High-Water Men's Pants - Yea or Nay?

Readers, if you haven't witnessed the trend in person, you've probably seen it in magazines.  I speak of the creeping high-water pants look for men.

I discussed it with the Vinyls this morning over breakfast and things got quite heated.



Allan loves the look and Ken -- rather predictably -- hates it.   He's a traditionalist.



Men have been rolling up their hems for years, especially when wearing high top sneakers, desert boots, and classic shoes (like penny loafers) with no socks -- kind of a preppy/dandy look.

No, what I'm talking about is this -- the much-discussed (relatively speaking) Thom Browne silhouette.

Do you see the difference?

Rolled hem casual:

Hurricane Katrina:

Preppy Paul:

Buster Browne:

Living on the edge of Chelsea's gallery district as I do, I see this look, not often exactly, but when you do see it it definitely sticks in your mind so it's like more people are wearing it than actually are.

I'll say only this: it suits some, but it doesn't suit me.  To me it looks infantile; there -- I said it.

 More so than in women's fashion, men's fashion trends seem to exist in a separate parallel universe.  Beyond certain neighborhoods and professionals, you just don't see them -- ever.  Why is that?

Thom was showing this in 2009.  Other than MPB, when's the last time you saw a man in a pencil skirt?

In closing, friends, what's your take on all this? Is it just a few fashion designers pushing the envelope to garner publicity or is this high-water/shrunken-in-the-dryer trend something real in the fashion zeitgeist?

Obviously with fashion, the more you see something the more normal and "right" it looks (cough, cough)...



Of course people can wear what they want; live and let live I always say.  But we're allowed to have an opinion about it.

So I ask you: men's high-water pants -- yea or nay?

And if you care to distinguish, do you feel differently about the rolled-at-the-ankle look than the hemmed-practically-to-the-calf thing?  And how high is too high?  Is this more of a tall man's thing or a short man's?

Would you or your man ever don this look?  Or does he already?

Jump in while the tide's out!

Leopard Print Pants and the Holiday Hangover

We're in post-holiday recovery mode here today, folks.  I feel so grateful this time of year -- mainly that I'm not stranded in a Chicago airport waiting for my flight to be rescheduled.  Life is good.



We're snowed in here in New York City.   It's cold, blustery, and very, very white. Luckily Michael and I returned home from his parents' house in suburban New Jersey before the snow started to fall on Sunday.   We had a very nice weekend and I received as a gift a lovely pale gray cashmere sweater.  No complaints here.

We made time to create a visual homage to the legendary, leoparded Ann Margret. I think this portrait captures perfectly the spirit of Christmas, don't you?





Refined readers, the novelty of the leopard pants is beginning to wear off and I think it's time to put them away until I have opportunity to debut them in public.  Please help me create that opportunity.  Do you know any celebrities? Are one yourself?  A-list, B-list, up-and-comers, has-beens -- it's all the same to me.  Let's have dinner.

Last leopard pics before toll:







Those who wish to follow the leopard journey in its entirety can view my Picasa file here.

The week between Christmas and New Years is generally a period of rest.  Not at MPB, however.   There's so much sewing yet to do, so many machines needing oil, spit and polish, and new wiring (ugh).

And how about you?  Are you sewing this week or just returning gifts?

What's going back to the store and why?  Change the names to protect the innocent but do tell.  Any good sewing-related gifts?  How were your gifts received?

Jump in!

Mens Leopard Print Pants for Christmas!

THANK YOU, SANTA!

OK, how cool are these pants?  I can't wait to wear them to Paris Fashion Week!  A Hollywood Premier!  Drinks in London with Madonna!  Fabric shopping.

I think they more than live up to their inspiration, don't you?

Whoops, wrong photo!

 

Friends, I have learned that Star of Tomorow Garrett Hedlund's leopard print pants are by none other than Givenchy for Spring/Summer 2011!  (I knew there was something vaguely Audrey Hepburn-ish about them.)  I am so on trend.

The resemblance is uncanny -- to the pants, I mean.  I'll have more photos of them next week.



