My new trousers are kinda weird. They are seriously baggy and they have a seriously dropped crotch. But they feel sooo luvverly on! I think I’m going to like them, in their weirdness, even though I know I look a bit kooky in them. *shrug*
See, every now and again I’m seduced by an unusual but super-cool Japanese pattern, the kind of cool thing that looks awesomely cool on cool people. And then am brought back to earth with a bit of a bump when I look at myself in the mirror and am reminded: I am not very cool.
Ah, well I can but try, haha. The thing is, these are the comfiest trousers evah, as in incredibly awesomely comfortable, as in like wearing an old pair of trackydacks or pj bottoms, kind of comfortable. Cool people know a thing or two about comfort, it seems. Well, apart from the ones that wear skinny jeans, obviously.
My trousers are pattern No. 13, the Tapered Trousers from “she has a mannish style” a Japanese pattern book by Yuko Takada, and I could see from the picture that they had a seriously dropped crotch, which is just what you would expect in a “woman wearing a man’s pants” style. So I did something very unusual for me and made a rough muslin. My husband was a little bemused but Cassie gave them a big thumbs up, assuring me that lots of cool arty kids wear this kind of thing at uni. This was both encouraging and, um, at my age; also a bit not, ahem!
Whatever, I ploughed ahead regardless; and ta da!
Technical blah-dy blah:
I made them in a deep navy-blue cotton corduroy from Spotlight, and cut the pocket linings and waistband facing from a pair of Sam’s old pj’s from the refashioning bag; nice soft and well-washed, navy-and-white plaid cotton flannelette. I used a navy jeans zip, and a jeans-style, hammer-in stud for the button. The pattern had patch pockets on the back, but since precisely zero of my husband’s trousers, not jeans, have patch pockets, I put in double welt pockets instead. This gives a far more authentic “menswear” look, imo.
My measurements put me at size ML to L, however I found the waist/waistband in this size to be seriously oversized, by 10cm at the very least!! even taking into account that you make a tie with D-rings to cinch in the back of the waist, paper-bag style. So I removed a tonne of extra width in the waist, while still trying to retain the boofy, oversized pants vibe of them.
I drastically enlarged the front pockets, by about double. Seriously, the originals were so tiny you would not be able to fit barely anything in them, let alone hands. I’m used to having to enlarge my pockets on patterns but these were teeny. I very much liked the way they were constructed, with self-fabric facings and with a French seam to finish. I think the finished pockets look really nice, both inside and out.
I’m not keen on the way the fly front was constructed, with the fly pieces cut separately only to be sewn back on immediately, leaving you with an unnecessary and bulky seam in the centre front. I really cannot see any advantage in this, and prefer for the fly pieces to be cut-on. And will do it in that way in the future.
btw, I have read reviews for this book saying that not all the instructions are given for a pattern; well they actually are but not always on the same page as your pattern. The book only gives the instructions for doing a thing, like a fly front, once and once only in the book. For example, the instructions for doing a fly front are given on p71, with the Semi-flare Culotte instructions. It does mention this in the Tapered Trousers instructions, but since they are in rather small print in amongst the Japanese characters then it’s understandable why people might have missed that. All the actual sewing instructions are illustrations, very clear and quite easy to follow.
So; in conclusion? I like my new trousers although, well to be honest I am a wee bit nervous of them, being so cool and all. But I think my street cred will survive wearing them. Actually, they remind me a bit of pants we used to wear in the early 80’s… omigod, did I just admit to that?! Eeeeeek! Street cred in tatters!
I think when you read a lot of sewing blogs and online forums and what-have-you, like I do, you can get swayed by the very popular notion that Fit and Figure-Flattery are the King and Queen of Sewing. As in, everything has to skim your body just to the perfect degree, not too tight, not too loose, and be perfectly right for your figure type. Hey, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that at all; I buy into those rules all the time myself too. Just that, sometimes it is fun and nice to stretch yourself beyond those rules, to make and wear something that is not particularly fitted, is not particularly figure flattering, and is just stylistically interesting and cool and fun and kinda weird. And comfy. Fashion should be fun, after all. I think it’s ok to try out new and unusual stuff once in a while.
