Pleats are for Lovers
The discussion surrounding the current sartorial freshness of pleated pants has been going on for a little while on Tumblr as well as around the internet. Some say that they are great, fashion forward and should be in every man’s wardrobe. Other’s say never, EVER rock pleated pants as they are the male equivalent to “mom jeans”. I fall in between these two extremes: while not a necessity, I think that pleated pants can be a great addition to a man’s wardrobe if done properly.
There are certain truths that need to be acknowledged about pleated pants. The big truth is that 99% of them look like crap. Pleats add a lot of extra fabric to a man’s midsection making even the trimmest of man appear as though he has child bearing hips. They also tend to have a very full cut, as the vast majority of clothing makers present pleated pants as a “comfortable” alternative to flat front pants. Somewhere down the line in America, we equated fabric not touching our bodies with comfort: the more fabric that touches your skin the less inherent comfort those clothes provide. This couldn’t be further from the truth (if you wear quality fabrics you actually want to feel it) but I digress. The other truth is a derivative of the lack of coolness: nice trim fitting pleated pants are REALLY hard to find. For this reason, fashion purveyors like GQ, Details, and Esquire totally bash pleated pants and have been pushing flat front pants for some time now. That said, pleated pants can be a killer piece in a man’s wardrobe if executed properly. Here is how you do it:
1. The pants need to be well tailored throughout. Pleats are intended for style as well as functionality, and they don’t need to be loose in order to provide range of movement: they exist so you can have range of movement without a lot of looseness. Get rid of any extra room in the thighs, seat, and legs.
2. No more than 2 pleats. Personally, I think one pleat is the sweet spot for looking sharp and fashion forward is 1 pleat. In particular, I like 1 pleat looks better than 2 when wearing trousers with no jacket. It’s just a cleaner sharper loop.
3. Pleated pants must be worn at your natural waist: no exceptions. I know lower rises are what’s hot, but these should be worn at your actual waist. If you don’t know your natural waist, find your belly button and go down about an inch. Should be somewhere in that area…
4. No crease is not an option. Your pleated trousers should have a crease so sharp you can split atoms on it. A cuff, on the other hand, is optional.
As per the styling, you can basically treat them just like any other dress trouser. I will say that double pleats tend to be more formal, so they may not jive well with a polo. I recently was working a college fair and there was a young man is slim single pleat trousers and a trim polo and he was markedly better dressed than his peers. Because they should be rather crisp with a crease, nicer shirts tend to work better (though very trim single pleat pants can look dope with a white v-neck and plimsolls in the summer). As for shoes, I would recommend hard bottoms: cap toe or wingtip, simple or brogues. You could even go dress boots in the colder weather.
The above is Dockers’ not so affordable slim pleated chino offering
When it comes to where to buy them, the affordable options are very slim (no pun intended) and really aren’t that affordable when you get down to it. There are three brands right now that have solid fit options: Banana Republic, J. Crew, and Dockers. They all come in at about $200 and they are all in the slimmest fit offered by the brands. You can also cruise sites like www.bluefly.com or www.yoox.com as you may be able to scoop some of the higher end offerings at a discount. For many guys reading, though, your best (read: most affordable) option might just be to take an old pair of pleated trousers to the tailor and have them take in the seat, thighs, and legs. While they may not have the lower rise that the aforementioned options have, they will have lower price points.
Shouts out to Gabe at www.pleatsareforlovers.tumblr.com for unknowingly providing me with the perfect title for this post.
