how to approach dress pants for a beginner wardrobe

[willsgillen]

My wardrobe is in need of new pants badly. Sadly, many of the slacks I own are pleated/cuffed from JAB, and they tend to fit like balloons. So... I would like some help restocking my wardrobe with pants/slacks that are a bit more flattering than those that I have. I have a couple of pairs of BB Milano fit chinos, and I really like the way they fit. Someone on this forum also mentioned Howard Yount as a great pant for a relatively reasonable price. I am currently a medical resident, so my income is modest at best, thus I will likely be adding pairs slowly. Can anyone here guide me in finding pants that fit properly and on how to best build a reasonable collection of pants to wear to work? I am 6 feet tall, weigh 160lbs, and have about a 32 inch waist. In general I go to work in slacks, a dress shirt and tie, and wear a long white coat overtop. When on wards on the weekends I generally go without the tie and sometimes wear chinos. Thanks in advance for any help!

Will

 

[CousinDonuts]

I have the same height and weight and have used the Lands End tailored fit pants as friday biz casual staples. If you don't want to spend much these aren't bad. Sign up for their emails and you'll get frequent 25-30% of coupons. Once you've finished residency and are paid better you can step up the quality.

(or, go straight to the better stuff like HY and Epaulet).

 

[cruxisfalcon]

For business casual pants I like Banana Republic's Tailored Slim wool pants or J. Crew's bowery. Both have a fairly slim, modern fit without being ridiculous and are reasonably priced (~$100, $60 on sale)

 

[aravenel]



I have the same height and weight and have used the Lands End tailored fit pants as friday biz casual staples. If you don't want to spend much these aren't bad. Sign up for their emails and you'll get frequent 25-30% of coupons. Once you've finished residency and are paid better you can step up the quality.
(or, go straight to the better stuff like HY and Epaulet).

+1. On sale, they are a great value. I've got several pairs. Depending on your tastes, they may need to be slimmed, but I don't know of a better pair of trousers at $60.

The Howard Younts are fantastic, but they are also 3x more expensive.

 

[alkydrinker]

I'm in a similiar place...just getting started on a real wardrobe and realizing I'm in need of a few more decent wool odd pants.

I do have one pair of Lands End tailored fit wool pants. I quite like the cut. The wool material doesn't seem great, but it's passable. As an aside, I don't really like the cut of LE tailored fit chinos but don't see the same problem with the wool trousers. On the chinos, to my eye, the proportion looks off the way they are bigger around the butt and thighs tapering to trim legs.

I am thinking of getting 2 pair of wool trousers from Paul Frederick on their two-for sale with a good coupon. They have a trim fit gabardine that comes in a slate blue (not navy) that I'm interested in. A lot of PF's styles are horrid and I once bought two of their shirts which weren't very good. However, I figure plain gabardine pants can't be too bad if the fit, color, and price are good. They are also generous about returns.

 

[mymil]

Howard Yount > any of the other trousers mentioned in this thread. Measure a pair of trousers you have that fits you well and compare it to their size chart. Note that you will need to get them hemmed, since they are unfinished. And that the waist is the easiest part for a tailor to adjust in our out ~1.25", so getting the right fit in the seat and thighs is the most important part.

 

[chogall]

Howard Yount > any of the other trousers mentioned in this thread. Measure a pair of trousers you have that fits you well and compare it to their size chart. Note that you will need to get them hemmed, since they are unfinished. And that the waist is the easiest part for a tailor to adjust in our out ~1.25", so getting the right fit in the seat and thighs is the most important part.

Their size chart does not include the critical measurements of seat and thigh and the prices is at least twice as expensive.

Fit is all relative.

 

[willsgillen]

I will have to look into the BR and j crew sales. Every time I look they don't seem to be on sale. Do they go up frequently?

I have to say I really like the look of the Howard yount trousers that are on sale, although I'd be adding them quite slowly to my closet.

FYI alcydrinker I have two pairs of Paul fredericks trim fit wool slacks and they are as far from trim as the josabank traveler tailored for slacks. Just a heads up.

