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Summer Pants

16 April, 2012

This is part two of a response to an email from a reader.

The second part of R’s question was what type of pants are appropriate for summer, especially a summer in the Mediterranean.

Ideally you want your summer pants to keep you cool. This can be done two different ways – by reflecting sunlight and also by allowing air to flow through onto your legs. There are a few traditional materials that accomplish this very well.

The warmest of these is cotton. Cotton is going to do a lot better than wool, but will restrict more air flow than any other summer weight materials. The upside to cotton is that it holds its shape and resists wrinkles a lot better than seersucker or linen. For most men, a good summer suit will usually be made of cotton. You can purchase these with minimal lining to allow maximum air flow but it doesn’t stand out as much as seersucker or wrinkle as badly as linen does. Cotton is also what you’ll look for if you’re buying a pair of khakis for the summer. Because cotton is the heavier of these fabrics you want to keep the colors light in order to reflect, rather than absorb, more sunlight. Cotton is also appropriate for Spring and Fall so it’s a good transition material.

The next step up is seersucker. This is a material that was primarily used in the American South and was a staple during summers before air conditioning. It’s trademark pattern is blue on white but it can be seen in many different colors. I even have a suit that’s brown on forest green. Seersucker has a bit of a puckered look so it comes across as more dressed down than cotton but it’s also quite a bit cooler. On top of my suit pants I have a pair of traditional seersucker trousers and I love the things. The general rule is to avoid wearing these before Memorial Day and after Labor Day as they are a specifically summer fabric.

The last material is the coolest and most casual. I would avoid buying a linen suit until you have a few more in your wardrobe. That being said, a pair of linen trousers might be considered a summer staple. Even here in Utah, where I’m miles away from any coast, linen is a life saver in the hot, summer days. Because linen is such a cool fabric, you can get away with wearing it in much darker colors than cotton.

So if I found myself in R’s position, I would avoid seersucker. It’s a uniquely American fabric and will look very out of place on the Mediterranean. I would get one or two pairs of linen pants and have them tailored differently. Another advantage to R and readers like him who have big thighs is that linen pants are typically cut much larger than anything else. They are supposed to be more lose and billowy, so it should be easier to find a pair that fits him in the waist and then can be tailored to fit his thighs and calves accordingly. I would do one pair in the traditional cream color and another that’s either a deep brown or navy. If R plans on spending any time doing business or visiting clubs, I would recommend getting a cotton suit. A tan cotton suit with a white linen shirt unbuttoned a couple of buttons (he could even go three if he wanted), a linen pocket square and espadrilles or loafers with no socks will look as great on the beach on a Friday night as they will over drinks discussing business in Spain.

Reader Submission: Fitted Pants for the Muscular Man

16 April, 2012

This time our reader submission comes by way of question instead of showing what he already has.

I’m one of those men who has recently seen the light and is now upgrading my wardrobe, but I’m running into a problem that I thought you might be able to help me with. I’m an athletically built guy… broader shoulders but a skinny waist, and legs that can’t fit into skinny (or sometimes even slim) jeans. It’s not like I’m built like a stocky linebacker type, but more like a swimmer. My problem is finding pants that fit for a summer look. When I wear pants for the summer and try to roll the cuffs up, or try on the styles of pants that would be considered appropriate for such a look, I look like a ridiculous inverted triangle….very top heavy (because I have broader shoulders and a long torso) balanced on stick legs (even though my legs aren’t that skinny). I notice in perusing most summer looks/links that most of the looks features guys that are pretty straight up and down, so the slim fits and cuffed pants work for them, but seem to make me look kind of silly. So any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated on what to look for in pants for summer on a person built such as myself. If it helps at all, I’m going for the upscale yet casual European Mediterranean summer look (as I’ll be spending my summer in southern Spain…so warm weather pants are what I’m after as I think I look normal in shorts). Thank you for your time.

-R

So there are two good questions in here. First is how to wear flattering pants when you are built instead of slim, and second is what to wear during a summer in the Mediterranean. I’ll answer the second question in another post later today.

Believe it or not, finding pants that look good for a man with built legs is not as hard as it seems. The only real problem is that nothing will look good off the rack. Whatever you get, you’ll have to take it to a tailor.

When most men think of getting their pants slimmed down the first thing that comes to mind is the size of the cuff openings. They believe if those are slim, then they’re set. Unfortunately, it’s actually the exact opposite. A well-fitting pair of pants is determined by how well they adhere to your thighs and your ass.

Here’s what I recommend R and any other reader do to solve the problem of looking disproportionate on bottom.

Buy a pair of pants that absolutely fit you in the waist and look as good in the thighs as you can. I’d even suggest dragging a chair or a lady friend into the dressing room to put in front of yourself from the shins down so you don’t get distracted by how the lower portions look. If you can’t find anything that’s ideal in the thighs, get as close as you can, you’re going to have to visit a tailor regardless.

