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September 28, 2019, 2019
Well, sometimes I think these tech gremlins like to create havoc just cause they can! And this was a lulu....not only did the gremlins erase my entire post, but they also erased my backup. I'm out to get this stinker, cause even though it can erase everything - it's still in my head - so here goes from scratch again.
Fitting Pants
Yep, just like gremlins, this strikes terror in the heart of every sewists out there. There are so many places to go wrong, and so many places to fit, that it's a challenging prospect.
But here's the thing. What makes this really hard is really not having a good idea about what you want. And you say, "Well, Claire, I know I want two legs and I want it to fit!" Of course you do, but that's not what I'm talking about here.
After years of teaching pants - woven and stretch, one thing I notice first off is that most of my students don't know what a good fit, and is it any wonder. Our perspective for this is what's available in the stores and what we see models and other notables wearing.
 
Here are two notorious fashion pioneers in pants, and no one would ever call these pants ill-fitting. They have ease for "ease of movement", but, although they are full, they are not considered baggy....unless, you compare them to today's idea of what pants should be.
But let's be real...do any of these look even remotely comfortable? ....do any of them have any ease? ...and how much stretch to do think some of them have? Not much. They look OK if you have a waif-like figure and don't mind wearing something skin tight.
We have our skin for a reason - mostly to hold everything in and to keep germs and such out, but also so we don't have to wear skin tight clothing. But in today's fashion world, you would never know it cause there are so many pants out there that fit exactly like these pants. And these don't look practical, comfortable and on most of us they won't be flattering.
The way today's pants are supposed to fit is skin tight with no wrinkles. Or if there are wrinkles, they are OK, because on a thin body they look OK (see above). The truth is that you can't get that, well, you can with leggings, but they aren't pants. You are NOT supposed to wear leggings without something over them because they reveal too much information (TMI).
So if pants are supposed to fit tight, with no bagginess, and yet be comfortable, what makes them fit that way - stretch, yes, but how much stretch. If you have a lot of stretch, then that's leggings or activewear. Do everyone a favor and don't wear your stretchy exercise gear out on the street.
- It's not attractive because it reveals way too much and that's not even close to being flattering.
- It's not sexy because there's nothing to tease - it's all out there to see - every ripple, wrinkle and bump.
- It's not flattering because there's nothing to leave to the imagination.
- It's not comfortable because it's always creeping down here and there
So don't do it.
But what about ease? How much is enough and how much is baggy. Referring to Ms. Dietrich and Ms. Hepburn, they sure don't look baggy, but in today's fashion they do - they look positively blooming. So how much ease should be in pants, and yet fit snugly around the hips, fanny and tummy so that there's no extra fabric to make those areas look bigger? The truth is that from what we see daily, one wrinkle is too much, and that means that you can have
no ease in your pants.
This is what I discovered when trying to teach my woven pant class and fitting students. I had a perfectly delightful fit, however most of the students felt it was too much and that when they sat down they had all these wrinkles at the leg bend point and didn't like it. They all wanted stretch pants.
So what are we to do? Where do we start? The first place to start is with fitting priorities. This is FITTING priorities. And here's how you start with this:
Fitting your fanny
Fitting your tummy
Fitting your hips
Fitting your waist
Fitting your thighs
Fitting your knees
Having a good hang/drape (not bowed or splayed or tilting front or back)
What this does is set up what's most important to you. So this is how this works.
I like to fit my waist and I like my waist to be in the same place when I'm sitting as when I'm standing, and I don't care if I have a little bagginess - my waist is more important.
I also like to fit around my thighs. Notice I use the word fit not stretch across my thighs. As far as my thighs are concerned, I like to fit closely there because this is part of the pant that keeps them looking modern - a more modern profile, which my hips, fanny and tummy don't really matter because I usually wear a longer jacket or top over my waist, and I don't tuck in my blouses. Even if I do wear a shorter top, it's designed to cover
the thickness of my tummy and hips and fanny so that it doesn't matter if they are a little baggy or a little snug to be seen by the world.
This is how this works. What does this do for us. It makes pants fitting way simpler and reduces the fret factor a lot. Why? Because this reduces the area that you concentrate the fit on. That means that you fit the areas that are important, and don't worry so much about the areas that aren't important.
So you have a pair of pants and you want to look professional with a jacket over them, so that you can wear it to a business meeting, conduct a meeting, or if your an attorney, paralegal, or court official can wear it to court and look responsible and sharp.
1. You fit your hang first....
2. You fit your hips, tummy and fanny next, while retaining the hang fit that you got,
3. You fit your waist last.
Since you'll be wear ing a jacket that means that you won't have to worry about too much of your hips,fanny or tummy fitting. This makes fitting the pants way easier.
A Perfect Pair Of Pants
Let's be honest. This isn't going to happen. OK, maybe when you were pre-pubescent teen and tall as a beanstalk with not one extra pound on you, you had a perfect pair of pants (I could make a very solid argument against that, cause what you had was a pant that was probably way too long to begin with, and the minute you started finishing your womanly normal figure, those pants didn't fit anymore, but for the sake of argument - say you had a great fitting pair of
pants). Those pants weren't designed to fit normal people. Rarely are pants designed to fit normal people. If they are a larger size, they usually have a very short rise (why?....who knows!), or there's some other quirk about them, a side pocket (please, who looks good in side pockets - they always splay and spread). So the perfect pant, really wasn't so perfect after all. It may have seemed better than the pant you have today, simply because
there was less wrong with it, but the truth is that you weren't trying to fit as many areas back then as you are today.
That's why it's imperative to set priorities. The priorities will help keep you sane in the pant fitting process.
 Every time I make a new pair of pants, I do not try to fit my hips, fanny and tummy, and have the pants around my waist, have them hang well, and I'm such a happy camper I can't stand it. My pants work beautifully for me.
Now, If someone was really critical, they would say that the hips are way lower and the legs are too short, but you know what? That's my figure. Those are bones and I can't change the bones.
Our eyes are used to seeing this sort of out-of-proportion look - the legs here are way too long, and don't think that the photos of models, starletts, and notables have not been morphed - they are all morphed.
I think of the TV with of Everybody Loves Raymond, Patricia Heaton. She has the most hilarious view of life and a great sense of what's real and what isn't. She wrote a book and the cover gives you a great idea of just how practical this gal is.
Her whole point is that NOTHING is as it seems....in the front of the book is this woman who has it all - fancy car, cooking with her beautiful evening gown that fits her like a dream cause she eats right and works out and has a perfect figure......then.....
there's the back....with the kid who she had to bring to work cause the babysitter flaked out on her, her dress is held together with pliars, metal clips, duck tape and pins while there's all this fancy lighting (in the middle of the day) to keep her looking unrealistically young and well, the whole idea is that it's a total farce.
When you see models, starlets, and notables in pants that have no wrinkles, be suspect, immediately cause that isn't the real world.
You don't have to be perfect.
Don't ever try to make a pair of pants that has no wrinkles.
Be gentle with yourself while you're fitting yourself.
Leave a little ease in your pant to move and to offer a little tease about what might be there!
UPDATE: The Site is up and working again - thank heavens. I have been told not to touch certain buttons on the site, and believe me I've learned my lesson. Watch for a throng of new blogs and resources in the library as I've been writing away.
And thanks again for your understanding about the email today!!!
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