Ask a question, get an answer [general attire edition]

Metatron said:

In sewing a button to a coat or jacket, do you make your passes through all the layers of cloth, or do you just sew through the outer layer, and why do you prefer your chosen method?

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I haven't done a button on a shortcut or suit jacket, but all but the most recent of the ones I currently own have the thread coming all the way through. I have reattached closure buttons on my overcoat, and those came all the way through and used backing buttons.

I've gotta say, I like how the backing button releases the stress on the fabric.

While I am no expert on the etiquette involved in the wearing of rubber footwear, on the farm we usually tuck the legs into the boots. Saves on washing manure out of them.

I'd rather wear t-straps or flats year-round, but it's cold here and I literally have to walk in snow drifts on the way to and from work. I wear riding boots nearly every day all winter. I wear skirts often, but on the occasion I wear pants I tuck them in because my winter pants have slim legs and it looks better (recalls the look of jodhpurs, I suppose).

bwchase said:

What type shirt do you wear with tan khakis or cargo pants?
Too cold for polo shirt now.

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Blue button down Oxford cloth

tropicalbob said:

Rereading my post, I realize my essential question concerns the wearing of a matching jacket and vest but with different trousers. I don't think I've ever attempted this before.

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Unless it is formalwear, I refuse to wear all three pieces matching. So I frequently wear a matching tweed vest and jacket with a solid-coloured pants.
Or matching tweed pants and jacket with a complimentarily-coloured flannel vest.
Or matching tweed pants and vest with a flannel jacket.
Today it was a brown windowpane tweed jacket and vest with solid brown pants.

dnjan said:

Unless it is formalwear, I refuse to wear all three pieces matching. So I frequently wear a matching tweed vest and jacket with a solid-coloured pants.
Or matching tweed pants and jacket with a complimentarily-coloured flannel vest.
Or matching tweed pants and vest with a flannel jacket.
Today it was a brown windowpane tweed jacket and vest with solid brown pants.

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Yes, I wore the vest and jacket today. I think I was right that they were from the same line, as the two items are identical in color and size of the wale. I paired them with dark brown serge trousers and a dark brown fedora. Felt a bit Tyrolean.

bwchase said:

What type shirt do you wear with tan khakis or cargo pants?
Too cold for polo shirt now.

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A flannel shirt.

Hello all, I have a question, and I thought it would be a good excuse to give the thread a bump.

I have worn size 34 trousers for most of my adult life. Recently though, in measuring my waist, I found that I am actually more like a 36.
I'm not talking about 'vanity sizing' here, all my trousers actually measure around 34 inches around the waist.
Then it occurred to me that the button on my trousers is often pulling, and that they do feel a bit tight when I first put them on.
I came to the realization that I have been wearing a size too small, simply out of habit.
Having said that, I always find that trousers that match my waist measurement exactly, tend to slide down as the day goes on.
I seem to prefer trousers that measure 35 inches. (1 inch negative ease)
they put enough pressure on the waist that they stay up, but aren't uncomfortable. Does this make sense, or am I weird?
The anatomical waist seems to be fleshy enough that it can take a small amount of suppression without feeling discomfort.

This brings me to perhaps a daft question:
are trousers generally by design intended to match your waist exactly? A bit wider? A bit smaller? Personal preference?

My personal preference is for my trousers to be ever-so-slightly lose - just enough that I could fit two fingers between them and my waste. Hence, when perfect, I need a belt, but only to very, very modestly tighten them in (those two fingers) as they won't really fall down without the belt, but might slide a bit or just feel a very small amount lose.

Any loser and they start to bunch when the belt tightens which I don't like / any tighter and they feel too tight to me as I don't like them "hugging" my waste. Jeans and jean-like pants, for me, are the exception as I like them to ever-so-slightly hug (basically, be two or three fingers tighter than all my other trousers).

Based on your comments, my only concern is that you wouldn't want your pants to fit so tight that they pull or look ready to "burst out," even if you are comfortable.

Metatron said:

Hello all, I have a question, and I thought it would be a good excuse to give the thread a bump.

