Wider leg pants and relaxed tailoring have been two of the biggest trends over the past few years. As a shorter guy, we're often told that wider leg shapes aren't the best for us, but despite that I'd still been wanting to give these trends a try.
When I found a pair of pleated suit trousers at Goodwill for $15 that were the right length for my shorter legs, I jumped on the opportunity to give them a try. They were the right length as-is and didn't need any tailoring, which is always nice to find.
I normally dress pretty casually so that was the first way I tried to style the pants. I wore them with sneakers, a baseball cap, and a crewneck sweatshirt from Abbreviated. While I didn't love the look in the mirror when I tried it on, seeing it on video after the fact I actually think it looked pretty good.
Next I tried the pants on with a few of my sweaters and loafers and I think these were all good looks that will be great once colder weather rolls back around. I also tried it with a short sleeve camp collar shirt which looked like something straight out of sopranos, but I don't know how applicable this sort of outfit will be for my normal life.
One outfit that did work really well was pairing the pants with a slimmer fitting t-shirt and then layering a jacket over the top. I used a Barbour Bedale jacket I have which would be another great cold weather look.
A few things which I don't own that I think could be helpful for outfitting are black boots or derbies, a relaxed overcoat, any kind of sweater polo, or a boxy fit cardigan.
Pants like this might take a bit of getting used to if you've been in nothing but slimmer pants over the past few years. I do believe that if you can get the fit right and there isn't too much of a break around the shoe, I don't think there's any reason to hold back from giving these trends a go even if you are a shorter man.
@mikemonnette Styling men's pleated trousers #mensstyleguide #menswear #mensfashionpost ♬ Show Me How - Men I Trust