The Grey Trouser Project with Cad & the Dandy II: The First Basted Fitting

Grave news. A mixture of two months of a terrible diet during finals, followed by an intense period of cycling and running in an attempt to lose the weight I put on has problematised the trouser situation. This something which Mr John Baker, my tailor at Cad & the Dandy confirmed for me by looking my legs up and down and asking succinctly 'have you been doing any running lately?' Apparently this recent bout of inactivity followed by my chosen form of exercise has increased the size of my thighs by half an inch each, and my seat measurement has grown an inch in size...

The light grey gabardine, twin-pleated pair. The stretching and tightness across the thigh can clearly be seen.

This discovery took place as I squeezed myself into the skeleton baste of the two pairs of bespoke grey woollen trousers that I have on order from Cad & the Dandy. I have very much been looking forward to seeing these two trousers made-up at the basted fitting, because I wasn't sure how they were going to look or feel on - particularly the darker pair, cut in a 13oz charcoal cavalry twill. Fortunately, I am extremely pleased with how both trousers are shaping up. Both cloths have a softer handle than I thought they might, whilst remaining extremely strong and durable with plenty of body. I also feared that the cavalry twill might look a little old fashioned, but actually I am very pleased with how sharp they look. The chunky turn-ups have been basted onto both trousers and look great, and although the size issue with the trousers in the thigh means that the pleats are not draping properly (as they hopefully will be at the next fitting), the choice of twin pleats on the light grey twill and single inverted pleats on the cavalry twill were definitely the right decisions to make. The single inverted pleat keeps the cavalry twill looking relatively contemporary, whilst double pleats on the light grey twill suit the classic quality of the cloth itself.

The light charcoal cavalry twill pair. Again, the stretching around my hip and across my thigh can be clearly made-out.

With regards to fit, we obviously have an unexpectedly long way to go - but this is entirely my fault, due to my change in size meaning that I've outgrown what has up until now been an ideal pattern. Fortunately, both John and Mr Ryan Lovatt (who assisted at the fitting) offered me the attentive service you'd expect, quickly leapt into action and gave both pairs of trousers a very thorough examination. Their expert eyes determined that there are a number of things that need to be done with both pairs. Firstly, the waist of each trouser needs letting out half an inch, just to make sure that they're on the comfortable side of tight, just as I like them. Equally, due to the increase in the size of my rump, the trousers need easing out an inch through the seat. 

Here, the dragging of excess cloth on the rear half of the trouser across my seat can clearly be seen. 

In addition to these relatively hum-drum adjustments, two other rather curious technical alterations need to be made. Firstly, because my thighs have grown a little, the cloth across the thighs is stretched across the front of each leg, distorting the drape of the trousers and preventing the pleats from falling naturally. The solution is to ease another three quarters of an inch of cloth through the front of each leg, forwards from the front half of the outside seam, which will provide more fullness in the thighs and allow the trousers to hang naturally, releasing any kind of constriction. The extra cloth has to be supplied from the front half of the outside leg seam, because the fullness needs adding across the front of the thigh without moving the fall of the pleats out of alignment. If space was added to the back of the thigh, the trousers would lose their shape and their neat line, and no room would be added to the front of the leg where its needed.

Chalking the trouser side-seam where more cloth needs letting out to ease the front of the trouser. 

The final adjustment relates not to my change in size, but my posture. I have what tailors call a 'forward stance', meaning that I naturally stand in an erect position, with my chest and stomach pushed forward and my shoulders back with my spine curved. This means that the back of my trousers have to negotiate a spine which is very strongly curved and sloping, whereas the front of my trousers sit around a belly which is pushed outwards, giving them a slightly longer distance to drape through. The result is that the front of my trousers need to be ever so slightly longer than the back for the leg to hang effortlessly all the way round. Thus, the backs of my trousers needed 'picking-up' in the waistband to prevent the trousers from creating 'drag lines' round the curves of my seat. The act of picking-up the trousers allows for the removal of any excess cloth on the back half of the trouser, pulling up the whole rear of the trouser to improve its drape, and allowing the trouser to sit neatly around the curves of my seat without rippling and dragging.

 Here you can see the alterations that need taking to the seat of the trouser. The pins are picking-up the rear half of the trouser half an inch to allow the cloth to sit cleanly, and the chalk marks demonstrate where more space is needed in the fork of the trouser.

When you realise that a tailor has to negotiate changes in body shapes with every customer all of the time, you start to realise that even a pair of trousers - which are essentially formed from four panels of cloth and a waistband - can be a devil to fit to bespoke standards. Trousers not only have to fit perfectly around all areas of the leg, hips and seat, but have to hang off the waistband perfectly around its entirety. Such things are not always easily achieved, and my trousers attest to the technical difficulty of getting the fit and the hang of the trouser right when dressing a difficult body shape. Once these adjustments are made, I will have a second basted fitting with Cad & the Dandy and hopefully we'll be able to see the difference in shape and fit to better demonstrate the point.

Mr John Baker of Cad & the Dandy, modelling trousers which hopefully fit as perfectly as mine shall once completed...