Uniform Trouser Trends – Slim Leg Vs. Wide Leg
Whether male or female, trousers are a part of the 21st century modern day life. For many, a staple pair of trousers or two are the go-to fashion item when dressing to impress. Men have been wearing varying forms of trousers since the medieval period; these have developed over time to now become one of the most commonly worn items of clothing for men. In comparison, only in the past century did the western world start adapting to and accepting the trend of wearing trousers as a choice over dresses and skirts for women. Post World War II led us to start integrating the female trouser as an acceptable item of clothing. It is only during the past 30-40 years, however, that the casual trouser and the uniform trouser have been integrated in to everyday clothing.
Fashion Extremes
During the past approximately 30 years, we have seen trends in trouser width go from one extreme to another. Cast your thoughts back to the 70’s we had the huge flare trend, where both men and women were wearing the widest flare pair of trousers they could find in the shops; to the current trend of the slim/skinny fit leg where we’re fighting to find the smallest leg width humanly possible.
Uniform Trouser Trends Today
As expressed in this helpful Guardian article it seems the growing popular leg width hitting both suiting and fashion trends over the past decade is the slim fit. One of our most popular style of uniform trouser we offer is either the slim or the straight leg, with growing demand for a smaller, skinnier style. If you take the Everyone Collection, we have a dedicated ‘Slim Fit’ collection of garments to satisfy the needs to the fast growing trend for that slim, smart and tailored look for office wear. The women’s Whitechapel Trouser is on a par with skinny jeans giving that tight, shapely fit to the leg while we have the men’s Edgware Trouser which offers the same qualities. Sales for these are at a high since they were launched which leads us to assume the demand for the slim leg uniform trouser for both men and women is just continuing to grow.
Although we do not currently stock any flared trousers due to little demand for them in the world of suits and tailoring during the past decade; in several of the collections we stock, there is a choice of slim, straight or parallel leg trousers for women and slim, tailored or classic for men. Due to this we can take our parallel and classic leg widths as a comparison category for the wide leg fit. Take the Dorchester Trouser as the women’s example and the Langham Trouser for the men, though both are very practical and stylish, we can’t look at these and immediately determine they are a wide leg option. From this we take that demand for the true wide leg uniform trouser style is dwindling.
Our Conclusion
Though still a popular choice, the wide leg fit sales of our stock have far undermined the sales of the slim leg in recent years. We conclude, based on current stock projections, that the demand for the slim leg will only continue to grow and that we have left the flare far behind. Who knows what we may see in years to come however, will the wider leg style make a comeback? We’ll leave that up to the fashion forecasters.
Get in Touch
If you have any enquiries about the trousers or the services that we can offer for you, why not give one of our friendly staff members a call on 08450 66 66 99. Or if you’d prefer to make on online enquiry you can do so here.
