The Perfect Trousers

What do you consider most extensively when buying a suit?

I’d put money on your answer being the jacket. But trousers are just as deserved of your scrutiny. A good pair of trousers is the difference between a passable suit and a premium one. No matter how immaculately tailored or interestingly finished your jacket, if your trousers are badly cut, you’re doing yourself a great disservice.

Trousers aren’t often given much attention when it comes to buying a suit, but they should be, as they really help to flatter a silhouette. Too tight, too baggy, too short or too long and they will draw attention to themselves, as well as take away from the subtlety that is ‘good style’.

Most of us have heard terms like low-rise, high-rise, brace-cut and side adjusters bandied about, but what do they actually mean? And which one is right for you?

The Rise

Firstly, let’s talk about rise. Low-rise trousers are those that don’t sit quite as high on the waist. Jeans, for example, are known for their lower rise. These days, the majority of ready-to-wear trousers are cut with a lower rise to what they used to be in days gone by.

I’ve come across several people – many of them in fear of the dreaded ‘Simon Cowell’ effect of having trousers that sit too high – that express real concern when I suggest they should opt for a higher rise when going bespoke. Fair enough, but the truth remains that if you go for trousers that sit a little higher on the waist, they will give you a better line to the floor and consequently be more flattering.

They needn’t be sky high, but should rest on, or just above, the hips – around the line of your navel. Getting the rise correct also helps to achieve the right proportion between the trouser length and that of the jacket.

But what do you do if you have a belly? Well, besides the obvious (i.e. getting rid of it), you can either opt for trousers that lie just below your most rotund point, or – and this is, in my humble opinion, much more advisable – keep them up higher than your protruding belly and wear them with a pair of braces.