Help me diagnose a common trouser fit problem - YouLookFab Forum

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Help me diagnose a common trouser fit problem

Mander

(website)

Veteran

All this talk of suits has me daydreaming about finding myself a new good-quality classic suit. I have a consistent problem with anything other than jeans, however: every pair of non-denim trousers I own rides up my legs as I walk, so after a few steps I end up with the fabric bunched up in the crotch area.

What causes this? Is it just a hazard of being fat? Or cheap/thin fabric? Or is it simply an indication that the trousers are the wrong size in the thigh, rise, etc?

Dressing

15 replies

Latest reply was from

Vildy

Veteran

I was hoping someone had some insight. I don't have this problem with pants
but with shorts I frequently do. I suspect it could have something to do with
how they hang from the hips. If they were hitched up by the side hip, I don't think
they could bunch inside whereas if they fit so that "too" much room was taken up
at front and/or back, it might yank on the inside leg fabric.

Anonymous

My hunch is that it's the way the pants fit. Possibly they're not large enough in the thigh area. I have a problem with certain pants whiskering in the front, and figured out from Imogen's Inside Out Style blog that pants aren't supposed to do that. It's a problem with not having enough room in the hips. Women with hourglass body types have the most problem with that. Anyhoo, back to you. I strongly suggest that you go to a tailor or seamstress and get expert advice. Good luck, and let us know if you figure it out. Hope this helps!

Meredith1953

Veteran

I have fit problems with pants quite a bit. What I have heard is that in addition to rise and inseam being correct it might be necessary to "size up" and then alter the waistband as necessary. I like trouser pants that have wide flat waistbands (great for holding in a little tummy) and a completely straight drop from the hip line. I have TRIED to find denim straight leg or skinnies that look good but keep coming back to bootcuts!

mrseccentric

(website)

Veteran

2 thots. Need more room in hip thigh. Could be lining would help? Steph

jayne

Veteran

I have the opposite problem and I am an hourglass/pear...with big thighs a smaller waist, my pants slide down and I end up with crotch hanging. A belt to hold them in place is not comfortable. Do you have a shape like mine or a different one?

Mander

(website)

Veteran

I'm a sort of hourglass, but with a big belly. Usually the trousers that do this don't seem like they are too small.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Have you tried going up a size?

Amy

(website)

Veteran

My guess would be they aren't wide in either the thighs for you. It doesn't happen to me when I walk, but when I sit down, pants get stuck around my thighs, so when I stand up I have to tug them down again. Do you have to do this?

Can you go to an Ann Taylor store and try on either the curvy or the signature cut pants? or, order a couple online with the intent to return what isn't good? They're looser in that area, which is one of the reasons they work for me and other trousers don't.

Also, when buying pants, you should be more concerned about how they fit at your hips than at your waist. If the are too wide at the waist, it's an easy fix for a tailor. If the waistband is too loose when trying them on, hold it up to the spot where you want the waistband before assessing the fit through the crotch, thighs, etc.

Mander

(website)

Veteran

I don't think there is an Ann Taylor in the UK, sadly. I'm not entirely sure who makes decent plus size clothes here at all -- there seems to be a much smaller selection than back home.

Anyway here is an example. To me they seem to fit ok -- nothing pulls or feels tight, even when I sit down, they fit without being too snug around the hips and waist (although they are a bit short). But just from walking downstairs and then back up I get this funky bunching thing. I have a couple of inches of extra room in the thigh, although it doesn't look like it from the side.

Is it just because of the way my belly sticks out? Maybe I should stick to skirts.

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cinnamon fern

Veteran

I don't think it has anything to do with your belly. Are you short in the rise? So you get bunching around the crotch because it's a little bit dropped?

maharani

This looks like it might at least partially be the result of too short a crotch depth (easy fix) but also the way the pants are shaped. I would strongly suggest you consult a good tailor and follow their advice when pants shopping. I have to get every pair of pants I buy altered in the crotch, back seam, so it fits my butt correctly, hem and waistband taken in. My guess is jeans with spandex might fit better because of the elastic in the fabric. but again, getting a second opinion is really helpful here too.

Mander

(website)

Veteran

Hmm, too short or too long in the rise area? If I put the waistband around belly-button level, which is most comfortable, then I have a drop of an inch or so in the crotch. But are they supposed to be worn higher, so that the waistband sits around the narrowest bit of my torso? I think I'm a little short-waisted, though, so if I pull the waistband up I look like Steve Urkel.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rNXc.....BUrkel.jpg

cjh

(website)

Veteran

I think the alteration for this would be to lengthen the rise and also let out the inseam along the inner thigh area a little. However the idea to try a larger size and take in the waist may be okay.

I think if there is fabric in the inseam to let out, it might be easier to do this alteration. A tailor could help a lot because he/she could assess the fabric and construction for the best solution.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

You might have a tilted waist, too, where the place you wear your waistband in the front is lower than in the back. I have this and alter for it when I make my own pants and skirts. In RTW I have less of a problem with pants than with skirts, actually, which hike back and keep the side seams from being even. It makes sense that you'd have less problem with jeans than with trousers, because jeans are cut with a more tilted waist already.

Anonymous

I'm just throwing this in as food for thought, but trousers generally fit looser than jeans, so you may think the trousers fit when in reality you need to go up a size. Trousers have a different fit and a different feel than jeans. I remember when I got out of high school, started working, and started wearing trousers. It took me a while to get used to the way they felt on my body. The fit was so different from my jeans.

Also, Amy made a good point when she said to make sure they fit in the hips. The waist can always be taken in.