This installment of "LeaveIt On The Rack" is all about pleated pants and trousers. This is a tough one for me to write because I have recently inherited some very nice Crombie suits and would love nothing more than to sport them but feel I am left stranded because of the pleated pants. Pleated pants aren't totally wrong. In fact, I have owned many pairs myself through the years.
There are two problems I see with pleated pants:
1. I personally see them as unflattering for my body type.
(Pleats can make you look shorter if you're not careful and, since I have a 30in inseam, I can't afford to look any shorter.)
2. They tend to make a person or outfit look dated.
(Since most new trousers and pants are made without pleats, pleated pants tend to look old or out of style.)
The reason I bring this up is not just because of my current Crombie suit situation but because I run into this issue a lot when shopping in thrift stores for vintage suits. I have often times found suit jackets that fit perfectly only to find that the pants are pleated. I have heard some say that pleats can be removed from trousers so I did some homework. I don't know much about the actual construction of a garment so I must say that I am not clear on what is possible with trousers. Soon after starting my search for a pleat removal expert I found that most tailors or alterations shops do not feel comfortable removing pleats from pants. I was told on multiple calls that, while it is not outside the realm of possibility, removing pleats from pants basically requires the tailor to rebuild the entire front panel of the garment. Evidently this is no easy task without a pattern to go by. In the end I decided that the best thing to do was just pass by those seemingly rare gems that featured pleats. Even if you can find someone that is willing to remove pleats from pants it is highly unlikely that the benefit will be worth the cost involved. So when you find pleated pants while looking for flat fronts, just leave them on the rack.
-Stay Classy
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