I have worn size 34 trousers for most of my adult life. Recently though, in measuring my waist, I found that I am actually more like a 36.
I'm not talking about 'vanity sizing' here, all my trousers actually measure around 34 inches around the waist.
Then it occurred to me that the button on my trousers is often pulling, and that they do feel a bit tight when I first put them on.
I came to the realization that I have been wearing a size too small, simply out of habit.
Having said that, I always find that trousers that match my waist measurement exactly, tend to slide down as the day goes on.
I seem to prefer trousers that measure 35 inches. (1 inch negative ease)
they put enough pressure on the waist that they stay up, but aren't uncomfortable. Does this make sense, or am I weird?
The anatomical waist seems to be fleshy enough that it can take a small amount of suppression without feeling discomfort.

This brings me to perhaps a daft question:
are trousers generally by design intended to match your waist exactly? A bit wider? A bit smaller? Personal preference?

Click to expand...

I sure understand how your trousers are now not fitting as you have more waist to fill them! For the first 30 some odd years of my Husband's life, he wore a 32 waist trousers. Then at the age of 40, he was up to a size 33 waist and then up to a 36+ waist. Now for him it is not being able to be so active, bad heart, MS and Cancer has slowed him down. But what I do is have suspender buttons put in all his trousers. It makes them more comfortable. Each pair of trousers may say one size waist or another but you have to just measure what trousers fit you the best and then use that as a guideline for what you can wear and or course what you may buy in the future. BUT do not toss aside trousers you are "out grown" as if you do diet or become more active you may find all those trousers will fit again.

I am sure at times many men and women get a bit frustrated as things make us gain weight and size on the waist. I think my Husband probably has 50 or more pairs of trousers that are just too tight to wear. Some I have had "let out" to fit him. And I have shopped for pants to fit him without having the trousers to be too tight. Lately he has been able to get on a exercise bike and a tread mill. I am sure he will appreciate we still have all those trousers for him to get back into.

I myself went through weight gain and then worked on getting it all back off. We love food and that was a main role to some degree on the size issue.

Good luck and let us know how you work your size issue out. I think what you have stated about the one inch size to keep your trousers up is a good idea.

Fading Fast, LMM, thanks for sharing your experiences.

I can definitely see how a wider waistband would function better with braces.

Today I took some measurements to decide whether to have some alterations done to a few of my trousers.

to further illustrate my conundrum:

the trousers in the one photo are pinned to match my waist circumference. at this point the waistband measures roughly 18.5 inches side to side. however, I can feel that they will slide down easily, and in fact I can pull them down without removing the pin.


buttoned up, I can feel a bit of pressure on my stomach, but they aren't uncomfortable. they measure around 17.5 inches side to side. This is my default trouser size, but it seems to be counter-intuitive to wear trousers smaller than one's actual waist?
Fading Fast, do these look, as you say, ready to burst out??

Metatron, first, those look like really cool trousers - button fly and side tabs are all things I love (just bought a pair of J.Crew "Wallace and Barnes" button-fly chinos - Wallace and Barnes is their "vintage-inspired" line).

Second, to your question, a couple of thoughts / observation. Owing to the inconsistency in the clothing industry, I wouldn't worry too much about the "number" on the waist measurement. I have been the same waste size since college and I own pants sized 31, 32, 33 (and, maybe, a 34) that fit - the industry is horribly inconsistent. 95+% of my pants are 32 or 33 - it makes no sense (and I've measured them against each other and some of my 32s are the exact same physical size as my 33s as are a few of the 31s and 34s), the industry just doesn't do a great job.

As to your pictures and what works, IMHO, in the second picture, there does seem to be too much pull on the waistband (notice the way the buttons look like they are being pulled hard by the back of the button hole and the waist flap has that big rumple and smaller rumples that, to me, looks like there is too much stress on it). In the first picture - where the pants are pinned - the waistband looks better as it doesn't look pulled or stressed, but since you said it feels too lose, perhaps the answer is in-between the pinned photo and the buttoned photo.

Also, have you tried using your side tabs to tighten in the waist in the "pinned" (first) photo as that it was they are there for - to give the wearer a bit of flexibility in the waist band. So, if where you pinned them, they are a bit too lose, you could tighten up the waist with the side tabs.

Of course, you should be comfortable in your pants and if too lose bothers you, then lean toward the tighter side, but if the waist band is pulling or puckering (like in your second photo), most would consider that to be too tight.

I hope this helps.