[Spex]

Pardon my ignorance on this; I've always read, and most of the gentlemen above have stated, that charcoal wools are an essential odd trouser for the man's wardrobe. Maybe it is due to my limited imagination, but I have always had a difficult time coming up with an ensemble that includes charcoal trousers. Especially if there is a sports jacket involved. Medium gray, lighter gray, sure. But true charcoal... I just do not know. What do most of you find a good match to these?

I agree. I don't find charcoal grey useful to me at all. The only time I would consider wearing it is with a lighter grey herringbone tweed jacket, or no jacket at all. Too dark to be paired with navy and I really, really don't like the look of a tan or taupe jacket with grey.

 

[rtd1]

Pardon my ignorance on this; I've always read, and most of the gentlemen above have stated, that charcoal wools are an essential odd trouser for the man's wardrobe. Maybe it is due to my limited imagination, but I have always had a difficult time coming up with an ensemble that includes charcoal trousers. Especially if there is a sports jacket involved. Medium gray, lighter gray, sure. But true charcoal... I just do not know. What do most of you find a good match to these?

Either a light to medium gray or a medium blue. The right shade of olive can also work. But you are correct that a medium gray odd trouser is more versatile than a charcoal gray one.

 

[JLibourel]

I know that medium or dark gray flannel slacks are customarily regarded as an essential element in a well-clad gentleman's wardrobe, but in my part of the world I've never felt the need for them, gray worsteds in all but the lightest weights serving just fine in our mild winters.

 

[sogno]

should flannel and linen trousers have somekind of pattern ( or other feature) to distinguish them from suit trousers?

 

[SG_67]

^ on the contrary I don't care for odd slacks that have a pattern to them unless very, very subtle.

 

[Hockey Tom]

I like odd trousers with a (slight, as SG_67 mentioned) pattern, but find it can make pairing them with a jacket more difficult.

 

[Sam H]

How do you guys feel about cream flannel?

I really only like mid gray and sometimes navy pants, cream/offwhite wool seems like an enticing alternative.

 

[Matt S]

^ on the contrary I don't care for odd slacks that have a pattern to them unless very, very subtle.

I agree. Patterned odd trousers usually strike me more of as suit trousers than plain odd trousers do.

 

[rtd1]

How do you guys feel about cream flannel?

I really only like mid gray and sometimes navy pants, cream/offwhite wool seems like an enticing alternative.

I know it's somewhat of a classic, but it always seemed an unusual color for flannels to me. In the Northeast it would be odd to wear cream colored pants after Labor Day and especially during the Winter.

 

[sunjh2004]

For so many years, I find I really only reach for three colors most of the time: cream/off white and cotton light tan pants for summer and the right shade of wool grey pants for winter. I don't like any other colors even though I have wool tan and some darker pants. Wool grey is a must for cooler months, and off white works great in summer. That's all you need.

 

[CLTesquire]

So without an artificial limitation of a "top-10" here is my odd trouser rotation over all seasons:

Navy fresco
Navy tropical wool
Navy flannel

Tan hopsack
Champagne hopsack
Tan tropical wool
Light tobacco tropical wool
Stone linen/cotton
British Tan cavalry twill

Charcoal tropical wool
Medium grey tropical wool
Medium grey fresco
Pearl grey tropical wool
Charcoal cavalry twill
Medium grey cavalry twill
Charcoal flannel (x2)
Medium grey flannel
Pearl grey flannel

Now that I type all of this I'm a little curious how all of these have made into my closet. I have nothing in brown, which is sad to me. I'd also like some form of tan or fawn flannel at some point. While I like olive, I don't really have anything to wear with it.

 

[sogno]

^ on the contrary I don't care for odd slacks that have a pattern to them unless very, very subtle.

then "worrying" about pants looking as orphan suit pants is a non-issue?

 

[SG_67]

If you're referring to plain slacks with no pattern, then no.

Slacks with a pattern are more apt to look like orphaned suit slacks. Perhaps a tonal pattern that is very subtle can pass as both, but otherwise, anything with a bold pattern or God forbid pinstripes will most assuredly suggest otherwise.

 

[Spex]

On the topics of pattens and textures, would a solid plain weave worsted wool trouser be better for pairing with something with texture such as a hopsack blazer, rather than a pair of slightly textured trousers (I don't mean flannel, but something like . You'll need to zoom into the close up to see the texture)? Or is that fine as long as you have a contrast in color?

 

[rtd1]

On the topics of pattens and textures, would a solid plain weave worsted wool trouser be better for pairing with something with texture such as a hopsack blazer, rather than a pair of slightly textured trousers (I don't mean flannel, but something like . You'll need to zoom into the close up to see the texture)? Or is that fine as long as you have a contrast in color?

I wear my navy hopsack blazer with gray gabardines. You can't tell the blazer is hopsack unless you're standing less than 3 feet from me and know what you're looking for. Likewise, gabardine trousers tend to look like plain weave from more than a few feet away. I honestly wouldn't worry about it. Contrasting textures only becomes significant when BOTH articles actually have a coarser texture, like a tweed jacket and flannel trousers.

 

[zzdocxx]

If you're referring to plain slacks with no pattern, then no.

Slacks with a pattern are more apt to look like orphaned suit slacks. Perhaps a tonal pattern that is very subtle can pass as both, but otherwise, anything with a bold pattern or God forbid pinstripes will most assuredly suggest otherwise.

This would be a good topic for an illustrated thread.

Eg. what does the forum feel about this?

 

[zzdocxx]

Oh I don't mean to hijack the thread, but SG67's comments just got me thinking (can be dangerous).

Well this is a chick, but came up on a search for birdseye trousers. And why isn't it spelled bird's eye or birds' eye or birds' eyes?

Looks not bad to me.

 

[zzdocxx]

Pure herringbone.

 

[SG_67]

I suppose herringbone and Birdseye do form a pattern but they are subtle enough and it is a virtue of the fabric itself.

My issue is with pin stripes, chalk stripes, plaid varietals and other patterns. With the exception of black watch and other traditional tartan patterns associated with particular festivals and occasions.

 

[zzdocxx]

Thanks for clarifying that, SG, I'm following what you are saying.

:hi: