Wednesday night I tried on my suit. I feel like my online persona sounds like far more of a clothes horse than I really am. Maybe I'm delusional; that's usually my first guess. Still, with the weight gain that has been bothering me lately, I wanted to make sure I could still wear my suit to a wedding Grayskale and I are attending this weekend.
The jacket still fits, but I wasn't concerned about that. It is the way that the trousers fit that reminded me of a discussion I wanted to have about pleats, and how people use them wrong. I have had a prejudice against pleated pants for over a decade, but I bought my suit for $5 off eBay, and wasn't being picky about it. So, my suit pants have pleats.
The other times I've worn the suit, the pleats lie flat, except when sitting or in motion. For the record, people, this is what pleats are supposed to do. The pleats are there to allow movement, not to accomodate your enormous ass. When you do move, or sit, or otherwise require greater circumference, you are running the risk of catastrophic trouser failure. My suit pants are currently operating under these conditions.
I've seen other people wearing pleated skirts or pants this way, and I always wonder whether they just haven't noticed the weight gain yet, or if they actually think this is appropriate. Did they actually purchase the item when it fit this way? Did they try on other sizes and think: "well, there's still extra fabric, I guess I can go a size down." Worse yet is in dark pants when they're pulled so tightly that the pale linings of the pockets are visible. This is a big deal. This is not okay. Yes, I judge you for it.
Pleat stretching: just say no.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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10 comments:
I know pleats are a huge 'no-no' in today's fashion, but you try being a guy with big thighs and a meaty, muscular ass... and then try to wedge yourself into "flat fronts" without the pockets flaring out.
I have to go up a whole size in flat fronts, just to make the front 'flat'.
I'm at least two sizes up for my ass. I still think flat fronts are the way to go. Maybe I'm deluding myself.
<sheepish>I'm confused about what we're even talking about.</sheepish> Pleats are those little bits of cloth that sort of fold over, I guess? Do some pants not have those, and others do? Is that just men's dress pants? You don't actually need to answer these questions -- just revealing that I am both oblivious and clueless about clothes and the purposes of various bits. Is there some kind of clothing education program that I missed somewhere along the line? ;)
Pleats: okay, so a pleat is where you work more fabric into less space by folding and then sewing the fold partway down -- the pleat expands by unfolding at the unsewn part, but the sewn part stays tucked in. Pleats are commonly found on pants at the waistline, one above each leg, sort of centered on the leg.
jeans are typically not pleated, but you can find women's jeans that are.
Here's an image of both kinds, which is probably easier than reading any of the above:
@dan4th: Aha! Thanks.
tchipakkan
2008-06-27 12:05 am (UTC)
Where the heck would one put pleats in trousers?
OK Zoot suits, but we got over that fashion blunder, didn't we?
dan4th
2008-06-27 03:35 am (UTC)
@tchipakkan
The image above (in comment to Lauren) is fairly typical, and I see them on a lot of men's dress pants.
tchipakkan
2008-06-27 04:43 am UTC
I suppose there' nothing worse than pants that don't fit. Your father was so psyched to find that there were pants that fit him- as long as he wore ladies cut, and your grandmother finally found jeans that fit when she started wearing mens cut. Whatever it takes to make the pants body shaped is probably a good idea.
But on those pictures- were the creases on the front seams sewn on?
dan4th
2008-06-27 12:48 pm UTC
The pleats are just above the crease. Creases are possible on pleated or unpleated pants, but tend to look sharper (in my opinion) on pleated pants.
Pleats are conservative. Conservative is sexy. There, I said it.
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