What comes after Husky? In men’s jeans, that is
February 5, 2020 8:22 AM Subscribe
My son is ~5’4” and wearing a 31W x 30L jean, but there are problems. His pants slide down in the back, and he seems to have trouble keeping them zipped. Does he need to go up a waist size? Or is there some other pants intervention we can try? Assume that “he needs to pay more attention or try harder” is way off the table.
if he's overweight and has a belly, the pants sliding down in the back is an indication that his waist size is too small. I would go up a size. The Amazon Goodthreads brand has a lot of affordable options that don't break the bank (as well as different fits). If he has big thighs, try their Athletic fit.
I like these jeans because a) they're pretty cheap, and b) they come in a ton of different size combos (no where else can you find a 33"x 31" jean, for example.
All the usual "Amazon is taking over the world, has poor labor practices, is evil, etc." caveats aside.
posted by unexpected at 8:38 AM on February 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
I like these jeans because a) they're pretty cheap, and b) they come in a ton of different size combos (no where else can you find a 33"x 31" jean, for example.
All the usual "Amazon is taking over the world, has poor labor practices, is evil, etc." caveats aside.
posted by unexpected at 8:38 AM on February 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
If they're not staying zipped, that seems to be a flaw in the zipper to me? Unless they're *really* tight.
You didn't mention if he's wearing a belt, but as a grown up I don't understand why belts are often considered only for slacks instead of for jeans, excluding specific fashion. I don't really even have a gut, but if I'm wearing a well fitting pair of jeans without a belt, it feels like I might be in danger of showing crack/underwear in back if bending over in some positions. That same pair of jeans with a well adjusted belt has 0 problems.
posted by nobeagle at 9:25 AM on February 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
You didn't mention if he's wearing a belt, but as a grown up I don't understand why belts are often considered only for slacks instead of for jeans, excluding specific fashion. I don't really even have a gut, but if I'm wearing a well fitting pair of jeans without a belt, it feels like I might be in danger of showing crack/underwear in back if bending over in some positions. That same pair of jeans with a well adjusted belt has 0 problems.
posted by nobeagle at 9:25 AM on February 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
Does he need to go up a waist size?
Yes.
Is there some other pants intervention we can try?
Good leather belt. Get a proper handmade one cut from a single piece of hide, not one of the usual useless bonded leather things that falls to bits at the mere sight of a belly.
posted by flabdablet at 9:27 AM on February 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
Yes.
Is there some other pants intervention we can try?
Good leather belt. Get a proper handmade one cut from a single piece of hide, not one of the usual useless bonded leather things that falls to bits at the mere sight of a belly.
posted by flabdablet at 9:27 AM on February 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
As a guy with a bit of a gut, I do not like wearing pants "over" my belly. Instead, I wear them up to my belly and prefer to wear my shirts untucked. I have found that lower rise pants fit better when worn this way. (There is a range in "low rise" so it could be a process to find the right fit. Levi's have a wide range of sizes and cuts. The Levi 514 is a straight fit that sits below the waist. )
I assume he has a belt and is tightening it up good enough to be useful.
posted by bruinfan at 9:30 AM on February 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
I assume he has a belt and is tightening it up good enough to be useful.
posted by bruinfan at 9:30 AM on February 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
A problem we've had with pants for my teen son is that the rise (the measurement from where the seams cross at the crotch to the top of the waistband) is too short for him. He needs a men's waist size in the pants, but they're all designed for someone with a longer rise/torso measurement. "Short rise" pants are a thing in dress pants, but not so much in men's jeans.
Honestly, the only stopgap solution we found was elastic waist pants, which are somewhat more forgiving in how they fit. We did Old Navy "jogger" style pants for more of a chino fabric, and regular athletic pants for more casual wear. After two years of this, and me starting despair he'd ever by regular fly front pants again, he's just now (at 14) starting to be able to find fly front pants that fit again - not because of a change in his waist size, but because his body proportions have changed to match how men's pants are supposed to fit.
posted by anastasiav at 10:21 AM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Honestly, the only stopgap solution we found was elastic waist pants, which are somewhat more forgiving in how they fit. We did Old Navy "jogger" style pants for more of a chino fabric, and regular athletic pants for more casual wear. After two years of this, and me starting despair he'd ever by regular fly front pants again, he's just now (at 14) starting to be able to find fly front pants that fit again - not because of a change in his waist size, but because his body proportions have changed to match how men's pants are supposed to fit.
posted by anastasiav at 10:21 AM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
I can't say what comes after Husky. I can say that some pants have a hidden waistband elastic. These are typically tactical pants or pants for more mature gentleman. They look the same but the waist in some can expand a couple inches while no altering the appearance. This would keep them around his waist tightly and comfortably but not compromise the style.
posted by ashtray elvis at 10:26 AM on February 5, 2020
posted by ashtray elvis at 10:26 AM on February 5, 2020
Re: the zipper thing, does he know that zippers essentially lock when the tab is down? I don't think anyone ever made that explicitly clear me as a kid learning how to use fasteners, so it was a revelation when I discovered it.
posted by mumkin at 11:20 AM on February 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by mumkin at 11:20 AM on February 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
Suspenders
posted by bq at 2:58 PM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by bq at 2:58 PM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks to all comers! I should have specified that my son is almost-13, so any suspenders would need to be his idea and probably somehow either very earnest or deeply ironic or both.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:49 PM on February 5, 2020
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:49 PM on February 5, 2020
Get the best fit you can off the rack, and then *take them to a tailor*.
This was the best thing, and I wish I'd done this at 13 instead of spending 20 years fighting my pants over the same problems.
posted by jrobin276 at 7:05 PM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
This was the best thing, and I wish I'd done this at 13 instead of spending 20 years fighting my pants over the same problems.
posted by jrobin276 at 7:05 PM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
What @jrobin276 said except size the jeans generously because the tailor may want to let out some fabric.
I see a lot of teens wearing those joggers with the gathered ankles and the cinchable waist.
posted by at at 11:08 PM on February 5, 2020
I see a lot of teens wearing those joggers with the gathered ankles and the cinchable waist.
posted by at at 11:08 PM on February 5, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
I had a very hard time finding pants for my thunder thigh kids though. Jeans were pretty much impossible.
posted by Ftsqg at 8:29 AM on February 5, 2020 [3 favorites]