The fit for Dress Pants vs Jeans

cloud9

Hi everyone.. I have a silly question..

Are dress pants supposed to (around hips & thighs)
1) fit just like jeans, but just not as tight
2) fit as tight, or
3) completely different (besides the crease)?

I think my dress pants are all quite ill fitting looking at pictures, I honestly have NO IDEA as to what is proper fit (front & back view). The comfy ones don't necessarily look good. The good ones are all darker ones that seem to hug the thighs closer, but then usually a bit more snug so is that appropriate? I noticed most of my dress pants are more relaxed down the thighs, and then below the knee is whatever cut/style (boot/straight/skinny...).

15 years ago

Dressing

11 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

Kari

Veteran

It sounds like your dress pants DO fit right based on my understanding of fit - most dress pants fall pretty straight from the hip/bum area and skim over the thigh (unless they have an intentionally skinny fit, in which case they will be much slimmer on the thigh & knee as well as below the knee.)

I guess this is an illustration of why I'm wearing jeans but not dress pants these days - the dress pants have a much cleaner & more tailored fit than jeans, and weight fluctuations in my body is making a clean fit very challenging to attain.

15 years ago

Polly (thunalata)

Veteran

Have you read this?

http://youlookfab.com/2010/03/.....ess-pants/

15 years ago

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

Hi Cloud9 (great name, btw)!
In my experience, dress pants are not supposed to be quite as snug as jeans. You want something to skim over your thighs, not hug them the way jeans often do. Buying dress pants in a substantial, weighty, drapy fabric will help a lot with this.
On the other hand, you don't want something that will bag out too much either. It's about striking the right balance, and often it takes time. Fortunately Angie has some great advice on this very topic, and I believe Thunalata has started you on the right track.

15 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks Polly and Michelle. Dress pants should not fit nearly as snugly as jeans. When in doubt - size up and have the waistband adjusted.

15 years ago

Anonymous

Ill be frank. I guess im on major ylf violation. I prefer my work trousers on the snug side at the hip. I think the newer cuts i.e br martins and the various trousers from gap, lend themselves to a more snug fit at the hips. Anything bigger looks sloppy in my opinion.

15 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Zap, it depends on your body type. Dress pants should not pull across the thighs - which is often the case on hourglass and pear shaped gals. Perhaps you don't have that challenge because you don't have curvy thighs?

15 years ago

Lisa

Veteran

Not a silly question to me, I'm glad this was asked. I always struggle with the fit of dress pants for work. I always feel like they are either too tight in the hip/thigh/bum area or fit everywhere except I have a baggy bum.

15 years ago

Anonymous

Angie, I don't think I have curvy thighs but I might be getting the fit wrong too.

15 years ago

cloud9

Veteran

Thank you all for your helpful responses. I got the concept down, just still can't tell by looking at a picture what a good fit is. My comfy ones seem to look baggy on the thighs, and more squarish from behind. Probably just bad fit on me...

Now this begs another question... what are trouser jeans? Are they cut more like dress pants thus the name?

15 years ago

Anonymous

Hi Cloud9 - Trouser jeans are exactly that, jeans cut like pants. Just like in here:
http://www.gap.com/browse/prod.....=760956002
!

15 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Only one way to find out ladies - photograph yourselves in the dress pants and lets get you sorted!

15 years ago

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