The next step in shopping for the perfect pair of pants is addressing pant fit. In this step you actually go into the dressing room and try on pants for fit.
I have helped a lot of women with pant fit. Many get frustrated with this process because they have such a hard time finding pants that fit their bodies.
Think about all the curves a pair of pants needs to accommodate:
- Waist
- Hips
- Thighs
- Down and around the crotch area
- Tummy curves
- Butt curves
Now think about all the different shapes and sizes women come in. The possibilities are endless.
I have found that manufacturers/designers all have different fit models with different curves. The key is to find the manufacturer/designer that makes pants that fit your body the best. Once you find that manufacturer/designer, designate them as your “go to manufacturer/designer” when purchasing pants.
At Macy’s, I mostly work in the INC and Alfani departments. I have customers who only buy their pants in one or the other of these departments because they fit their bodies the best. The key here is to know if a pair of pants fits all of your curves.
In this post you will learn how different pant styles and fabric types will change the fit. In the next post you will learn about the general signs of well-fitting pants. Finally, in the third post I will talk about fit for each Body Shape. This is important to understand because every body shape has a different set of curves. (To learn about your body shape see my post called What Are Your Body Shape Clues.)
Perfect Pant Fit Given Fabric And Style
In my experience most women really don’t understand how pants should fit. The main reason for that is most women have never had a pair of pants that actually fit their bodies well. They only have experience with pants that kind-of-fit. As a result, they believe this is how pants should fit.
The first step in knowing how pants should actually fit is to understand how different fabric types change the fit of the pants and how different styles of pants are meant to fit differently.
This alone can send women in a tailspin. They think pants made out of woven fabrics without Lycra should fit the same as pants made out of knit fabrics. Or they think trousers should fit like their skinny jeans. Pants made out of different fabrics and styles are meant to fit differently.
Fabric Types
Knit Fabric Vs Woven Fabric
The main difference between knit and woven fabric is that knit fabric has much more stretch than woven fabric especially woven fabrics without Lycra. Knit fabric has interlocking thread loops. These loops allow the fabric to stretch and give as you move around.
Woven fabric has horizontal and vertical threads woven together. The threads don’t expand, or stretch and give as you move around. To create ease of movement, extra fabric is built into the circumference of the waist, hips and legs.
As a result, many slimmer cut pants are made out of knit fabrics. For example, leggings are made out of a single layer of knit fabric and many skinny pants are made out of a double knit fabric called Ponte. You will see trouser style pants made out of woven fabrics.
Woven Fabric With Lycra Vs Woven Fabric Without Lycra
A great invention in our modern world of fibers is Lycra. It was originally used to create workout clothes and swimwear. People needed the fabric of those items to be closer to the body and at the same time able to move with the body.
Overtime lycra started to be mixed in with other fibers: for example cotton, polyester, wool, silk or rayon. By adding a little bit of Lycra to these fibers the resulting fabric had a little stretch in it. When using this thread in the horizontal weaving, it allowed the resulting woven fabric to stretch depending on the ratio between the non-stretch fiber and Lycra.
The result is slimmer cut pants in which you’re able to move easily, which is perfect in our active world. So when considering fit do you have enough room to move with the fabric content?
Styles of Pants
Jeans Vs Trouser
The way jeans should fit is totally different than trousers. Jeans for the most part fit closer to our bodies with less ease (the difference between the actual body area circumference and the matching jean circumference). Most jeans are made to cup under your butt so its shape is revealed. Because of mixing Lycra into the cotton fiber, designers can create jeans to be a second skin to our own skin. Creating jeans in this way makes them very comfortable to wear.
Before the practice of mixing Lycra into fabric, jeans were made with more of a relaxed fit allowing us to move around easily. An example of this fit is most men’s jeans. This fit is closer to that of trousers.
The main difference between trousers and jeans is the fit in the legs. Trouser fit drops from the butt with little or no cupping under the butt. Most trousers are made with fabric without Lycra mixed into it.
In my opinion trouser fit is great for the office because it keeps wandering eyes from wandering. For me I feel lighter in this type of pants at the office and am able to tap into my confidence better. Experiment for yourself. When in an office setting which pair of pants helps you harness all your confidence? You might be surprised by what you discover.
When working with women they think the trouser doesn’t fit because there is too much fabric under the butt and in the leg areas. They are looking for a jean fit.
Skinny Vs Slim Vs Straight Vs Bootcut Legs
The most popular leg cuts for pants are:
- Skinny
- Slim
- Straight
- Bootcut
Skinny Legs
In skinny pants, the leg fabric skims over the body from waist to hem. Most skinny pants are made out of a knit fabric or woven fabric with a lot of Lycra mixed into the fibers to create plenty of stretch. These fabrics allow you to move around easily in your everyday life.
Slim Legs
Slim cut pants are in between skinny and straight leg pants. There is about 1/2 to 1 inch ease in the legs. This pant is mostly made out of a knit fabric called Ponte. It’s a nice structured double knit fabric, which is great for pants. It has “give” for movement in the legs and butt. You will also find that most slim cut pants have an ankle length hem.
Straight Legs
In straight pants, the leg fabric has more ease in the fit. In general there is 1 to 2 inches of ease (jeans low end; trousers high end) at the top of the leg at the crotch and follows this ease to about 2 or 3 inches above the knees. From there it goes straight down to the hem. This is why it’s called straight leg. You can tell if a pant has straight legs when you place the hem in the knee area and they are the same size. The fabric used in this pant cut is mostly woven with a little Lycra (3%) mixed into the fabric or totally without Lycra. Jeans and trousers can be designed with straight legs.
Bootcut Legs
At the top of the leg, bootcut pants fit just like a skinny leg (jeans) or straight leg (trousers). The difference begins, at the transition point just above the knee. For example, straight legs fall straight down from that point causing the circumference at this point to be the same in the hem. One the other hand, bootcut pants start fanning out causing the hem to be 1 to 2 inches wider than the transition point. You can find bootcut pants in both jeans and trousers. Also you will find both woven (with and without Lycra) and knit fabrics with a bootcut leg.
Pull-On Vs Pants With Zippers
The fit of pull-on pants vs ones with zippers totally depends on the fabric. If the fabric is very stretchy knit there is no difference. The fit issue begins when the fabric becomes less stretchy and the pants can’t be pulled over the largest part of your body. Obviously, there needs to be enough ease in the fabric to get the pants over any part of the lower body. In most cases the largest part of the body is the hip area because of thebutt muscle. Even if your hip width looks the same as your waist, the circumference of your hips is larger than your waist. (I say in most cases because “V” and “O” Body Shape can have a larger waist than hips. I’ll talk further about that in the third post of the Pant Fit series.)
A zipper allows this area to open up to get the waist over your hips. When the zipper is closed the pants fit perfectly with little ease.
However, if the pants are pull-on, the waist must have a circumference large enough to go over the hips. This results in more ease around the waist for less stretchy fabrics. This increased ease goes down through the legs.
Now you understand the first step in pant fit and, that is how fabrics and styles of pants change the fit. In the next post, I will talk about the general signs of a well-fitting pant.
Did you learn anything new? If so please make a comment below.
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