Custom full rise, narrow leg khakis

Last June, Christian Chensvold came up with a great idea for a new pair of khakis. He asked readers of his Ivy Style blog if any were interested in pants that had a full rise and a narrow leg. Typically, as he stated, you can find one or the other these days—a full rise usually means billowing legs, narrow legs mean a low rise. But if you are looking for that classic “heyday” style, it’s next to impossible to find in stores. He posted this image to illustrate what he meant:

The reaction to Christian’s idea was very positive, with many commenters adding their support – including myself. While I don’t normally wear pants with very narrow legs, I’m all about the high waist. And since khakis are on the casual side, a thinner leg would be just fine.

So we waited for Christian’s plan to come to fruition. There were a couple of updates, that he had found a willing manufacturer to create a ready-to-wear line and that we might expect the pants before Christmas. Then came the bad news: the maker, Bill’s Khakis, was restructuring and the project would be put on indefinite hold. It was disappointing but understandable. However, I had spent so much time thinking about these pants, I wasn’t ready to let go of the idea. I had read about other makers who had similar khakis – J. Press, John Simons and Cordings – but after one failed attempt to buy pants online (wrong fit, expensive shipping, low Canadian dollar), I gave up on that approach. Instead, I decided to get the pants custom made here in Toronto.

I first headed to Sultan’s Fine Fabrics to pick the material. I found a beautiful brushed cotton – heavy without being too thick, a dressy smoothness to the finish and just the right light khaki colour. Then, I took the cotton to Walter Beauchamp Tailors who have a long history of made-to-measure casual clothes. I sketched out exactly what I wanted: flat front, 12″ rise, 18″ at the knee and 17″ at the opening with 2″ cuffs.

I’m very pleased with the end result. The fabric feels luxurious and looks dressy. The rise is full and comfortable and means the pants work perfectly with a blazer or sport jacket. The leg is narrow which looks great but because the fabric has very little give, I may have gone too narrow – upon first putting the pants on, they felt a bit tight in the thigh. I like the height of the cuffs but once again, because the fabric is on the heavier side, they are a tad bulky.

The construction is excellent. The waistband is light-weight and the pants hang well in the front. My only concern is that the pockets flare out a bit, due to the pants being a little snug on the seat. That’s the cost of giving up pleats, I’m afraid. That said, a couple of close friends who know a lot about pant construction both told me that if the fly seam was angled a bit more – essentially adding more fabric at the crotch – the pockets wouldn’t flare quite as much. But it’s a subtle thing because on the whole, I think the top of the pants look great.

As a comparison, you can see below how my new pants stack up to the original illustration:

I’m obviously not as young and thin as the figure on the left and perhaps my fabric is a bit heavier, but on the whole, I’m satisfied. And while I think it is unfortunate someone has to go to such lengths – custom made – to get a garment that is so relatively simple and basic, it speaks to our time. We do not live in an age of true sartorial freedom. Like every era of the past, if we diverge even a little from the mainstream – which today means wanting a full rise – we have no option but to go our own way.

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