Here are a few construction shots.  They weren't hard to put together despite being cotton velvet.  I used my Singer 15-90 treadle for the topstitching and, since my 15-91 needs to be rewired, my Pfaff 139 for everything else.

Do you believe it: me on a zigzagger!


 





And speaking of sewing machines, you're not going to believe this, but yesterday I sold my seventh sewing machine.  Yes, my Elna Grasshopper now belongs to Daniel, the hippest-looking hipster out of Bushwick, Brooklyn, right down to beard and jeggings.  A perfect match of man and machine. 



Readers, I have no more vintage sewing machines to sell, well, if you leave out my cursed Huskystar serger, and leave out is probably what I should do with it -- in the snow.

So you're probably wondering what sewing machines I have left.  OK: I have my Singer 15-91 which needs rewiring, my Singer 15-90 which is now my treadle, my Singer 66, which used to be my treadle, but now has the motor from the 15-90 attached to it.  I even found a way to attach the lamp -- clever, huh?





Then I have my Pfaff 139 which until the leopard print pants project I hadn't sewed on in a long time.  She's strong and speedy.



And finally, my beat up Viking 3240.  I use her primarily to wind bobbins and insert invisible zippers.



That's it!  Five sewing machines and my Brother 1034D serger.  When I downsize I really downsize.

Friends, that's all for today.  I hope those who celebrate it are enjoying a very Merry Christmas.  I leave you with a little Deanna Durbin, who captures the Yuletide spirit in uber-glamorous close up as she sings Silent Night into a telephone receiver.  It's good to be Queen of the Studio!

Cheers, everybody and see you on Monday.

Purrrrfect holiday sewing: Men's Leopard Pants!

What is it about Christmas and leopard?  They just go together.

Yesterday, my back nearly back to normal, I got started on my leopard pants project; why wait?  I'm using my TNT Kwik Sew 2123 mens jeans pattern from 1991, with a few minor alterations to the pattern like a lowered waistline.

I love the fabric, which has a wonderfully soft nap.  I just want to roll in it.


 

I picked up a few necessary notions locally -- a zipper for the fly and some thread.  Initially I thought I'd topstitch with black thread left over from my toggle coat project, but it looked too dark.  I also tried a cream color but that was too light.  I settled for a traditional rust like you'd find on denim jeans and which happens to blend in well with the leopard spots.

I experimented a lot with topstitching on the cotton velvet with my new Singer 15-90 treadle.  Rust on left, cream on right:

 

My machine:



The thing about cotton velvet, leopard print or otherwise, is that it's somewhat pillowy.  My first flat felled seams connecting the right and left back yoke came out fine, but they were a bit thick-looking and cotton velvet can't easily be pressed.  Here's the seam from the wrong side.



I decided that for this project I'd use the faux flat felled seam method.  Rather than stitching wrong sides together, cutting one side of the seam allowance down to 1/4" and folding the other (5/8") side over the narrower allowance and topstitching, I'm stitching right sides together, serging my seam allowance, and topstitching the serged allowance down approximately 1/8" from the seam and then 1/4" from that seam.  It looks identical to an actual flat-felled seam but it lays much flatter.

Here's a sample -- nice and flat.



I didn't get terribly far and I'm not sure I can finish them today, but I did get the back done -- no pockets or waistband yet of course -- and Michael was willing to let me drape them on him just to give you an idea of where we're going with these. 



Quite leopard-y, wouldn't you say?

Friends, let's face it: if you're wearing leopard pants, it's not because it happens to go with your sweater.  It's all about that cat print.  We'll see how these turn out and whether they ever get worn out of the apartment.

I imagine many of you are traveling or shopping or baking or vacuuming today -- and perhaps even sewing!  I wish you well in your endeavors.  Rest assured, Male Pattern Boldness will be back tomorrow. Like Santa, there's no rest for the blogging elves on Christmas!

Have a great day, everybody!

Jeggings

Have you heard about jeggings?

On men?

Readers, after yesterday's collective tattoo catharsis, I am reluctant to trigger another fashion controversy.  But due to illness I haven't been sewing anything worth discussing.  It's either jeggings or demulcent recipes.

