To complete my Issey Miyake trilogy; the trousers.
Pattern; Vogue 1693, an Issey Miyake design from 1986.
I used a navy blue cotton drill from Spotlight, buttons from Fabulous Fabrics.
Hmmm, navy blue again. Can’t explain it but I’m a bit mad for it right now. Navy; so hot right now!
When I finished these and popped them on; I felt quite happy and positive about them, thinking they looked pretty sharp. A bit reminiscent of sailor’s pants, which pleases me a lot. And wide legs are IN IN IN. One of my favourite pieces in the Paris autumn/winter collections was Dries van Noten’s super wide leg pants; slouchy, relaxed, oversized trousers in the plainest of plain khaki cotton chino. So comfy, so practical, so unfussy, so damn chic. I saw, and I wanted!
So I strutted out confidently to my husband to show him, anticipating a comment along the lines of, hey super cool pants! or something like that. Ha! his reaction: hmmm VERY eighties, aren’t they? His tone was not the tone of a man who thought the eighties had anything worth resurrecting, fashion-wise.
*pop*
Bubble burst.
Hmm, well, yes; no denying that they are, most definitely, eighties. A full-on ridgydidge piece of authentic eighties, right here. But I’m an eighties girl. Owning that. And anyway I reckon this shape is pretty NOW too!
In eighties speak we used to say gauchos, but the hip n’ happening term now is culottes, whether rightly or wrongly? They are very wide at the waistline and pulled in with four big pleats, held into place with buttoned arrowhead tabs to nip in and define your waist, so have that little something different and interesting about them. They also have satisfyingly deep slanted front pockets, like all the 80’s and early 90’s Vogues used to have.
Some technical bizzo: the instructions left some parts a little bit shonky/half-done; I went back and unpicked a few spots so I could re-do/overlock to neaten it up inside when I realised that was the case… Also, the construction of the waistband was a little strange, and so I modified it slightly; instead of hand-stitching the short edges of the waistband facing, I wrapped it around over on the outside of the waistband and front, machine-stitched the side seams, then pulling the front back through so the front is all nicely enclosed between the waistband/waistband facing. This results in it all being far more securely stitched together. I still fell-stitched the lower edge of the facing though.
Finally though, I couldn’t be happier with the finished product! so I’m deducting just one point for the dodgy waistband construction issues.
Happiness factor; 9/10
Details:
Pants; Vogue 1693, navy blue cotton drill
Top; Nettie Tshirt with breast pocket, Closet Case patterns, details here
Shoes; bensimon, from seed boutique
I like them a lot, you look really great in them. Husbands can be rubbish at bursting our bubble! Boo! Ignore and strut your stuff.
i love those pants, they look really smart.. those waist details are great.. men in our lives often don't get our coolest makes 🙂
My favourite of all your pants. Such a great cut and colour!
They are going to have to reissue this pattern as a result of your blog posts! I want to make all three garments now!!
Yes they'd be a bit man repelling in my house too, but I think they're marvellous on you. So chic with the white top and shoes.
Thank you! For months every time I have seen "culottes" I have been thinking "aren't those gauchos?" At least now I know where that thought stems from!
These pants are so cool – exactly what I'm looking for! Unfortunately, this '80s pattern seems impossible to find. Now I hope that an indie pattern maker will get inspired by your make and release a similar pattern with good instructions. (Don't you want to pair your sense of style with Heather Lou's talent? You both would be a fantastic team!)
Super cool! Perfect the way you've styled it with the white top and shoes. I remember gauchos too! Love 'em!
Don't listen to your husband. These look cool as hell 😀
I LOVE THESE! They look so comfortable (and they make your waist look even tinier than usual). Very cool.
Oh, and they're NOT very 80s. Well, they could be. But they're predominately very fucking cool, and I've been really impressed with how non-80s your remakes of this pattern have looked.
thank you so much Liz! 🙂 *mwah*
These look great on you. In the 60's we called them culottes. I like a lot of the 80's too.
They look very sharp, but still comfy which is tough to manage I'd say. Nice job managing the construction!
I don't know what it is but I have never met a man who likes wide legged pants, or wide clothes at all. I don't know why, I think your pants are gorgeous! I once had a high waisted flared-leg pair and now that I see yours I get the desire to own a pair again! 🙂 So thanks for the inspiration.. again! 😉
I like them too. I'm a nineties kid, but some of the fashions from the eighties appeal too. You look great, you know you do, so no one else's opinion matters 🙂
Your culottes/gauchos look really cool. And I think they accentuate the waist very nicely. Love the big pleats, too. Very elegant.
I love your pants. You are very cool and chic wearing them. I think it is the wonderful colour and your styling that makes them modern. The pattern with the artful pleats is highlighting your tiny waist and your long legs. May be now, your husband likes the finished culottes? 🙂
I love them.
I like these a lot (also a fan of navy), but then again I made a pair of 1970s YSL wide-leg trousers in the spring and love to wear them. Long live the full-leg pants. Interestingly, my boyfriend thinks they're really cool. 🙂
Very hip n happening. I love them!
