Look at the waist on Fred Astaire's trousers in the photograph. The high rise means the trousers hang in a straighter line to the ground, which is the thing that separates great trousers from the ordinary. And the high waistband (which is not a waistband at all since instead of a separate piece of cloth his trouser legs simply continue to the top) means among other things that the flash of a belt buckle will be safely hidden by a jacket, sweater or square tailed polo.
All trousers used to be made this way, until the combination of second world war cloth rationing and clothing makers' desire to cut costs drove them down to the hips. Now a new company, Stinson R. Ely, has put theirs back at the natural waist where they should be. The stylish man can choose to let them drape quietly under a jacket or make an impression by pairing them with just a shirt and side tabs or a great belt.
Made to measure in the United States for about $500 a pair, plus cloth. For more information, contact the company.
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8 comments:
Is that a silk ribbon used in place of a belt? Awesome.
Astaire sometimes used a necktie as a belt. I preferred Astaire's formal trousers with forward pleats instead of the reverse pleats he wears here.
Astaire mainly used silk handkerchiefs in lieu of belts, though he did use ties when he was younger. It was a utilitarian move: he would lose weight while dancing (!), and needed to be able to cinch the waist precisely.
It's because he wanted his clothes to move with him while he danced that he eschewed suspenders for belted pants.
I'm really tempted to have my trousers made this way. On photographs I find them much more elegant and clean than today's flat/slim standard. There are two objections holding me back, though. First, I'm rather short (5'7'') and weigh only 145 pounds and I suspect that wearing large trousers could shorten me further. Second, how do you handle tie length ? Being short, I'm already struggling to have my ties getting to the waistband of "regular" trousers (I can rarely use the four in hand for that reason), what would happen with pants like those that must reach around the navel ? Would it mean throwing all my ties away and buying made to measures ones (not an option I'm really considering)? Or is the tie length rule different when wearing that kind of pants ?
Nathan,
I'm your height, but weigh less. My solution to the tie conundrum is multifold.
1. Use a different knot (I don't like the four-in-hand anyway).
2. Wear vintage ties (which are generally shorter than new ones).
3. Pin the collar (the enforced arching takes up some length).
4. Pin the tail of the tie up (I have a very nice long (i.e., not regular length) mogador tie that I have to do this with).
You can also get your ties shortened by a professional; I know of one tailor with an on-line presence who will do this (he also narrows, widens, and cleans ties, and can change the position of the tip to hide worn fabric). Unfortunately, such services aren't cheap.
Thank you for the advices, Horatio. It happens that Drakes of London, from whom most of my ties come from, just announced the release of shorter length ties. I've already ordered two, to see how reality measures to fiction :) In my experience most of the regular length ties Drake's sell are much longer than announced. Right now, I'm wearing a striped grenadine supposedly 147 cm long that I measured this morning at 163 ! But I digress. I will try some of the tricks you suggested, thank you again. I've also recently stumbled on a Rose Callahan photography of Keith Churchwell (one of the most elegant men to be seen on the internet, I think) and his tie goes down well beyond the top of his high rising trousers, I'd say by 3 inches at least. So maybe that law does not apply to Astaire rising pants...
Nathan, you may not be aware that all the Drake's ties on the ASW site are 8x142 cm and have been for years. In fact, it was most likely the orders we've placed for that length that made Drake's think about offering it themselves.
Like Nathan, I am 5' 7". Therefore, just about all off the rack dress slacks are high rise on me anyway. So why don't they look like Astaire's slacks on me? To make them ride up around my waist, not only do I have to bring the waist in but I have to tighten my belt like a tourniquet which cuts into my waist and makes me look hippy even though I am slender. Otherwise, the inseam drags and I look like a business casual hip-hopper.
Sometimes I can find short-rise slacks. At least they fit me okay, but what I really want is the longer look of slacks hanging from my waist.
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