And they are so warm and comfy, I’m going to love every minute that I have them on. Well, every minute that I’m not worried what people might be thinking.
Did I mention they are comfortable?
Details:
Trousers; the tapered trousers 13 from “she has a mannish style” by Yuko Takada, navy blue cotton corduroy
Tshirt; Closet Case patterns Nettie, with short sleeves and a breast pocket, in thin white jersey, details here
Cardigan; Miette, hand-knitted by me in Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran, in Gold, details here
Shoes; Enrico Antinori, from Zomp shoes
Carolyn, you are so cool! You are the coolest! And I love the dark blue with the mustardy jumper x
Beautiful trousers, I like that you chose corduroy. The fastening in the back is gorgeous. You could wear them with a slim shirt/ blouse tucked so that it's fully visible.
Love them.
I agree totally cool. I am not sure I could get away with wearing trendy clothes. Those welt pockets and the dd-rings at the back look amazing.
Ahem, sorry actually you do wear them with a slim shirt 😉 And you look pretty cool, I do agree!
Drop crotch pants are so in at the moment. My daughter bought some very garish ones back from India a year ago and proceeded to wear them to school. I thought they were the most ridiculous things ever. They reminded me of genie pants. Being young though she could wear a sack and look good in it. I should have known that the trend would trickle up to the next generation because this style of pants are now everywhere. I remember having something similar in the 80's although not dropped waist and my mother probably shook her head as well. Good on you for trying something different. They look really good on you and I can see how they would be really comfortable.
I meant to say not dropped crotch!
These are really unique! I think it is fun to sew up something out of our normal attire. I'm trying to branch out and do the same. You look great in them! I know what you mean though once you see yourself in the mirror in them. I pretty much feel that way about everything I make though. I told my husband that maybe since I have handled it so much during the assembly, the excitement has worn off a little and then I question how good it really looks of me. ha ha
They look very cool, and extra awesome with the cardi.
These trousers are interesting – baggy and fitted at the same time somehow. I think they are sub-zero cool!
I don't think I could wear them, but they look wonderful on you. The navy corduroy looks lovely with the mustard cardi, too. Great outfit.
You? Not cool? Come on, you're a total sewing hipster. These look great and you should definitely wear them. I'll be checking!
That paperbag style waist is gorgeous! I love women in masculine-type clothing, so I dig this look 🙂
Agreeing with all the above, you are the coolest cat around, and I am so glad you made these up because I was considering the pattern too but talked myself out of it for the sake of the dropped crotch!
Tres cool and very 1920's – I could see phryne fisher playing a round of golf in them. Do you have any brogues?
Ooh. Brogues would look d'bomb with those pants.
You ARE a very cool person! These trousers of a mannish style suit you very well! I love the colour!
Oh wow, I've been obsessing over making these pants since I got this book a few weeks ago! I love them on you, and I was also a bit concerned by their kookiness. But they look fab! You are seriously pushing me over the line with these ones. I have never sewn a proper fly front before so the very limited instructions for that had me worried. Need I be?? Did you use a stretch cord as recommended or just a regular rigid??
Jillian; the fly instructions are ok in my opinion, but if you've never sewn one before you might want to use another, more detailed reference. I reckon Burda patterns, Vogue patterns, and the Ginger jeans all have very detailed and helpful fly front instructions. Also, like I mentioned above, I DO NOT think it's a good idea to cut the fly piece separately from the pants front, I reckon you get a far better result from cutting them together…so, lay your (single) fly piece against the trouser front CF and cut them out as one piece, eliminating that joining seam. So your front pieces will have a cut-on fly extension extending out from the CF edge. You will be trimming part of the underside fly extension away, but you need the full fly extension for the topside of the fly. I hope I'm making sense here!
I used non-stretch cotton corduroy for my pair here, to be honest I didn't know a stretch was recommended as my book is the Japanese language version!!