 

[mymil]



Their size chart does not include the critical measurements of seat and thigh and the prices is at least twice as expensive.

Fit is all relative.

They do have thigh, but not seat. That would be a very difficult measurement to include in a size chart, I don't know anybody who does.

 

[chogall]

They do have thigh, but not seat. That would be a very difficult measurement to include in a size chart, I don't know anybody who does.

My mistake on thigh. And seat measurement is one of those measurements that will impact the drape the most for dress pants.

 

[House]

My wardrobe is in need of new pants badly. Sadly, many of the slacks I own are pleated/cuffed from JAB, and they tend to fit like balloons. So... I would like some help restocking my wardrobe with pants/slacks that are a bit more flattering than those that I have. I have a couple of pairs of BB Milano fit chinos, and I really like the way they fit. Someone on this forum also mentioned Howard Yount as a great pant for a relatively reasonable price. I am currently a medical resident, so my income is modest at best, thus I will likely be adding pairs slowly. Can anyone here guide me in finding pants that fit properly and on how to best build a reasonable collection of pants to wear to work? I am 6 feet tall, weigh 160lbs, and have about a 32 inch waist. In general I go to work in slacks, a dress shirt and tie, and wear a long white coat overtop. When on wards on the weekends I generally go without the tie and sometimes wear chinos. Thanks in advance for any help!

Will

For a warm hospital setting this is recommended for practicality. Do not wear a tie, it's a germ collector and gets in the way.

Cotton trousers that may be washed. Something like this. It's a trouser design so will look OK

http://us.levi.com/product/index.js....3691981&fbn=12893907|null|null&clickid=prdsw

For shirt-Lacoste polo with a short lab coat

And for shoes, something like Mephisto
http://www.mephistowebstore.com/alyon1.html

or a Cole Haan

http://www.colehaan.com/colehaan/catalog/product.jsp?catId=100&productId=426282&productGroup=426280

 

[House]

My wardrobe is in need of new pants badly. Sadly, many of the slacks I own are pleated/cuffed from JAB, and they tend to fit like balloons. So... I would like some help restocking my wardrobe with pants/slacks that are a bit more flattering than those that I have. I have a couple of pairs of BB Milano fit chinos, and I really like the way they fit. Someone on this forum also mentioned Howard Yount as a great pant for a relatively reasonable price. I am currently a medical resident, so my income is modest at best, thus I will likely be adding pairs slowly. Can anyone here guide me in finding pants that fit properly and on how to best build a reasonable collection of pants to wear to work? I am 6 feet tall, weigh 160lbs, and have about a 32 inch waist. In general I go to work in slacks, a dress shirt and tie, and wear a long white coat overtop. When on wards on the weekends I generally go without the tie and sometimes wear chinos. Thanks in advance for any help!

Will

Wear cotton at the hospital. Levis 505 in the TROUSER model is good.

 

[atoms]

Macy's recently had a sale on their Bar III suit separate wool pants. They have about 3 or 4 choices in everything but brown shades (at least the one by me). They require no tapering (for me) which cheapens them by another ~$30. Not sure if they're still on sale but try them on some time and see if they work for you.

 

[aravenel]



Howard Yount > any of the other trousers mentioned in this thread.

Unquestionably. They are incredible trousers. Not sure if OP can afford them though...

Personally, not a fan of the BR trousers at all. I bought a bunch when I was first building my wardrobe out of college, and they all ended up in the trash during various purges. Still have a bunch of the Lands End (again, they aren't great by any stretch of the imagination--but at $60, I haven't found anything better), and slowly replacing those with Howard Younts.

 

[willsgillen]

Cotton for the hospital. What about clinic? Next year I start dermatology residency so the vast majority of my time will be spent in clinic. Anyway I guess the question for me comes down to buying some slacks to tide me over for a bit or just buying a pair or two at a time and keeping them for the foreseeable future. My current slacks can probably suffice if I were to trickle Howard Younts into the rotation over the next several months. My expenses aren't such that I'm totally strapped by any means so it probably wouldn't break the bank either.