What are the factors that make trousers drape perfectly?

[Fexxi]

Yeah that's very true. Obviously, seeing a bespoke tailor would be great but as I'm still a university student that's not an option at the moment. However, this is on my list for when I land my first job. Hopefully soon. For now, I'll go to my local alterations tailor and see whether he's got some good input for me.

 

[breakaway01]

Your trousers are far too slim in the upper thigh to drape the way you want. See how the fabric wraps around your seat -- it is not hanging.

I think getting a good fit from an online maker is definitely possible but you do have to find someone who has a good eye and knows what to do from photos. See here, for example. https://www.styleforum.net/threads/...d-alteration-suggestions.265924/post-10560273

I think that if the system requires you to figure out what measurements to change then it does not work well.

 

[kevinsvindland]

In my experience, Ambrosi RTW on sale is a better value than any online "measure yourself"- service. Might still be a budget breaker though.

 

[efta]

Thank you for your replies so far! My trousers are pleated, I'm usually not wearing suspenders. However, I do want to invest in some and I've had suspender buttons added to some of the trousers. Do suspenders positively impact the drape? The pictures you attached pretty much resemble my preferred fit!

Yes, I'm not surprised that my pure linen trousers don't drape that well. I've attached some photos of the cotton linen trousers that drape pretty well. I'm very happy with them but I'm wondering if there's still room for improvement and whether I should make some adjustments regarding the measurements for my next order. Maybe a bit more room in the thighs and knees? Please excuse the mediocre image quality, that is all I can provide at the moment.

My current Luxire measurements in cm:

pants-hips : 50
pants-front-rise : 32
pants-back-rise : 46
pants-outseam : 38
pants-thigh : 31
pants-knee : 25
pants-bottom : 20
waist : 40
inseam : 76

I think other people in this thread will give you better specific advice, so I'll be more general. But IMO you definitively need more fabric in the thigh and seat (to get a cleaner drape as well as a cleaner front) and possibly in the knee area. Your pose makes it somewhat difficult to ascertain.

I think that this is a pretty good point to start, but you have a couple of other trousers to go before you're gold in terms of fit. The easiest way to achieve a "perfect" luxire fit is to start with a pair of trousers that already fit you well - ie. you can get a pair of very good mtm or even bespoke and use those measurements, provided they have at least a similar cut. The cost of the more expensive trousers is thus offset by the less expensive ones. Not gaining/losing weight obviously helps here.

Remember that slim trousers do not make you look slim.

 

[efta]

In my experience, Ambrosi RTW on sale is a better value than any online "measure yourself"- service. Might still be a budget breaker though.

I would even argue that ambrosi at retail is only beat in terms of value by... well, ambrosi on sale. But even though they're great trousers, they're still rtw. Alterations can only get you so far (though with trousers, thats pretty far).

 

[Fexxi]

Don’t worry, I hate slim fit trousers ?

Ambrosi is a clear budget breaker for me unfortunately.

Using a well-fitting pair of trousers as the base for my Luxire orders is actually precisely what I did but those were MTM trousers from iTailor that - after further developing my eye over the past few months - have room for improvement as well. Letting out the seat and thigh is luckily a straight forward job and there’s enough excess fabric to achieve that to a good extent. I’m aware that it’s gonna take me a few trousers to figure out my fit, but that’s also the exciting part of the journey IMO.

Thank you everyone so far for your helpful input. It’s much appreciated.

 

[TimothyF]

It's important to start on the right track, since as others pointed out, you are not a tailor by training. It looks like the "drape" you are after is a vintage one, so I would start there. Any woollen trousers up to the 1950s, including WWII army dress pants, can be had affordably. Used sellers often list detailed measurements, and if you are buying a few pairs for self-learning, you can care less about the actual condition of the garments. Buying 2-3 quality pairs of heavyweight wool trousers will get you a much better education on what it takes to drape well for your body.