When you go in to your tailor let him know the problems that you’ve had in the past as far as your pants fitting. He’ll have you put on the pants and then start pinning them up. This is where you have to be assertive, especially if you don’t have a relationship established with the man. Take all the time you need to get things fitting correctly. When I’m getting pants done, I’ll even swing my legs up into my just and jump around to make sure his pinning wouldn’t restrict any movement. The ideal balance is to have the pants follow your thighs and show off their size without reflecting their movement. You also want him to pin up any excess fabric in the seat so it doesn’t look like you have a soggy diaper on.

After you have the thighs where you want them, you can start playing with everything below the knees. If you’re worried about looking like an inverted triangle, I recommend having your pants go straight down instead of adhering to the shape of your legs. This will add more visual weight to your legs and help balance them out, but having the thighs fit properly will still ensure your pants look like they fit well instead of seeming baggy or sloppy.

Bigger guys are also the only time I recommend a boot cut and this is even more true for jeans. You don’t want it to be excessive, but the little bit of flair at the bottom creates a balance of weight with broad shoulders.

As far as the break goes, I wouldn’t recommend going with no break. I’d say a slight break and if you ever roll your pants up, make sure you get them half way up your calves instead of just above your ankles.

Say what you will about Tim Tebow but his style has been slowly improving. I know this shot isn’t the best, but look at how his pants follow the line of his thighs but are loser in his calves.

I also recommend taking some cues from the king of style in the sports world – Lebron James

In that second one compare how James looks to how Jay Z does. It’s all about the length, and the fit in the thighs.

And here’s a good shot of Dwayne Wade.

All these guys are wearing pants that would look baggy on a skinnier guy, but because they thighs fit, the bagginess of the cuffs looks good and gives them the right proportions.

Take pictures like these into your tailor when you go visit him. Let him know what your problems are and you’ll be able to find a workaround that looks good.

All I see…

14 April, 2012

… is a floating head.

Get it? Heh heh, it’s a camo joke.

Ranger Coat

13 April, 2012

I would imagine these are pretty easy to find, and with a little tailoring would be a great, masculine casual jacket. The hip holster helps too.

Dress Better. It’s Science

13 April, 2012

Just finished reading a report over at the New York (Beta) Times about the psychological effect our clothing can have on us.

If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention increases sharply. But if you wear the same white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will show no such improvement.

So scientists report after studying a phenomenon they call enclothed cognition: the effects of clothing on cognitive processes.

It is not enough to see a doctor’s coat hanging in your doorway, said Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, who led the study. The effect occurs only if you actually wear the coat and know its symbolic meaning — that physicians tend to be careful, rigorous and good at paying attention.

The findings, on the Web site of The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, are a twist on a growing scientific field called embodied cognition. We think not just with our brains but with our bodies, Dr. Galinsky said, and our thought processes are based on physical experiences that set off associated abstract concepts. Now it appears that those experiences include the clothes we wear.

This study points out two major things to me.

First is that, whether we like it or not, the clothes we wear carry as much meaning as the words we say or the actions we perform. It’s another knife in the chest of the slobs who say it doesn’t matter how they dress. Sorry guys, it actually and measurably does.

In the first[experiment] 58 undergraduates were randomly assigned to wear a white lab coat or street clothes. Then they were given a test for selective attention based on their ability to notice incongruities, as when the word “red” appears in the color green. Those who wore the white lab coats made about half as many errors on incongruent trials as those who wore regular clothes.

In the second experiment, 74 students were randomly assigned to one of three options: wearing a doctor’s coat, wearing a painter’s coat or seeing a doctor’s coat. Then they were given a test for sustained attention. They had to look at two very similar pictures side by side on a screen and spot four minor differences, writing them down as quickly as possible.

Those who wore the doctor’s coat, which was identical to the painter’s coat, found more differences. They had acquired heightened attention. Those who wore the painter’s coat or were primed with merely seeing the doctor’s coat found fewer differences between the images.

Second is that our own latent abilities can be drawn out depending on how we dress. This is a key aspect in developing the confidence to accomplish whatever task you have your mind on.

Are you nervous about approaching a girl because you feel like your life isn’t together enough to merit any attraction. Throw on a suit, it will have an actual change on the confidence you feel and therefore, the confidence you project.

I went rock climbing last night for my first time. I can’t imagine how it would have felt if I were wearing jeans, a polo, and a jacket instead of gym shorts, climbing shoes and a T-shirt. Knowing that I was dressed appropriately gave me a bit more of an edge and made me more comfortable on the wall.

I bet you play golf a bit better if you dress like a golfer.

The possibilities of this could be very interesting and I’m curious to see if they go beyond this initial study.

It would also be great Contrast Game for those who already have a gold-plated inner sense of themselves. If you can command a room of bankers wearing jeans and a T, the contrast will just make them and everyone else in there look up to you even more.

Have any of you ever noticed an increase in your performance when you wore something more appropriate?

Author: Tanner