You know I don't follow fashion.  Occasionally in the laundry room I'll glance at somebody's abandoned copy of Glamour or Vogue while waiting for the doggy diapers to dry (don't ask); half the time the magazine is years old and I don't even know the difference.  Essentially, I dress the way you tell me to.

I see people on the street sporting strange outfits all the time, but like anything that evolves slowly, you don't really recognize the changes until you stop and think about it or you see a photo of how people used to dress and it suddenly hits you that things truly are different:  OMG, nobody is teasing their hair and wearing white lipstick anymore!  It's the boiling frog phenomenon.

I have noticed the trend toward tighter and tighter pants for both men and women over the last few years, but I didn't pay much attention to it.  As a long-time runner with over-developed calves and thighs, I can't handle tight pants -- hence my passing flirtation with the harem variety.  I hate clothes that cling, especially down below.

But yesterday, former high school classmate and fast-track-to-fashion muse Louise sent me a link to this:

http://ny.racked.com/archives/2010/10/08/uniqlos_got_the_man_jeggings_you_crave.php

I had honestly never heard of jeggings.   Had you?

I fear that in asking for a pair of "Jackie O cigarette pants" what Louise really wants are a pair of jeggings but is simply too embarrassed to ask.  I am hoping Louise can clarify this right here on the blog, today.

It's thanks to fashion-forward types like Louise that I have any sense of what's going on in the fashion world.  I may even discard my acid wash jeans (or just take them in a few inches all over).

Seriously, when it's a proven fact that most Americans (and Westerners in general) are getting fatter, why is our clothing getting tighter?

Readers of taste and refinement, what is your take on jeggings?  

For those like me, in the "Before the Parade Passes By" period of your lives, would you ever think of squeezing yourself into a pair of these?

Should jeggings be left to the kids, rail-thin celebrities, and Mamie Van Doren?

Any good demulcent recipes you care to share?

Have a great day, everybody!

UPDATE: OK, now how about leopard print pants for guys?  Read this.

Peter's self-drafted corduroy pants: The Dramatic Conclusion

It took most of the day, but I got the pants finished.  Not hemmed yet, but otherwise completed.  (I'll throw them in the wash later and let them shrink up a bit before I hem them.)

Overall, I'm satisfied and I learned a lot.



There are a few things I wish I'd done differently, things I probably won't think about again after a few wearings. 

The front fly isn't perfectly vertical, but curves ever-so-slightly to the right.   Can you see that?



Despite using commercial waistband interfacing, the kind that has a little "skirt" that covers the inside waistband seam, making everything look smooth and professional, the inside facing is knit.   I should have used woven (like my RTW dress pants have, I realize in retrospect).  It's fine, just not ideal.  It doesn't stretch, but it's not as tight or as rigid as I'd like it.







And I attached the waistband the way I would a shirt cuff or a shirt collar band (or a denim jeans waistband), requiring me to topstitch along the outside bottom (on a shirt cuff, this would be the place where the outside cuff attaches to the shirt sleeve).  This looks OK, but topstitching on corduroy never looks gorgeous: it tends to flatten the nap.

Ideally I would have attached the outside of the waistband first, right sides together, and then folded the waistband up and over.  Then (I guess) I could have slipstitched the facing from the inside so no stitching would show on the outside.  Does that make sense?

It's all under a belt so it's invisible anyway.

I also should have attached the belt loops differently but who's examining my belt loops?





I didn't follow the pattern instructions for the waistband or the belt loops because I was working with that commercial interfacing.  As with all garments, a little judicious hand-stitching would have made things nicer.

Again, it's fine and after a few days I won't think about it again.



My self-drafted pants pattern could use some tweeking, ultimately; maybe a re-do.  But that's for later on.  The important thing is the pants are done.  I have to move on.

It's pouring rain here at the moment: perfect weather to start sewing a corduroy suit jacket, don't you think?

More pics of the pants here.  (I've been adding to the same file so you might have seen some of these already.  It's quite the epic.)

Happy Monday, everybody!

Any corduroy projects in the pipeline?