NWR: How to tell DH that his pants are too short?

JennyColada

So many of DH's suit pants are too short. They come up so you can see some sock even when he's just standing (but even the longer ones still show the tops of his shoe).

It's frustrating, because DH pays a lot of money for his suits (Brook's Brothers) and gets the tailored in store. He wears shoes with the same heel height to the fitting (although, they aren't his actual dress shoes...) and the pants seem to fit fine when we are there, but for some reason when we get them home they are too short.

I don't want to really say something because I don't want him to feel like I'm nagging at his style, but I just don't think that they look good this way (the pair that shows sock, I did joking say "what is up with your pants?!" the first time I noticed it, and he confirmed that he also thinks that it is too short).

I feel like we may be missing something when he's getting his pants tailored. The next time he buys a suit I may just bring it up to the tailor about this issue?

Has anyone had an issue like this? Should we get the pants hemmed longer than we are expecting? I just don't understand why the pants are fitting shorter when nothing has changed!

Maggie0829

What type of break is he requesting from the tailor?  Or is the tailor just hemming them to what he/she thinks is correct?

I would, however, have him wear his dress shoes when he gets his pants hemmed.  There may be a difference between the shoes that causes this issue, you never know.

Here is a picture of the various breaks for suit pants...

And this site tells you what to tell your alterations person to get a specific break in the pant leg (CLICK)

JennyColada

I don't remember what he's requesting actually, but I can tell you that his pants are shorter than ANY of those pictures.

I'm usually just going with him suit shopping just to have a nice day out. DH knows all about what he wants from his suit and seems pretty well-versed on phrases and such.

But yea, I'll just suggest that he bring along his dress shoes next time we go.

Maggie0829

JennyColada said:

I don't remember what he's requesting actually, but I can tell you that his pants are shorter than ANY of those pictures.

I'm usually just going with him suit shopping just to have a nice day out. DH knows all about what he wants from his suit and seems pretty well-versed on phrases and such.

But yea, I'll just suggest that he bring along his dress shoes next time we go.

Yeah then something is up when they actually alter the pants.  When he goes and they pin the hem and they seem fine then there has to be something with the actual sewing process that is making them much shorter then he wants.

I would definitely have him go and say something or find another tailor because apparently the one in the store is just not getting it.

JennyColada

Oh yea, maybe I'll suggest that he bring in his too-short pants when we get him some new suits.

It's just annoying because this stuff ain't cheap, and you'd expect BB to actually do a good job with tailoring their own suits.

I know that DH doesn't want his pants dragging on the floor or anything, so I think he's worried that that will happen if he asks for them to be longer.

Maggie0829

I think his best bet is to bring in a picture of what he would like his pants to look like.  Then if they still mess up his hem I would be complaining because, you are right I would expect BB or any other company that sells/tailors suits to be decent at it.

JennyColada

Oh that's a great idea.

To Pinterist I go.

amelisha

Yep, and for the record, FI always gets a quarter break because it's plenty short enough to not have his hem dragging and to make a fairly clean line, but there's no risk of it looking too short like we were worried about with no break. If he's worried about the hem dragging, that's where I would go with it.

Dincognito

You guys have more faith in Brooks Brothers than I do ;-)

This is your future husband - I'm sure he'll respond reasonably if you bring this up politely. I do have a couple of thoughts on how to fix it though....

1) If they look good pinned, then it's BB's in-house alterations people hemming them too short. You could go back and ask them to fix them, but I would just bring the pants to a real tailor and have them hemmed again. He might consider a mildly slanted "military" hem which will give him that pinch more sock coverage without adding to the break. It will cost about $15.

2) Leave the pants as is and see if he'll consider wearing balmoral boots. It's a great time to splurge.  ;-)

climbingsingle

I had a friend whose husband's pants were always too short. And I always felt uncomfortable around the pants. Like, does he realize? Does she realize? Why do they not do something to correct this? 

So those are my thoughts :-P

southernbelle0915

I have zero filter with my DH, so I'd probably just say, "Expecting a flood there, buddy?" And take it from there. Which would probably result in him saying "what?" and me saying "All your pants are too short. They look like high waters. It looks dorky and unprofessional." and he'd be hurt for a second and I'd say "look, I'm trying to help you and be honest with you. Come on, let's go get them fixed."

cupcait927

southernbelle0915 said:

I have zero filter with my DH, so I'd probably just say, "Expecting a flood there, buddy?" And take it from there. Which would probably result in him saying "what?" and me saying "All your pants are too short. They look like high waters. It looks dorky and unprofessional." and he'd be hurt for a second and I'd say "look, I'm trying to help you and be honest with you. Come on, let's go get them fixed."

^^ all of this. I don't hesitate to let H know what I think about his outfit choices and in the end, he's appreciative because he knows I'm just trying to help him look his best. Just be straight up and tell him that his pants are too short and something needs to be done about it.

southernbelle0915

I thought about this again, @JennyColada. 

Is he wearing a belt when he gets his pants altered? If he's not, his pants will be hanging down further and what the tailor thinks is a no break hem might actually be flood pants when he puts on his belt. 

Just a thought. I mean, both the tailor and your DH should consider that every time, but maybe they just haven't.

MandyMost

An ankle-length suit pant, if it's a skinny suit, and particularly if it's a color, is a very trendy/hipster thing right now. So maybe just have him ditch the pants and embrace being cutting edge for a while? :-)

Otherwise, definitely take them back and tell them they're too short, and maybe bring you to get the next ones hemmed so he has a second opinion!

[Deleted User]

climbingwife said:

I had a friend whose husband's pants were always too short. And I always felt uncomfortable around the pants. Like, does he realize? Does she realize? Why do they not do something to correct this? 

So those are my thoughts :-P

I had this problem yesterday, only I was the one wearing too short pants.  I bought them over lunch on an emergency when the pants I put on that morning split in an inappropriate location and had to be thrown out.  Yeah, they're way too short for me and will be retired to the bottom of the drawer until I lose some weight (my pants get longer when my ass gets smaller), or decide to donate them.  But I was uncomfortable all damn day.  It was awful.

JennyColada

southernbelle0915 said:

I thought about this again, @JennyColada. 

Is he wearing a belt when he gets his pants altered? If he's not, his pants will be hanging down further and what the tailor thinks is a no break hem might actually be flood pants when he puts on his belt. 

Just a thought. I mean, both the tailor and your DH should consider that every time, but maybe they just haven't.

He actually doesn't do a belt with the pants, he does suspenders (which, can I just say, I think this is the sexiest thing ever!), but DH claims that he gets the pants fitted in the same place on his waist that he wears them (although, I have a feeling that this isn't true, because when I see him wear them at home they seem a bit higher up on his waist).

I think this is likely the problem.