Hemming Tuxedo Trousers

[Marcus]

How should Tuxedo trousers be hemmed? Should there be breaks at all or straight leg? This would be for a vintage 40's tux. For some reason I want to say there shouldn't be much in the way of breaks and should be more straight-legged. Going to sport a tux for the first time in my adult life to the QM Indy Gear Summit next weekend and the trousers are too long.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

How should Tuxedo trousers be hemmed? Should there be breaks at all or straight leg? This would be for a vintage 40's tux. For some reason I want to say there shouldn't be much in the way of breaks and should be more straight-legged. Going to sport a tux for the first time in my adult life to the QM Indy Gear Summit next weekend and the trousers are too long.

A very old, very experienced tailor once told me that, since tuxedo trousers are patterned after military dress trousers, they should be hemmed with a "military (or guardsman) break". This hem has a 3/8 slant, so that the front of the trouser bottom is shorter than the back.


The "military break" was extensively used on all trousers from the 1800s to about 1910, when cuffs came into fashion. When cuffs went out of style in the 1970s, the military break returned to the scene ... on business suit trousers, slacks, and even dressy 'disco' jeans. Fact is, the military break has always been and continues to be the 'correct' standard for tuxedo trousers, despite the vagaries of fashion.

 

[Tomasso]

"military (or guardsman) break".

I heard one old tailor call it a West Point break. I've heard fishtail and shaped cuff as well. But mostly I've heard it referred to as a slanted cuff. However termed, I think it's the best choice for formal trousers.

 

[Marcus]

Great! That I understand... 8 years in the Marine Corps!

Thanks all!

 

[dnjan]

This hem has a 3/8 slant, so that the front of the trouser bottom is shorter than the back.

The "military break" was extensively used on all trousers from the 1800s to about 1910, when cuffs came into fashion. When cuffs went out of style in the 1970s, the military break returned to the scene ... on business suit trousers, slacks, and even dressy 'disco' jeans. Fact is, the military break has always been and continues to be the 'correct' standard for tuxedo trousers, despite the vagaries of fashion.

I have yet to run into a tailor who didn't do it that way for anything I've taken in to be hemmed.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I have yet to run into a tailor who didn't do it that way for anything I've taken in to be hemmed.

Well, during World War II, when U.S. cloth restrictions effectively eliminated cuffs from new trousers, the cuffless trousers (unless they were striped formal or tuxedo) were hemmed horizontally (as if they had cuffs). And in the early '60s, when cuffless trousers legs became fashionable, they also tended to be hemmed without a "West Point break". It wasn't until the late '60s-early '70s that the slanted hem returned in force.

 

[Tomasso]

It wasn't until the late '60s-early '70s that the slanted hem returned in force.

And even then, the Ivy League shops (J.Press, Chipp, Brooks Bros, etc..) would still do straight hems as their default.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And even then, the Ivy League shops (J.Press, Chipp, Brooks Bros, etc..) would still do straight hems as their default.

Yes. Straight hems on well-shrunk chinos help to create the"high water" look that preppies love. In fact, khakis are universally hemmed straight.

 

[Guttersnipe]

What about a "West Point" or "military" break on cuffed trousers, is that ever done? For some reason I feel like I've seen that too.

 

[Tomasso]

What about a "West Point" or "military" break on cuffed trousers, is that ever done?

Most tailors will say it can't be done but maybe that's because it's very difficult to do. It requires some strategically placed incisions to the opening area.