The Big and Tall Store is always so literal about the 'and' - it's not the Big and/or Tall Store.

July 13, 2010 11:04 AM

Can you suggest to me a source for tall, thin, flat-front, low-waisted, wrinkle-free dress slacks?

I am having a hard time shopping online for some new slacks. It seems the terms "low-rise" or "low-waisted" throw off most search engines, or the slacks I'm looking for aren't defined that way. Perhaps I just don't know the right words to use.

I'm a very tall and thin guy - I wear a 34x36. I like my slacks fairly tight and for the waist to sit around my hips. If I go someplace cheap like Sears and pick up their generic slacks they either ride above my hips, making me look even more long-legged, or they sit on the hips with two inches of baggy material below my crotch - not to mention that they are never skinny enough, even when I get the right size waist.

A while back I bought a pair of these at the Gap, and they fit wonderfully. They're almost exactly what I'm looking for - except now they're being phased out, can't get them in my size, etc. Oh, and they need ironing.

I figure as long as I'm looking for new slacks, why not look for the Holy Grail of tall skinny guy slacks - flat front, no iron (or wrinkle-free) and low-rise?

I'm sure one of you knows the secret place to shop or the code word to use.

posted by komara to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 answers total)

Land's End!
posted by decathecting at 11:27 AM on July 13, 2010

My first thought was Bonobos
posted by nuffsaid at 12:21 PM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ugh, decathecting, every picture on that Land's End page looks like they have their belts cinched tight around the waist. I mean just look at how far it is from his belt buckle to his crotch ... and that's their 'tailored fit'. I think Land's End is too traditional style for me.
posted by komara at 12:30 PM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

nuffsaid, I do like the look of some of these Bonobos items. I'll have to keep digging to see if I can find the right thing at a price that won't bork my wallet.
posted by komara at 12:36 PM on July 13, 2010

2nd Bonobos, even though they are pricey. I love mine.

Have you tried the online stores of J.Crew, Gap and Banana Republic? Again, they aren't cheap, but they have a tall section that works for tall, slender guys.

I feel your pain --- tall, skinny things are surprisingly hard to find.
posted by dgc at 1:14 PM on July 13, 2010

How tall are you? If you can find pants that are only off by a few inches in the inseam, you can get them re-hemmed. I'm not super tall, but that's usually what I end up doing. The tailor can also add a little cuff of fabric to extend the inseam another inch or two.
posted by nomad at 1:38 PM on July 13, 2010

nomad: I'm 6'5" - most of the time 34/36 works perfectly for me.

dgc: the slacks I'm wearing right now are from The Gap, and I love them, but they've apparently been discontinued for the summer or until next year's fashions blah blah blah. I'm seeing some good stuff at Banana Republic, but nothing wrinkle-free. Guess I may just have to break down and buy something that I'll still have to iron.
posted by komara at 1:40 PM on July 13, 2010

Theory.
posted by four panels at 1:48 PM on July 13, 2010

Jcrew has these and these.

Look for wool trousers - wool generally resists wrinkles pretty well.

No desire to iron cotton pants? That's what dry cleaners are for! It's about $6/pair of pants at my dry cleaner in Manhattan, and it's well worth it to not have to iron.
posted by melissasaurus at 2:23 PM on July 13, 2010

It's likely more expensive, but it'd save a whole lot of headache to take those magical gap trousers to a tailor or seamstress and have them duplicated. The initial pair would be rather expensive, but that's mostly the pattern making. Once you have a pattern, they'll be able to churn them out pretty easy. And you can pick your fabric, a wool/synthetic blend wouldn't wrinkle very much.
posted by Carlotta Bananas at 4:12 PM on July 13, 2010

melissasaurus: my shirts go to the dry cleaners because I will have a nervous breakdown if I have to iron a week's worth of dress shirts. I just can't get the hang of them, and the walls of my place can't handle having any more irons thrown at them. Slacks, though, I can do - I just still hate doing them.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. If MetaFilter wasn't able to say "ding! here are your magical pants!" within a day or so, I'm guessing they just don't exist. I think I'm going to suck it up and go to the mall this weekend where I know there's a Banana Republic, because they had some of the best-looking slacks I saw during this whole thing. And besides, aren't Old Navy -> The Gap -> Banana Republic all the same thing, just pricier as you move up the scale?

Again, thank you all for your suggestions. I guess I consider this thing resolved.
posted by komara at 7:26 AM on July 14, 2010