• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

short break in pants - feels weird

billyhoyle

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
152
Reaction score
0
anybody switch from a full/medium break to short/no break? i'm walking around and seeing my socks for the first time as i move. is this bad?

i wear slim fitting suits and was going for the real precise, clean look. maybe i look foolish. is short break only good for baggy pants?
 

satorstyle

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Messages
687
Reaction score
6
Cuffs or no?, if no cuff the tailor should put a slight angle front to rear. That should keep the hem from raising as much.
 

billyhoyle

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
152
Reaction score
0
yes, she did, but i still see sock on the sides. this bad?
 

grimslade

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
10,806
Reaction score
82
This is a question of personal style. I prefer a bit of break, myself. Do what you're comfortable with, although I don't spend a lot of time watching my ankles while I walk. seems dangerous.
 

teddieriley

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Messages
9,648
Reaction score
1,652
I think pants with wider leg openings look better and should have more of a break than their skinnier leg counterparts. In fact, I think if the wide leg bottoms have no break, it looks rather ridiculous. But if your pants are slim fitting, it's fine.
 

dagenham

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2007
Messages
176
Reaction score
0
Originally Posted by teddieriley
I think pants with wider leg openings look better and should have more of a break than their skinnier leg counterparts. In fact, I think if the wide leg bottoms have no break, it looks rather ridiculous. But if your pants are slim fitting, it's fine.

+1. I think anything more than slight to no break on a slim fitting suit looks out of place, but thats just my personal taste.
 

a tailor

Distinguished Member
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
2,855
Reaction score
145
wider bottoms come down lower because they clear the instep. then a small break is all you need.
narrow bottoms hit the instep and thats up higher. thats why your sox are on display.
as a rule garments that are fitted tight have a tendency to ride up.
those that are loose will ride down.
 

Despos

Distinguished Member
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Mar 16, 2006
Messages
8,770
Reaction score
5,778
Are you wearing slip ons or lace ups? Loafers tend to sit lower and show more sock.

If you think you made the trouser too short, add a little length. No big.
 

warlok1965

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
1,541
Reaction score
2
I've been going more toward minimal/no break for a while now and I occasionally feel a little strange. But then I check it out in a full length mirror and it still looks good. I doubt I'll be in Thom Browne territory anytime soon.
 

Sartorian

Distinguished Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2007
Messages
1,050
Reaction score
2
Originally Posted by warlok1965
I've been going more toward minimal/no break for a while now and I occasionally feel a little strange.

Though it's not common, I've come to think it's kind of like longer jacket sleeves: everyone does it, but that doesn't mean it looks odd not to do it.

My suitmaker heavily urged me to have a slight break (rather than none) on my slim-fitting trousers, but I've been thinking I'd prefer even less. I actually find it disconcerting to see exactly the same break every time I happen to catch my reflection. You're walking around, so no one else notices, but it always jars me a bit. I'd personally rather just embrace my 'inner sock'. This works for me though: with my personal style, I tend to throw in splashes of color around a more neutral base (i.e. charcoal), so seeing sock doesn't seem like a negative to me.
 

billyhoyle

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
152
Reaction score
0
true, but if you are wearing slim pants w/ no break, chances are you're jacket is showing noticeable shirt cuff. so the two together, although perfectly okay, might seem a little pee-wee herman like to normal business folks who have sleeves to their knuckles and pants bunched at their feet.
 

Thurston

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2006
Messages
1,176
Reaction score
2
I was having a few pairs of unfinished chinos hemmed at Nordstrom. The tailor told me I am too young to wear my pants as short as I instructed him to make them. He said you need to be at least 90 to wear no break.
plain.gif
On the other hand, when men wear their pants as long as many alterations tailors tell them to, especially Asian tailors for some reason, they not only look sloppy they look shorter, heavier and dumpier too.
 

sartort

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2007
Messages
1,503
Reaction score
7
i think the responses about hem diameter are spot on. I adjust according to the width of the pant leg at the hem. Regardless I go for no break, but the slimmer the pant, the higher up it goes, whereas a pant with a larger opening will rest further down on the shoe, despit it not having a break. i too felt weird at first with the litte break, but I liked the look so much in WAYWN thread to the point where I always ask for no break now. pretty soon I might have have 2" cuffs.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,173
Messages
10,579,194
Members
223,887
Latest member
collywily
Top