A second pair of trousers?

[Feraud]

- I discovered a hole worn out on one side between the legs at the very top of the thighs, at the crotch.

Can this be repaired and return the outfit to suit status?

 

[Anthony Jordan]

The best way (to my mind) would be to repair it by inserting a "fork piece", two narrow triangles of fabric let into the inseam, replacing the worn area. However, alteration tailors I know are very unwilling to do this so for three of the four suits for which this has been an issue I have simply resorted to havign patched let-in behind the area of wear and then oversewn for added strength. The fourth suit, which I had made to measure some years ago, I arranged to have sent back to the original tailors to have the fork piece inserted. I have done this twice now and it cost £25 last time, which is just over 1/16 of the price of the suit when made and about 1/32 of what it would cost today. Had I the money at the time I would have invested in a second pair of trousers but even finding £395 then was a stretch!

I would certainly advocate wearing both pairs of trousers in rotation, to prolong their individual lives and to avoid any significant colour difference as a result of cleaning. Indeed, some recommend sending the whole suit away for cleaning together, for this reason.

My latest suit, and the second made-to-measure suit I own, was made with a second pair of trousers and I plan that my next one will as well. I think this is particularly important with lighter-weight modern fabrics.

 

[Edward]

Anthony, where did you get the suit? I'm hopnig to be able to order something from Magnoli soon (I've seen those threads, though given the vast proportion of folks on here seem to be very pleased with their purchases and comparing his prices to the high street, I'm willing to take a punt on it).

Feraud, alas I don't think it's really repairable - it's a relatively sizeable patch which has simply worn threadbare. I could probably put a patch behind it and get another few wears out of the suit, but I don't think it would be long before wear spots appeared elsewhere, alas. Soon as I have some time and money, I'm going to hit the charity shops and vintage places I can find and see if i can find a deal on a suit, though unfortunately charity shops are mostly full of modern style stuff, while the vintage places over here all too often in my experience / opinion have an inflated idea of what "old stuff" is worth.

 

[Anthony Jordan]

The first (a dark grey salmon ropestripe three-piece with 3-button notch jacket, fishmouth back trousers and notched-lapel waistcoat) was from Isaac Walton tailors in Newcastle, the second and most recent (a light grey white pinstripe two-piece with 1-button peak jacket and high back trousers) was from Ravi tailors. It was around £200 all told, including two pairs of trousers, hand stitching to the lapels and fronts, full-canvassing, etc.

 

[Edward]

The first (a dark grey salmon ropestripe three-piece with 3-button notch jacket, fishmouth back trousers and notched-lapel waistcoat) was from Isaac Walton tailors in Newcastle, the second and most recent (a light grey white pinstripe two-piece with 1-button peak jacket and high back trousers) was from Ravi tailors. It was around £200 all told, including two pairs of trousers, hand stitching to the lapels and fronts, full-canvassing, etc.

Ravi tailors.... are they the ones that I see advertised all the time in in-flight magazines where you go to a hotel on a certain day, get measured up, and then they send you the suit in the post? What's the quality like at that price?

 

[Anthony Jordan]

Ravi tailors.... are they the ones that I see advertised all the time in in-flight magazines where you go to a hotel on a certain day, get measured up, and then they send you the suit in the post? What's the quality like at that price?

I think they do travel, but all my dealings with them were done over the internet. The quality is good enough for my purposes but I am no expert! I did pay some upcharges for the features like the canvassing, hand-stitching, bemberg lining, etc., but I knew that if I didn't I would probably regret it later. I think the key is the measurements and I was fortunate enough to have my first suit to measure from and also help from my mother, who sews. Even as it is there are a few tweaks I would like to make before ordering again.

 

[Mid-fogey]

It's a flat fact...

...that the pants wear out faster. In the last 20 plus years of wearing suits, sportcoats, etc., I've observed that pants wear out much faster than jackets. I can't tell you how many suits I've gotten rid of because the pants were worn out and the jacket had a lot of life left.

Part of the reason I went to sportcoats a few years ago was I got tired of ripping a pair of pants and saying goodbye to the suit coat.

 

[APP Adrian]

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!

Suits are meant to be worn, that's a fact.

My principal in high school wore the same brown suit everyday for 4 years. He may or may not of had a 2nd pair of a trousers. His trousers looked more worn/shiny than his jacket and that's fine.

Please note that he wore that same brown suit 99% of the time. I occasionally saw him in a charcoal suit (maybe his brown suit was at the dry cleaners.)

He looked pretty stylish and confident, this is what matters the most.