You are definitely cool enough to pull this look off. Love the way you have styled them too.
Oh yes, you are definitely cool enough to wear your new trousers with aplomb! Funny, the first thing I thought of, was a pair of pants I wore in the late 70's! You look great!
Absolutely love these! great post.
This is the kind of pants Keira Knightly is sporting everywhere in the movie "Begin Again" where she plays a cool songwriter in NYC. I've seen the movie on DVD a couple of weeks ago and since I'm obsessed with that kind of trousers. Yours are awsome! (And yes, you're cool.)
A dress a day once had a great post about this question. Her solution was to think not " does this make me look.. fat.. old… etc?" but rather "does this make me look happy?". And I think that this is a good way to look at it. Because if you get hung up on the "young" or the "pretty" or the "thin", well at worst you are chasing shadows and at best it's a matter of opinion anyway. And, really, if that's your gold standard then there will always be someone out there who can trump you. If not today, then definitely tomorrow.
But happy – that's a quality that time can't take away. That grows when you share it. If you walk down the street in an outfit that makes you happy then you leave a trail of joy, every time you twinkle at someone and share the joke.
I think that you look happy in those trousers. And that is the essence of pulling it off.
(I also think you look pretty cool, but I'm not sure how objective that opinion is because I just opp-shopped 3 full folders of sew stylish from the early nineties, so I am very much in the groove of these trousers right now)
(nah, quick reality check, you look cool and happy 🙂 )
thank you Galica! 🙂 I agree, sometimes we worry too much what other people think of us, rather that whatever we might want to make us happy
Love them, and thanks for doing a make from this book (my English-language copy is on the way…whee! Although I like the original title better, too.)
And also, thank you for posting this:
I think when you read a lot of sewing blogs and online forums and what-have-you, like I do, you can get swayed by the very popular notion that Fit and Figure-Flattery are the King and Queen of Sewing.
–This has always (ALWAYS) bugged me. There's a book called The Lost Art of Dress that argues exactly that, and I wanted to throw it across the room by the time I was done with it.
Thank you for making these! I've been joining Sew Jillian in her obsession over these, I'm still scarred by the 80's, but the 30's vibe, comfort, and happiness of yours has me swayed – very stylish too 😉
These are so cute on you!
I have a pair of similar baggy trousers & LIVE in them on my days off.
Chris
You're pretty cool. It may not feel like it, but you definitely have some cool street cred out here in the internet! Pants are pretty great too 🙂
Um, you are DEFINITELY cool!! Certainly cool enough to pull off these trousers, which you are doing with aplomb! I also love a good saggy baggy trouser look now and again – it's good to mix things up, and "figure flattery" is not the be-all, end-all when it comes to nice fashion! You look confident, classy, and quirky in the best way in these!
These look great on you. I think that how comfortable you are with your body plays into this decision. I like this look, ti's not too big or too dropped, but I personally find it uncomfortable to have a low crotch. I am pear shaped and perhaps not as comfortable showing off my shape so I avoid anything on the bottom that emphasizes my hips. I really admire younger women who are more comfortable with showing their curves.
Hey these trousers are awesome! The design is totally up my alley – I love variation in silhouette (close fitting/baggy) and love exaggerated shapes. My ready-to-wear trousers are a lot looser than the 'fitting shell' I'm trying to make for myself at the moment. The fitting shell is providing a very steep learning curve for me – curve being the key word here. However, I'm making them so that I can then create my own trousers of varying styles – which will most likely be baggy…doh. You've just made me realise something here. Hmm…
great trousers, love the blue cord. I think they have a 40's feeling, if you see images of ladies in those old black and white movies, when they are wearing slacks (not often) they seem to have a very long/high waist. and look both feminine and masculine at the same time. I agree with your comment about fit and figure-flattery being the king and queen of sewing, so true. and I think fit (over-fit) has seduced too many people, with making garments that are too tight instead of going with the architecture that the designer intended.
I really like these pants.
You look fantastic!! I love these trousers and have serious trouser envy!
It is a great looking outfit on you and I forgot to mention your patchwork dress of a few posts back was to die for.
