How wide do you like your leg opening on dress trousers?

[corpseposeur]

I’ll volunteer myself for the 2 minute hate. These have a 7.5” leg opening and a decent drape IMO. This is not my normal opening preference anymore, but I use to like it. Roast me.

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This is a great silhouette. It looks comfortable but well tapered. Lately my trousers are range between 16 1/2 and 17" leg opening. Maybe 16" for more casual fabrics like cottons. I have an actual 37" waist and US10 shoes.

Of course, this is all totally subjective right on someone's height, build and aesthetic choices? Personally I run away from wide legs, which for me is like 10 1/2" They remind me of the fashion of jeans when I was in high school and sad looking frumpy business men on 34th street.

 

[Alan Bee]

All of this, especially the last one, is great.

That's how I aim to have my trousers fit with a jacket. The actual leg opening in inches will vary depending on the person - but it should look like that.

@Nobilis Animus

Michelangelo’s Golden Rule of “Thirds”

Trousers should cover 2/3 of the shoes

Alan Bee

 

[Ian_David_French]

Anything from 7 to 8 inches is about right. Anything more than that just makes you look like you're trying to relive the 1970's.

 

[Stylewords]

Anything from 7 to 8 inches is about right. Anything more than that just makes you look like you're trying to relive the 1970's.

Unless you have normal-sized legs.

 

[Adsky Luck]

what's bigger 2/3 or 3/5, guess AAS would know

 

[Keith Taylor]

Anything from 7 to 8 inches is about right. Anything more than that just makes you look like you're trying to relive the 1970's.

Such a prescriptive mindset isn’t particularly useful, nor does it account for different body shapes and sizes. Personally I wear my dress trousers at 8” because it works for me. On a more heavyset person this width may make his legs look like carrots, and on a thinner man his trousers may billow like sails in a storm. There’s no right answer here, only a range of options.

 

[Alan Bee]

Anything from 7 to 8 inches is about right. Anything more than that just makes you look like you're trying to relive the 1970's.

@Ian_David_French

Sir, you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about ...

Alan Bee

 

[An Acute Style]

@Nobilis Animus

Michelangelo’s Golden Rule of “Thirds”

Trousers should cover 2/3 of the shoes

Alan Bee

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I thought the golden rule of thirds was treat every third person how you want to be treated.

 

[dieworkwear]

I thought the golden rule of thirds was treat every third person how you want to be treated.

I think that's the Rule of Turds

 

[Nobilis Animus]

I thought the golden rule of thirds was treat every third person how you want to be treated.

You're a more generous man than I. Guess you take it off the trouser hems.

 

[circumspice]

This is apparently also a topic of hot debate in autoracing.

Edit: StyFo is auto-embedding the tweet, which is not helpful here. Reading the entire thread is kinda interesting - there is an proto-Alan Bee contingent within Nascar, apparently

 

[Son Of Saphir]

Me have the 10 inch leg opening on most trouser.
Last week me say to tailor to make the 11 or 12 inch leg opening,
he say NO you only get the 9.5 leg and no more.
Me like the wide leg.
Me think the narrow leg look silly.

 

[Vaichyon]

My main concern is that smaller leg openings restrict the inseam and shorten my leg. I am 5'7", 145 lbs, with a long torso and short legs (29" jacket length, 27" inseam). Shoe size 7 UK.

I tend to go for 8" as it allows me to squeeze out an extra 0.5" of inseam with a slight break. Anything below 7.5" clings onto my OTC socks. Anything above 8.5" begins to look disproportionate to my stature and slimmer torso.

 

[Count de Monet]

The thing I like about the wider cuts as demonstrated by @Alan Bee @khughes44 etc is, due to the fact our insteps slope, a wider opening permits the pant to cover more of the shoe but with little to no break.

It seems so much of the iGentry love no break but have to shorten the pant due to a somewhat narrow opening thus revealing much more shoe as well as sock if they, you know, choose to actually walk. Lengthening the pant but with a narrow opening means it bumps up against the instep too soon, causing the dreaded cell phone kiosk salesman pant puddling.

6’2’ 46L. 9.5-10” opening.

 

[Calanon]

I've been wearing trousers with an 8" opening, but my calves have a 19" circumference so they don't lift up properly when I sit so I am considering trying out an 8.5" opening.