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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

3/4 length or Capri trousers for men.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

15:26 / 15.06.06

I recently sold my car and have been walking the 4 blocks to work for a month or so now. My office is pretty casual, and I have been wearing jeans mainly, but it is starting to get insanely hot out here (high 90s often) and I am looking for something more lightweight.

I have a couple of pairs of linen trousers which have been nice, but I don't want to be washing them daily to keep wearing them (they are white so get dirty easily).

I suppose this is a 2 fold post, the first fold looking for advice on the style implications of the short pants, and the second fold looking for places to buy them that are not crazy expensive.

16:36 / 15.06.06

I think this question might reveal an American/N. European divide. In England, Elijah, 3/4 length trousers are more risque and more widely sniggered at than I think they are on the other side of the Atlantic. For one thing, the English idiom invests a lot of symbolic significance in graduating to long trousers. Shorts are deeply, deeply boyish. ('Ankle-swingers' are a particular playground taboo). By and large, they are traditionally only acceptable in cases of necessity (playing sports, or in the inhibition-sapping height of summer). So it's also a matter of climate. It's pretty cold here most of the time. Most men only wear shorts for about 3 days a year, so they're not much of an investment and people don't spend much money on them. As a result, 'stylish shorts' would largely be seen as an oxymoron.

I might be wrong (and I'll be interested to see if I am) but I expect that British Barbeloids' answers to your two questions could be summarised thus:
Style: There isn't any.
Places to buy that aren't crazy expensive: Anywhere. Probably Gap.

*

01:05 / 16.06.06

Yeah, I recommend a skirt.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

13:28 / 16.06.06

I was considering a utilikilt but I don't want to show off that much of the pasty white leg flesh.

20:15 / 01.07.06

There don't seem to be many retailers around me that sell 3/4 length pants, so I often make my own; simply cutting a regular pair of pants off at the appropriate length. You may not feel like destroying a pair of perfectly good full-length pants, though, so try finding some on the cheap at a local second-hand shop. I'd look for pants with a fairly straight leg; boot-cut and flared pants don't seem to work as well, but your mileage may vary.

Now, you're looking for something to wear to work, so the frayed, unhemmed look may not be appropriate. In that case, go to a tailor and have them hemmed for you (don't cut them off first, let the tailor handle that, too). It costs me around US$10-15 to have a pair of pants hemmed so, including the cost of a pair of dress pants from the second-hand shop (US$10), you can have a pair of customized 3/4 length pants for around US$20-25 and a little legwork.

09:50 / 03.07.06

Er, Steve, I'm pretty sure 3/4 length trousers don't tend to get sniggered at these days. As I'm sure you're aware, they've been part of Britain's popular (in that they're ubiquitous and insanely easy to find - just about every major clothes shop stocks 'em) fashion landscape for the better part of the decade. Christ, some of the most conservative blokes I know own a pair.

12:48 / 03.07.06

*sniggers*

13:21 / 03.07.06

Seriously, you’ve probably got a point, Boboss. To be honest, I read that post back the next day and regretted it (I would have deleted it if entity hadn’t already replied). It sounds much more sneery than I meant it to, it’s no doubt way out-of-date in terms popular opinion and I’m probably just jealous cos I haven’t got the calves for them.

I think it’s probably a good thing that we challenge conventional wisdom of these things. What was interesting about the Fashion Dictator thread was that disapproval was mainly reserved for types of people (and the clothes that were seen to represent them), and personal, idiosyncratic bete noire. None of the traditional sartorial no-no’s (mixing black and blue, white after Labour day, brown in town, socks with sandals, etc etc) got a mention. I don’t know if this represents progress exactly, but it’s a blow to the orthodoxy of superficial snobbery, I suppose.

14:32 / 03.07.06

I would definetely go for the 3/4 trousers, and not the utilikilt. Particularly if you think the trousers may be a little risque. Kilts should only be for special occasions, and I, in fact, have never sniggered at a man's 3/4 trousers. Perhaps I'm secretly not British though....

I'd also say GAP, and although I've never looked for mens' ones, there are a lot of smart womens' shorts/ 3/4s.

11:59 / 06.07.06

Funny, we were talking about this just the other day. Man-capris only seem to work on "manly-man legs" - relatively muscular calves are something of a needed accessory to make the 3/4 length pants work well on a guy. Like skirt hem lengths on women, pant hem length on men needs to be tempered against the shape of the leg. I have very muscular legs for a girl, ergo mini-skirts and mid-calf lengths are a definite no-no, but ankle length or knee length look just fine. My rather slim boyfriend has rather slim calves, ergo, 3/4 length pants simply do not suit, while regular pants and knee length shorts look terrific.
Of course you could just buck the system, screw the self-analytical scrutiny, and wear them because they're comfy.

19:24 / 06.07.06

Actually, I like 'em on really skinny, boyish legs. The more knickers-ish, the better.

(STOP LAUGHING, YOU ENGLISH!)

I should make another pair (got someone to do hemming on my last one for free, made from an old pair of Dockers).

And then I shall be Tin-tin again.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

16:08 / 07.07.06

Well, I found a deal on ebay for 2 pair (with cargo pockets) in my size for $20 and I love them. I have actually had quite a few compliments from people on them. They are very comfortable and I feel pretty stylish.

18:09 / 09.07.06

Marks & Spencers are doing a rather good three-quarter affair in khaki: unpocketed (apart from the standard trousery ones) and slimmish-fit. Quite smart-looking, and a nice change from the swing-my-pants wide-legged surfer style.

18:58 / 09.07.06

Thanks fer the heads up. I might check 'em out.