Trouser Finish/Leg Opening

[rkearns10]

Hello Gents,

So in my quest for uncovering the secret to perfect fitting trousers, I've come to a bit of a roadblock. I've found dress pants that are tapered through the leg and undoubtedly "slim", but I'm having some issues with the finish and leg opening on my pants. So regarding this, I have a few questions. The first being: Can pants be tailored in this area? IE the taper below the knee/around the calf area and the leg opening? If So, how does one go about requesting this in a reasonable and articulated fashion to a tailor?

Having said that as well, what is considered a good benchmark or measurement in conveying this to a tailor? I've come to find that most of my skinny/slim jeans have a great taper to them below the knee, and at close around my dress shoe, but my dress pants always seem a bit to "wide" or "open" when it comes to the ankle/shin area. As a decent measuring tool, I wanted to show you all these pictures of Ryan Gosling in some dress pants. (FYI I think Gosling is a modern fashion icon and really puts himself together QUITE well) So I like the way his pants are tapered in that region in these photos... I've also posted another picture of a man with nice fitting pants as well:




So... not to belabor this ad nauseum, but can anyone give a young aspiring gentleman some guidance here?

As usual, much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[edmorel]

yes, tell your tailor that you want your pants more tapered from the knee to the hem. Its as basic as it gets for an alterations tailor.

 

[emptym]

^Yep, just make sure they will alter both seams on each leg. Occasionally they'll try to save time by just doing one, but that will move the crease and may cause other problems.

 

[chogall]



yes, tell your tailor that you want your pants more tapered from the knee to the hem. Its as basic as it gets for an alterations tailor.

what happens when you have a big calf and any tapering from the knee down will make the pants hug the hind calf area really tight?

 

[Ecstasy]

I have the same problem too. Very thick calves but very narrow ankles.

What is the tailor's solution for this? I don't like crumples.

 

[Lord Mulberry]

When I've asked for trousers to be taken-in the tailors alsways wants to do it from the knee downwards but sometimes I have to tell him I want some of the slack taken out of the thigh area too. I too have large calf muscles which tends to cause problems with legs riding up and sticking or holding a crease. Therefore for dress trousers I tend to ge for bottoms around 17 or 17.5 inches.

For me, I hate bunching at the bottom of the leg so the width of the trouser bottom generally dictates the length of the leg. For the cut of the trouser bottom I rarely have them cut straight but go for a 1 inch step, or a drop or even a split. Personally, I hate run-of-the-mill stuff.

 

[rkearns10]

OK thanks guys... but more specifically: What can I convey to the tailor in terms of specifications and dimensions? How can I quantify this? Meaning, is there a specific dimension that I can bring to my tailor for bringing in the lower leg taper or even possibly a circumfrence of the leg hole opening? I don't mean to go overboard here but I'd just prefer to be more precise so that way I can reproduce this measurement on other pants, as opposed to just going to the tailor everytime and saying "take these in" and just hoping that they get it generally in the ball park....... Are there any estimates that might go a long with the taper and opening in those pictures?

 

[Veremund]

You need to tell him exactly how wide the pants should be at the ends (ankles). How wide they are in the thighs will be determined by your thighs.

If the pants crumple at the bottom, then they're too long, regardless of how narrow they are.

 

[Veremund]

Posting a fit pic would be helpful.

 

[Mr Engineer]

I usually tell my tailor to taper 8 inch from the knee down. It is lightly tapered so doesn't look super obvious. Wide hems are ugly in my opinion especially when they are covering you shoe

 

[Ecstasy]

I usually tell my tailor to taper 8 inch from the knee down. It is lightly tapered so doesn't look super obvious. Wide hems are ugly in my opinion especially when they are covering you shoe

What does 'taper 8 inch' mean? Is it that the circumference is 8 inches smaller at the ankles than at the knees?

I have a pair of Uniqlo vintage chinos, and right now it fits well at my thick calves. Super blousy at my narrow ankles though.

 

[Mr Engineer]

Quote:
16" circumference at the hem