The pants look great and current. Back in the 1980s, we called them both culottes (French) and gauchos (Spanish). Oddly, in California, I heard culottes more frequently than gauchos.
So great!!
have a good time
Christine
So great!!
have a good time
Christine
These are wonderful!
I can't even explain how much I love these!!!!! I really don't think they look 80's and I also was an 80's girl – owning that too 😉 I think they fit perfectly into the current silhouette trends and I would do anything to trace that pattern off and make a pair for myself. They are fabulous xx
I love them:). I say enjoy them – they are hip and now and they look good on you. What more could you want (having, I dare say, forgiven the Master of the Understatement. I'm married to one of those too :)).
Ignore the man – you look fabulous.
UGH I want these!!!! ("ugh" because it's a vintage pattern.) So not eighties! In fact, I think this is what they meant when they said "apartment pants" on Friends ;
Navy. Wide leg pants. So very "in" right now! What more could a girl want? 🙂
These are true wide-legged trousers. Strut your stuff!
I love your culottes 🙂 Looks really great on you!
Well, I'm guessing culottes aren't a husband favorite sort of garment… 😉 These are fabulous in a modern & 80s way – nothing wrong with that! I love navy all the time and would wear these in a heartbeat.
Hi I have been reading your blog for quite some time and admire your sophisticated technique and generous sharing of expertise. I agree with your husband-this style on your thin frame makes you appear 5-8 times wider than I know you are. Trust him his intention is good. Ditch these pants. Ignore constructive feedback at your peril. Keep up the good work and wish you the best
thanks Sewahoo, I appreciate the honesty 🙂 I did think initially about removing a lot of width at the top by taking away the pleats and making them a far more tapered style skimming the hips like true sailor's pants, but decided to make up the pattern just as is for the first go at it. I'll see how I go with them 🙂
Hmmn hard to give honest feedback, but Sewahoo is right. I love the othe pieces from the Issey collection, but these pants grabbed my attention for wrong reasons. I wont tell you to ditch them, they have a certain groovy elegance.
Hello,Carolyn,
This are fabulous! They are extremely chic and fit you well. You like like an artist dressed like that. Please show them to the world,don't hide them.
Many greetings from a fan of yours from Germany!
These are just gorgeous, and you wear them so well!
Comfy, am I right? And I think they look wonderful. Seeing your photos reminded me of how those little straps felt like a little hug. Did you consider big white 4-hole buttons to go with the nautical quality?
thanks Cussot! It's interesting; white buttons on navy pants is a common misconception of sailors' pants. My brother was in the navy and from what I remember of his uniform, the buttons matched the colour of the pants i.e. white on white, navy on navy 🙂
I never managed to snag a pair of Navy (navy) wool pants at my favourite Surplus store. God knows I tried. I do remember the somber buttons and salute your exacting standards of verisimilitude!
I did have a real wool middy though, and still have a decades-old pair of the white canvas pants with the buttoned front. They're so stiff they can practically stand on their own …
Gorgeous – as always! BTW, a fashion designer once told me that the diff between gauchos and culottes is that culottes have a crotch curve that hangs away from the body and tend to be skirt-like and gauchos tend to be more fitted in the crotch, longer and they tend to flare at the base. So these are, by that account, gauchos. I've also noticed that gauchos tend to be made in stiffer fabrics (i.e. structured linen) and culottes with drapier ones (i.e. wool crepe).
that's interesting, thanks K.Line! Yes, by that definition these are definitely gauchos then, as are a lot of the "culottes" appearing around the blogosphere too! I think culottes are maybe just the buzzword of the moment 🙂
Oh dear, oh dear, let me reinflate that burst bubble. These are awesome pants! Best in every way. I wore wide-leg sailor pants today too so I also know the secret delights of similar design. They swoosh, they have cool architecture, they feel nautical, which is always good, I don't know why. I don't think '80s at all. Have fun with them!
Well, I love your new trousers. I had a lot of fun growing up in the 80's and I suppose that has caused an enduring love of 80's styles, which I also think were often very innovative. I particularly like the details on these. You have made a fabulous interpretation of a great designers style x
I think these looks fantastic! I swear, the total look seems like it comes from a fashion magazine! I wish I can see the belt detail from the back on a closer look, though! Love it and don’t mind your husband. Maybe he was still sleepy, then?
These look brilliant, they're such a great shape! and I can imagine how good they must feel to wear.
I think I have that pattern in my stash. I think I want a pair of those pants right now!
I had a very similar pair of me made pants in the 80's. Mine were powder blue with a wide waistband and buttoned somehow at the front pockets. I wish I had a photograph. I am seriously tempted to make something similar again but this time in black and maybe at midi skirt length, perhaps toning the whole idea down for my fourties!
I really like your pants. They are perhaps not a mainstream look, yet, but I am sure in time we will all come to accept the new wider leg width.