Pants: pleats, flat front, and no crease...

[jsinger986]

What's the opinion of pants with pleats vs flat fronts? I used to only wear pants with pleats.. in fact, I hated flat front pants. Now, I'm just the opposite, I don't like pleats at all. I've been searching for a suit that comes with flat front pants. I finally had to have Bloomingdales custom order one (Hugo Boss). They had them, just not a 3 button black... they all seemed to come with pleats.

But, another thing I don't like.. which may be odd.. is I don't like to have the crease down the legs. I always ask the cleaners for no crease. Is this odd or normal and acceptable?

Thanks. Lets hope this new forum takes off.

Jeff

 

[PConsultant]

I prefer the flat front look myself and agree that it's hard to find suit pants that are flat front. I recently found a 3 button Brooks Brothers glen plaid suit with flat front pants and a 3 button Jos. A. Bank blue suit with flat front pants, but they were both at thrift stores

Pleats are starting to appear again at a lot of retailers because numerous men don't like the flat fronts or can't wear them very well. I expect to see both pleats and flat fronts both marketed highly over the next year or so.

As for the no crease look, it does look good but it seems to be more casual. A pressed pair of dress trousers with a sharp crease down the front looks great. I haven't seen any suit pants without a crease, but that may be just me. . .

 

[GQgeek]

Most of my pants are flat front with no crease. These aren't suit pants mind you but they are very nice pants that go well with anything from button-down shirts to knits, sweaters and sports jackets. If you're looking for flat-front pants to wear with suits you might want to check armani collezioni (you might need to check a few stores since they all carry different stock), I'm 99% sure they have what you want.

 

[Europe's Finest]

I definitely prefer flat fronts, that looks more modern and stylish.

 

[GQ Lawyer]

Pleats are generally more conservative/formal and flat fronts are more trendy/casual.

This is why you will not find many suits without the pleated pants. As you found, Boss has some as does Donna Karen.

As for the crease down the legs, the crease should be down the sides of the legs, not the front. If you are ironing your pants yourself, just lay the pants like you were wearing them and iron them. If your drycleaner is doing it, point it out and request the crease down the sides. I had to as the crease was driving me nuts.

 

[jsinger986]

What about taking the pleat out? Does it look normal if this is done?

Jeff

 

[GatorStyle]

Unless your tailor is a miracle worker, it usually isn't a good idea to try and convert pleated pants into flat-fronts.  As I prefer flat-fronted pants in a big way, I tried that once and my tailor basically ruined the suit.  Your best bet is to avoid that in most instances.

But to echo just about everyone in here, flat fronts are generally the way to go.  Much cleaner, trimmer, more stylish and modern lines.  And as to the crease, its probably a good idea to avoid them with more casual pants (there isn't much worse than seeing stiffly creased khakis or jeans), but creases do add a crispness to suit pants that can look very  professional.  If you don't like them down the front, GQ Lawyer's suggestion to do them down the sides will do the trick.

 

[NavyStyles]

Yeah, I definitely like the flat-front look. However, I only have one suit with flat front pants. All the rest that I find have pleats. All of my chinos and slacks are flat-front. I wouldn't have it any other way.

You're not alone about that cleaners thing. Oftentimes, I'll find the time to press my pants at home just for the sake of keeping them crease free.


-CWS

 

[j]

As for the crease down the legs, the crease should be down the sides of the legs, not the front.  If you are ironing your pants yourself, just lay the pants like you were wearing them and iron them.  If your drycleaner is doing it, point it out and request the crease down the sides.  I had to as the crease was driving me nuts.

That depends on the style of the pants. Some flat-front pants are meant to be creased down the front like pleated pants are, and some are not. I have a pair of Banana casual wool pants with flat fronts that are meant to be uncreased, and my stupid dry cleaner creased them in front. It took me 15 minutes with an iron to get the creases out of them. However, I also have a suit with flat fronts and an 'odd' pair of flat fronts that have the creases in front by design, and it looks fine. In the case of the front-creased style, have the crease ironed all the way to the hemline, or it will look a little strange when it sort of fades out at some point. When (well-made) suits are made the tailor will use a 'clapper' which is a hinged piece of wood that is smacked hard over the creases when they are steaming, to set them in. This helps the creases stay permanent. A tailor may be able to do this for you on pants whose creases have become ambiguous through mis-ironing.

-j

 

[thc]

Helmut Lang and Jil Sander make suits with flat front pants. I have a 3 button black Jil Sander suit with flat front pants.

 

[gorgekko]

Flat front pants, too tight
My package gets very crushed
Who will cry for them?

 

[stickonatree]

i currently like one single reverse pleat. i think only single pleats look good, while double (or god forbid, triple) pleats are just disgustingly horrid. that being said, i also have a slew of flat fronts.

 

[metkirk]

I prefer flat front since I'm like a walking stick. I think pleats adds vertical lines to your body thus creates a slimming effect.

 

[DocHolliday]

I too hope this new forum takes off.

 

[j]

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