I was certain I would hate these trousers, being one of those old fuddy-duddies (proof: I used that word) who tends to stick to the 'rules'. But I think they are actually OK, in fact they look pretty good on you. The chopped length is just as tricky as the dropped crotch from my point of view. Either you have very long legs (which I suspect it true) or the short sweater helps balance things out a bit, or both. So I actually think you will get away with these quite easily. I love the texture of the fabrics and that you re-used some PJs in the pockets. Touches like that make your clothes so extra special! I also love the cinched waist and agree the welt pockets are far better; a cinched waist band just makes patch pockets pooch (pardon my alliteration). I don't know how you think you're not cool – we all think you are!
Too cool for school!!! Oh ya, loving these. Great work as always.
Love them Carolyn! I've started 3 projects from this book this weekend – so many tempting makes.
I absolutely love them! I'm definitely going to make these when my book arrives! Totally digging the drop crotch man 🙂
Likewise, I really like these. I think they have good proportions and I completely agree that we get seduced by fit and flatter. I like to experiment with more masculine-feminine looks myself.
You look great in your new trousers and if they feel extremely comfortable I would be wearing them too. Very impressed you did double welt pockets in corduroy.
Baggy drop crotch? What's not to love? Plus you DO look cool in them.
I like that old title "she has a mannish style."
they are fabulous. and while I can see why you are comparing them to the 80s trousers they are like them – or at least not like the ones I lived in, while I inter-railed in 1986 (2 pairs of big flowery jersey dropped crotch jersey – and i seem to be wearing them in every photo!) – the waist band really gives great detail to yours, love the back detail
You look cool and you are comfortable wearing your new trousers, I couln´t ask for more. And I do agree with you: fashion should be fun!
Absolutely wear them as they look fabulous on you!!
I am SO interested in this book now… I have seen quite a lot of women in Shanghai with lots of different proportions (like you say, why do qw have the 'rules' for the body type) and I've started to be very interested in what does or doesn't work on my hourglass petite body… and I adore the back of these trousers so much. I wonder if petite short arse women would just look like munchkins though from Wizard of Oz? Hmmmmmmm
xoxo
Cool or not, 1980's look or not, you look great in those!
I've made sort of similar styles myself so I know how comfortable they must be. Oh, and I know what you mean about how fit and a certain notion of what is flattering can seem to rule the world of sewing blogs. Sometimes, it's great to go against the grain…
These look so good on you! To my eye, they actually look very pulled together because the high waist and all. Très chic!
I really enjoyed reading about how you decided on making these trousers and how you feel about them. I love unisex/masculine styles but struggle with pulling them off because of my curvy body. I do sometimes throw caution to the wind and wear what makes me happy rather than what flatters me and I always enjoy it. Anyway, you look great!!
Yet another lurker here, carolyn. Love your blogs, and i wish i had your attention to detail, writing talent and photographic skills! I've noted your material shops in milan for my next visit, thanks.
For me, the jury is still out on this one…..but regarding your workmanship, fabulous as always.
They're fabulous. And as best I can tell, cool is all about owning it (whatever the 'it' you've decided to go with is) in such a fashion that you do not appear to give a rat's arse what anyone else thinks.
Actually they are figure flattering – your waist looks tiny in them! Thumbs up from me they look fabulous.
You have a really nice figure, but the trousers don`t enhance your looks and make you look frumpy.
Keep them for the gardening.
You look very cool in these! In fact so cool that I am resurrecting my first drafting program pants that had a similar crutch and giving them another 'go'. You may have led the way with a new fashion trend!
I really love styles that push the envelope, and are different and a bit weird or strange 🙂 Fashion is supposed to be fun! These trousers are different and I like them, even though they are a little odd LOL. I happen to think that people who wear whatever makes them happy, and exude confidence doing so, are pretty much the epitome of cool 🙂
You can certainly pull this style off!! They look great on you.
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Nice blog shared on Women’s fashion. The sweater which is being worn by the women looks traditional but stylish also.
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