Dress pants and whiskering

shoppingisfun

I have a problem with buying dress pants. Every pair I try on "whiskers" or makes weird lines/folds across the crotch area. I realize that this generally means the pants are too small. However, sizing up, even to where the pants are obviously way too big, does not solve the problem (instead of stretching and creating lines, the rise just sags and creates different lines). I have tried straighter and curvier styles. What am I doing wrong? Or does this happen to everyone? I have approximately a 26 inch waist and like 35.5 hips, if that helps. Depending on the brand and style I wear a 0P to a 4P. I end up wearing nothing but jeans. Luckily jeans look okay whiskered.

10 years ago

Shopping

10 replies

Latest reply was from Maneera

Diana

Veteran

Angie told me once that some whiskering is inevitable on pear shapes with trousers that contain stretch. I think it has to do with how the fabric distributes over the butt and hips - because of the stretch the pants don't have to be tailored to fit bigger in back/sides but rather just pulls around if that makes sense. So unless you get your pants custom made it is hard to avoid. I think jeans don't do that because they are thicker.

Another problem that can exacerbate this is if the front rise is too long. On me (borderline petite w/normal length rise) I prefer a moderately low rise in front, but sometimes have to settle for a bit higher bc I also need a longer back rise to accommodate the bottom, so there's excess fabric vertically in front which wants to fold up horizontally.

10 years ago

Marilyn

Veteran

You can also get whiskering if the rise is too long or too short. I'm petite but I always try pants in both petite and regular. Sometimes one works better than the other. Pants that are stretchy can also create whiskering problems.
This old post from Angie might be helpful to you.....
http://youlookfab.com/2013/02/.....hiskering/

10 years ago

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

It's strange, but I'm having the same problem with jeans. The whiskering in the front is getting annoying, and seems exaggerated in lighter colours.

10 years ago

shoppingisfun

(website)

Veteran

Maneera, honestly some of my jeans whisker too. It just doesn't really bother me with jeans. I figure jeans are meant to be tight, lol! Plus I mainly wear dark jeans so it doesn't show much. My lighter jeans for whatever reason tend to be baggier so they don't whisker much.

Marilyn, thanks for the link! I am glad to know that I am not the only one with this problem. I think my main issues are 1) having big thighs in comparison to my hips and waist, and 2) needing a shorter rise, even in petites. Plus I tend to gravitate toward pants with stretch...so like all factors are working against me.

So....is any amount of whiskering acceptable? And if so, what's your tolerance level?

10 years ago

shedev

Veteran

I get this too.

10 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Fitting a pant on a woman's body is one of the hardest sewing tasks. The following chart is for sewists, but it might help in figuring WHY you are having issues in fitting particular styles and what you might want to check when you pull a pair of pants from the rack. Stretchy fabrics provide a bit of wiggle room, but can only do so much to help a fit issue.

https://blog.colettehq.com/tut.....cheatsheet

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10 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

For me it happens if the rise is too short. I would try a non petite pant and see if it works better. If so, then you just have to hem it. That's what I do. It's not perfect (and sometimes you'll get whiskering anyway) but it's better. I have the same measurements as you, by the way, but I never wear a petite pant unless I size up to a 4P for this very reason -- the rise in petites tends to be shorter. (The length can sometimes be better for me -- it depends -- but the rise issue prevents me from wearing them.)

10 years ago

anne

Veteran

I have given up on pants, almost (apart from jeans and one pair of ponte pants) I have only bought one pair in 7+ years of being in YLF and about 1 every 5 to 10 years before that. It is too hard. (while I don't know my exact measurements at the moment I think my hip/waist ratio is similar to yours, and I share Suz's thigh issues)

10 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

For me, I get this if the pants have too high a rise in the front. I just bought a pair of culottes from WHBM and adore them, but they are doing the saggy whiskering thing in front, which looks really dumpy. I'm ordering the size down, but I don't know if that's going to fix the problem, because these were already snug in the bottom.

Have you tried jeans that have a low rise? Sometimes I find that the less fabric there is around the waist, the easier it is for the pants to fit right, because the pants don't have to cover so much of the body.

10 years ago

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

Oh goodness....this gets more and more confusing! Suz says whiskering can happen if the rise is too short. Gigi says whiskering can happen if the rise is long. I feel even mid-rise whiskers. So where is the solution?!

Petitesanonymous.....I think we are just going to have to try 1000 pairs of pants and jeans until we find one that fits well without whiskering! And when I find that brand and model, I'm so going to stock up!!!

However, I just realized that you're looking for formal dress pants----so won't it be better to just get a couple of them tailored to fit perfectly? If you wear formals everyday and pants are a wardrobe workhorse, I'd feel better spending the extra $ and getting a couple that are just perfect....the cost per wear will whittle down to nothing within the year. Also, custom made pants can have a lot of margin inside, so alterations become much easier if you gain or lose weight.

I suggest this because I do this for my husband. He's VERYYYY fussy about fit, and he's a very slim, tall guy who wants his pants to fit and fall only a particular way. So we buy fabric for 3-4 pants (the basic black, navy, grey) and get them stitched......they last him 3-4 years before I am bored of seeing them. The woollen ones last a lot lot longer. The fit is always phenomenal.....readymade pants don't come close to the tailor-made ones.

10 years ago

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