A second pair of trousers?

[Edward]

Does anyone here ever invest in a spare pair of trousers to go with a suit, or has that idea gone out the window these days?

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

You mean twice the same, or one in a contrasting colour?

The main use of the former would probably be to let one air or be dry cleaned, because it gets soiled faster than the jacket, so you can still wear the suit till the first trouser is fine again. People won't be aware of this, though, and might think you're always wearing the same suit without cleaning or airing.

What's really the point? Maybe simply that you can wear the suit (on and off) for twice the time until you have to carry it to the dry cleaners.

 

[Feraud]

I have a suit with an extra pair of pants in the same color. Longer suit life and cleanliness (the suit is cream colored) went into my decision to get the second pair of pants.

 

[Orgetorix]

You mean twice the same, or one in a contrasting colour?

The main use of the former would probably be to let one air or be dry cleaned, because it gets soiled faster than the jacket, so you can still wear the suit till the first trouser is fine again. People won't be aware of this, though, and might think you're always wearing the same suit without cleaning or airing.

What's really the point? Maybe simply that you can wear the suit (on and off) for twice the time until you have to carry it to the dry cleaners.

The point is not to wear it more often--the jacket still needs to rest between wearings. The point is to prolong the life of the suit, since most people wear out their trousers before their jacket.

I don't have any suits with extra trousers at the moment, but if I was having a suit made and could afford it, I'd get a second pair.

 

[dhermann1]

In old ads you used to see it all the time. This must be another aspect of the time when men always wore suits everywhere. You had a few suits and wore them all the time.

 

[AlanC]

I don't have any suits with extra trousers at the moment, but if I was having a suit made and could afford it, I'd get a second pair.

Agreed.

Some have them cut differently to add variety, eg, having one pair cut higher for braces and the other pair for a belt. The ratio of orphaned suit coats to orphaned suit trousers in thrift stores (and on ebay) is overwhelmingly in favor of the former. Trousers will, on average, wear out more quickly.

 

[Tomasso]

. You had a few suits and wore them all the time.

Yes, a small suit rotation would benefit from two trousers. Personally, I've never worn out a pair of suit trousers due to a large rotation and the fact that I'm easy on my clothes.

 

[Matt Deckard]

It's necessary for how I wear suits.

 

[Edward]

It's something I remember Dad used to do years ago, back when Marksies and the likes introduced the idea of a suit where you pick the jacket and the trousers up as separate (but matching) pieces, so you can get best fit between the two (common in high streets over here). That of course was at a time when. as far as my early memories serve me, most people owned maybe one or two suits at a time that got worn regularly, and the idea was indeed that the trousers would wear out first. I tried it once when i was about 21, though the second pair never got worn - turned out they were drastically mislabelled and several sizes too small (though Marksies, the stars that they were, took them back and refunded us without a quibble when the situation was explained. Impressive, as we only discovered this about six months after we bought the suit). Since then, I've been buying my suits mostly from a small gentlemen's outfitters where a suit comes as a suit - jacket, trousers and possibly waistcoat. Wearing them infrequently, it seemed that the jackets were really past their best by the time the trousers were gone. (My office is a semi-casual place most of the time, as is the case for much of academia. I'm slowly evolving towards a more thrirties / forties influenced casual approach, which is really what might be considered smart or business casual today) but since I have become more interested in wearing a suit more often in recent years, I've been starting to wonder whether the old second pair of trousers isn't such a bad idea if i go made to measure. Obviously it has to be done at time of purchase so they're from the same bolt to be sure of a match....

now there's a thing.... how do those who do this manage the trousers? Wear them in rotation? keep one pair until the others wear out? Do you find that if each pair of the trousers get half the wear the jackets do, there starts to come a perceptible shade difference as the jacket is subject to twice the dry cleaning?

 

[Micawber]

Yes I have suits with additional trousers as to my mind they are the item which takes more physical wear and pressure. I also have shooting suits with one pair of trousers and a pair of breeks.

 

[MrBern]

cuffs or not

Does anyone here ever invest in a spare pair of trousers to go with a suit, or has that idea gone out the window these days?

Definitely. I'm generally overjoyed when theres an option to pick up a second pair.
Sometimes I will have one pair cuffed , but the other pair tailored plain.

 

[jgilbert]

I have purchased suit separates. One jacket and two pair of trousers. One plain front and one pleated. While traveling on business this works great. The jacket spends most of the time on a hanger and is worn during the customer visit or dinner. While the trousers worn all day do have time to rest.

I would look in to it.

 

[Feraud]

Definitely. I'm generally overjoyed when theres an option to pick up a second pair.
Sometimes I will have one pair cuffed , but the other pair tailored plain.

I do the same thing.

 

[cookie]

Original Pants repelcerment

The other I thrifted a nice Ralph Lauren pinstripe suit jacket from one of those suits that cost like AUD1500. It had no pants and I bought it to use as a blazer. But the thought occurred to me that maybe you could get matching pants as that fabric and design is a regular easy to find RL suit?

Any ideas fellow loungers?

 

[cookie]

Original Pants replacement

The other I thrifted a nice Ralph Lauren pinstripe suit jacket from one of those suits that cost like AUD1500. It had no pants and I bought it to use as a blazer. But the thought occurred to me that maybe you could get matching pants as that fabric and design is a regular easy to find RL suit?

Any ideas fellow loungers?

 

[Tomasso]

Any ideas fellow loungers?

You'll never find an exact match. Even the same fabric from the same mill will vary in color from run to run. Additionally, the jacket color has probably changed from the effects of dry cleaning and exposure to the elements. Don't waste your time.

 

[Fast]

Dad got big. He had one suit. It was tailored. the pants were made with the suit, cut from the same bolt, to coin the literal meaning of a metaphoric phrase.

He wore the jacket to and from the office, and to meetings, but had the pants on all day. The pants got swapped and aired, then taken to the cleaners every weekend.

When the pants had a really nice shine and the jacket a light one, mom made him go out and get another suit. It was not uncommon then.

Carpe Diem
Fast

 

[Feraud]

I agree to say it is basically impossible to match the material from a lone jacket to a pair of pants.

 

[Feng_Li]

My father bought the second pair so he could get through trade shows without having to press his trousers.

 

[Edward]

All makes sense. Cookie, I would never try to match a jacket to a new pair of trousers, it's not gonig to work for the reasons given above - that's the key reason why I was considering whether to go for a second pair of trousers or not. As it happens, since I started this thread a suit I've had for about seven years or so finally died - I discovered a hole worn out on one side between the legs at the very top of the thighs, at the crotch. The jacket is still very wearable, and so has been transferred to blazer status (I'm considering fitting a new set of buttons in soemthing like an antiqued brass). It coulde still be a suit though if i'd had the second pair of trousers - decision made!