With slouchy men’s trousers, a little leg goes a long way

As a fashion luvvie who’s been cursed with what tailors diplomatically call a “prominent seat” (read: big bum) and tree trunk-sized legs, I’ve spent more or less my entire adult life in loose-fitting trousers. Growing up as a teenager in the early 2000s — the height of the indie boy skinny jean era — was a painful experience. I used to feel like a pariah in my oversized chinos or bootcut jeans.

Now, though, slouchy trousers have moved from being a fringe choice to the menswear mainstream — and I couldn’t be more here for it. Pleats, wide legs and baggy fits are in vogue everywhere from Louis Vuitton to Loewe, precipitated in part by red carpet appearances from the likes of Harry Styles, who has repeatedly flown the flag for Gucci’s statement flares. Swapping neat, tapered trousers or jeans for voluminous designs laced with pleats might strike you as a hard sell, but there’s a quiet sophistication to wide-leg trousers that makes them ideally suited to 2023.

MatchesFashion head of menswear Damien Paul is a fellow wide-leg trouser aficionado. “There’s nothing more liberating than experimenting with a wider leg,” he says. “They speak to the way the modern man is living; they’re comfortable, minimalist, expressive and lightweight for travel or everyday wear.”

Brands such as The Row and Lemaire are perfect examples. For spring/summer 23, The Row’s trousers are cut into flowing shapes that sit high on the hips. In a classic, earthy colour palette with beiges, taupes and ecrus, these pieces feel retro — conjuring something of 1980s Armani — and yet current. Lemaire has likewise built its reputation on modern minimalism, with technical fabrications and innovative silhouettes. The brand’s baggy trousers come in various shapes, but highlights include its ruche-waisted Judo Pants and generously cut three-pleat trousers. These succeed in feeling tailored and yet informal with their swishy legs and swaths of fabric.

“Wide-leg trousers are all about fluidity,” says Scott Fraser Simpson, a menswear designer and collector whose London-based brand, Scott Fraser Collection, offers no less than five wide-leg trouser silhouettes, including the Wide Boy, which replicates a mid-century trouser from his archive. “The way they move and drape on the body is so elegant — you can appreciate fabrics in a completely different way,” he says. It’s also a question of proportion, he adds. “Couple a wider leg with a high waist and it totally changes your silhouette. A high waistline makes chunky guys look slimmer, and lengthens the leg so you appear taller too.”

Not only are wide legs surprisingly comfortable, they’re also surprisingly flattering. In common with Simpson’s trousers, Swedish tailor Saman Amel’s Amo trousers are satisfyingly louche, cut in dark, glossy fabrics and a dead-straight line from hip to ankle. I wear these with unstructured blazers and fine merino mock necks through the working week, finished with polished Chelsea boots. Swap your jacket for a lightweight overshirt at the weekends, for a look that is easy-going and subtly expressive.

Not that you need to be subtle in your choice of trouser all the time. Steven Stokey-Daley is another designer who’s championed voluminous bottoms ever since he arrived on the fashion scene with his SS Daley line in 2020. Daley’s designs boast maximalist floral or brightly striped fabrics with exaggerated A-line legs that echo Oxford bags, the loose fitting trousers popularised by raffish Oxbridge students in the 1920s. They shout rather than whisper, but in doing so become the rock star piece in an outfit, flipping the convention that a jacket should be the focal point of what you wear. With something simple on top, like a breezy shirt or a lightweight crewneck, a pair of statement trousers can push the boundaries without being OTT.

Why are oversized bottoms on the up? To Isabel Ettedgui, the creative director of Connolly, an elegant boutique off London’s Savile Row that presents a single gender-neutral collection each season, these new, more fluid silhouettes hint at changing notions of masculinity. “Our younger customer doesn’t want to look like his dad, and he’s not frightened of gender blurring in his wardrobe,” she says.

Connolly has two signature oversized styles. The first is the Slouchy Trouser, which with deep pleats, chunky turn-ups and drapey legs lives up to its name in luxurious needlecord. The other is the Sash Trouser, which is held up with a sash waist that fastens above the hips. “The design came from us working out how to create a trouser that really worked across men’s and women’s shapes,” says Ettedgui. “The softer lines of wide-leg trousers are chic and unexpected on a man — and quite dandy. It’s an easy way to nod to fashion, without making a fashion statement.”

MatchesFashion’s Paul agrees, and adds that the popularity of big trousers is a reminder that “modern men dress for themselves; for comfort, to feel sexy, and sometimes to make an impact”. Whether it’s Dior’s pastel-hued creations, inspired by the carefree aesthetic of Charleston and the Bloomsbury set, or Jacquemus’s full-cut suit trousers in bold shades of cream and crimson, wide legs and baggy fits have become synonymous with self-expression. As a self-conscious teenager, I used to fret that the tighter the trouser, the better. Now, though, no pleat is too deep and no leg is too wide. In fact, the swishier the trouser, the sexier I feel.

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