcs/sto...8938&langId=-1 However, this has paired pants!: http://www.topman.com/webapp/wcs/sto...8370&langId=-1 These pants don't quite match my jacket (sharkskin pattern instead of herringbone), but since I'm guaranteed matching pants, I'm tempted to take the plunge and order both of these items just so that I can have a grey suit with the tux trim, and either sell my existing jacket or keep it for to use as I have been. There being no boutique for this brand in my area, I'll have to order online and risk the sizing. (Edit: found these too, but since I can't compare them in person, I'm a bit afraid to buy them: http://us.topman.com/webapp/wcs/stor...9424&langId=-1) My other option is to see if I can somehow find matching wool and have the pants made specially. I wouldn't exactly know how to go about doing this though, as I'd have to find a pre-existing, exactly matching fabric if the tailor doesn't have it available for bespoke purposes. Would anyone know or have experience with a process similar to that? Should I try asking Express for information on obtaining the fabric (or if there's some more exact specification for it), or would I be better off simply going to someone who specializes in bespoke suits and trying to match it? Cheers all!

 

[z7f9q]

I probably don't have to tell you this, but it can be incredibly difficult matching fabric. Can't speak on that one, but seems like you've been hitting all the bases.

How does it look unmatched? Seems to me you could pair it with other pants.

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by z7f9q

How does it look unmatched? Seems to me you could pair it with other pants.

With that trim, and in a herringbone cloth, I would think it would work well as a sportcoat. Truth be told, I think it would work better as a sportcoat than a full suit.

 

[chrisb0109]

I have damn near the same jacket from H&M. As far as I know, they never had matching pants and the garment was intended as a sport coat. I'm not sure I would like it as a suit.

 

[in fits of print]

What gave you the idea that it was supposed to be part of a suit? I'm pretty sure that style of trim comes from the blazers of English sports clubs/teams, especially rowing. The "tux trim" label is curious, though guess I can envision a pair of trousers with matching stripes down the outseams.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

The only time you should ever wear 'matching' trousers is when they were bought with the coat as a suit.

Forget about finding almost-matching trousers for this one, it doesn't looks like it was intended to be worn with matching trousers and tbh I think it might look kinda strange with them. Get some contrasting trousers and wear it as a sport-coat.

 

[otacon]

Thanks all. I'd actually taken to the contrasting color idea before. Also, the other night I was bold enough to wear it with a lighter grey pant with a certain kind of plaid, which wasn't something I'd envisioned working for a while, but gave it a go and it worked surprisingly well, with compliments.

I suppose I had gotten the idea from having thought I'd seen photo or video where the jacket was paired with pants, but I guess not, as upon review they were either contrasting pants or grey jeans.

If possible, I'm curious to see that H&M jacket.

 

[Don Carlos]

a) Trying to find perfectly matching (in color, weight, material, pattern, etc.) trousers for a jacket that was not part of a suit is next to impossible. At best you'll come up with a near-match, which looks a lot worse than contrasting pants. So go for complementary/contrasting pants, rather than an attempted match.

b) Not only does the "tux trim" on that suit indicate that it was never intended to be worn as a suit, but such a suit -- were it to exist -- would look incredibly tacky, like some sort of '70s costume. Treat the jacket as it was meant to be treated: as a casual sport coat.

 

[ysc]

Wear it with slim cut dark coloured jeans without any funny washes or distressing.

 

[bowtielover]

Needle in a hay stack, good luck to you.

 

[chrisb0109]

Originally Posted by otacon

Thanks all. I'd actually taken to the contrasting color idea before. Also, the other night I was bold enough to wear it with a lighter grey pant with a certain kind of plaid, which wasn't something I'd envisioned working for a while, but gave it a go and it worked surprisingly well, with compliments.

I suppose I had gotten the idea from having thought I'd seen photo or video where the jacket was paired with pants, but I guess not, as upon review they were either contrasting pants or grey jeans.

If possible, I'm curious to see that H&M jacket.

Not a great picture (paired with this shirt and tie) But here it is. I think it works better with all black and white elements.

 

[otacon]

Thanks again guys. I agree, from personal experience too, about mixing it with colors. One has to be careful.

I should probably admit that I became highly attracted to the jacket due to this (browsing on my phone, but I believe this to be a proper link): http://www.usanetwork.com/series/whi...res/nealstyle/

I haven't actually been able to find that specific jacket though. The "contrastin lapel" style is more popular than I realized and seems to be gaining a bit of ground for twenty-somethings.