Tailoring Pants - Taking in vs. Letting Out

[scrollphaser]

I could use some help and it looks like a lot of people here know what they are doing.
I tried on a pair of slim fitting flat-front dress pants by Hugo Boss today.
The opening at the bottom is 9" and seems to work good. My shoe is 10.5 B width.
I originally tried on 33" but the tailor wanted to take in the waist and seat about a 1/2".
I then tried 32", which seemed to fit better in the seat, but the waist was uncomfortably snug.
He said he could let-out the 32" about a 1/2" in the waist only and not have to alter the seat.
The 32" felt alright unbottoned and an extra 1/2" would probably do the trick.
Which way is the norm? Is it ok to "let out" pants? Are there any side effects of doing so? Should I maybe just try finding a different pair of pants?

 

[Jared]

Letting them out is the right thing to do. For slim pants, buy what fits your thighs and have the waist altered.

 

[trailer36]

I agree 100%. You will be much happier with the fit if you let them out. I have made the mistake of buying suits with pants that are a 36 when I am a 34 waist. After they were taken in, they were much too baggy for my taste.

 

[Roger]

I'd recommend taking-in, rather than letting-out. Particularly with any fabric other than, perhaps, wool. Letting out a pair of cotton or linen trousers will leave a line where they were originally stitched that will always be visible--even with subsequent ironing--and with a smooth worsted wool, you could have the same problem. There's no reason in the world that a pair of 33W pants couldn't be taken in to a 32.5W without the slightest problems in fit elsewhere. Any decent tailor can slim the whole waist-to thigh structure, and could, if necessary, slim-down the whole leg. A half-inch reduction would be trivially simple. I've had larger reductions work well on occasion. I've had, for example, 36W trousers taken in to 34W, with a complete rework of the hips, butt, and thighs, so that there is absolutely no bagginess. There are limits, of course, to how much a pair of trousers can be taken in before issues of balance and cut arise. The consensus seems to be that this limit is about 2 units of size (e.g., 34 to 32).

 

[gumercindo]

Well, another useful trick is if your cotton trousers are a bit on the snug side and you don't want the tailor to let it out b/c of the visible stitching issue, you can always just have them move the clasp/button over a fraction of a cm. That avoids them having to let anything out.

 

[Philosoph]

Member a tailor consistently recommends that you not worry about the waist. Buy the pants that fit you in the seat and thighs, and then alter the waist in/out appropriately.

 

[Justin Wright]

I've never had pants let out; but all the pants I've had taken in have all been disasters for the reasons heretofore written. I'm considering a similar question with off the rack suits. I am a 38R coat and a 33R pant. Problem is: most 38R suits come with a 32R pant. I have in the past purchased a 39R suit in order to get proper fitting pants, and then have the jacket slightly taken in. On the other hand, should I be buying a 38R suit and then have the pants let out?

In other words, what's preferred:

1. Buying a 38R suit with a jacket that fits properly off the rack, and then altering the pants; or,

2. Buying a 39R suit with pants that fit properly off the rack, and then altering the jacket?

I think this is a good discussion. While most are too concerned with suit manufacturers, canvassing, etc.; I happen to believe that fit should be the top criteria. In other words, you can wear the most highly regarded suit in the world; but if it doesn't fit properly, it's worthless.

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

Originally Posted by Justin Wright

1. Buying a 38R suit with a jacket that fits properly off the rack, and then altering the pants; or,

Do this. Altering the waist (letting out) on a pair of pants is easier and less costly than trying to alter a jacket which doesn't fit.
I have sent pants to be altered, I got the waist and the seat taken in, the result was perfect. But I usually buy my right size which doesn't require waist alteration unless I happened to eat too much the previous month

!luc

 

[noVA99]

I would agree with it's best to let out.....I had tried on a Canali suit that was one size bigger than what I usually wear in Canali. The suit pants were baggy in the seat and thigh, with a little bit of waist that would had to be taken in. It would had to been hacked down in all areas for it to fit properly. I'm sure if I tried on one size smaller than my normal size, the pants in the seat and thigh would be fine, just the waist would have to be let out.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by Justin Wright

I've never had pants let out; but all the pants I've had taken in have all been disasters for the reasons heretofore written. I'm considering a similar question with off the rack suits. I am a 38R coat and a 33R pant. Problem is: most 38R suits come with a 32R pant. I have in the past purchased a 39R suit in order to get proper fitting pants, and then have the jacket slightly taken in. On the other hand, should I be buying a 38R suit and then have the pants let out?

In other words, what's preferred:

1. Buying a 38R suit with a jacket that fits properly off the rack, and then altering the pants; or,

2. Buying a 39R suit with pants that fit properly off the rack, and then altering the jacket?

I think this is a good discussion. While most are too concerned with suit manufacturers, canvassing, etc.; I happen to believe that fit should be the top criteria. In other words, you can wear the most highly regarded suit in the world; but if it doesn't fit properly, it's worthless.

Clearly 1 is the better option

 

[breakfasteatre]

Question, what kind of costs would i be looking at for:

letting out a pair of slacks
tapering
hemming and cuffing

I couldnt find anything in the search on the cost to do these and this post just happened to show up as i was about to make a new one

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by breakfasteatre

Question, what kind of costs would i be looking at for:

letting out a pair of slacks
tapering
hemming and cuffing

I couldnt find anything in the search on the cost to do these and this post just happened to show up as i was about to make a new one

Varies wildly between cities and tailors. My tailor would charge $25, $30 and $20, respectively

 

[breakfasteatre]

oh wow, there is a tailor a walk down the street from me, he told me 10 for the let out, 16.5 for the hem and cuff

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by Justin Wright

While most are too concerned with suit manufacturers, canvassing, etc.; I happen to believe that fit should be the top criteria. In other words, you can wear the most highly regarded suit in the world; but if it doesn't fit properly, it's worthless.
Can I quote you on that?

 

[Justin Wright]

Of course.