source: jcrew.com
I had mentioned earlier that I was on the search for the perfect cord jeans. Corduroy is a funny material and something that I've had a long personal history with. At primary school, brown corduroy trousers were part of the uniform so there was that instant negative connotation with them as soon as I graduated. A few years went by but I eventually returned to them in my late teens when I saw Bruce Willis don a handsome pair in the Die Hard sequel. I swear the pair I wore were brown but my girlfriend (now my wife) believed them to be a fawn/dark green colour. But since then I have not returned to them so I would estimate it's probably been almost ten years since I've slapped some cord on.
It's not until recently have I thought I might be interested in adding a pair of corduroy jeans back into my wardrobe for many reasons. Firstly, while we don't have an Autumn or WInter here, a different material would be a welcome change to the sea of jeans and cotton I normally wear. Secondly, they're now selling a much thinner and lighter version than previously available which makes it almost feasible in this environment. And finally, but not least, strangely enough my daughter who is all of five loves wearing her pair and I thought, if she is comfortable in them in this kind of weather with all the running around she does, why couldn't I? So straight to search online and instore I went to find the perfect pair for my purpose.
My main requirements were that it had to be as thin and light as possible (of course), styled as a jean (as opposed to a trouser) and cut slim or straight. While this may sound anal, these requirements were important because corduroy can be a tricky thing to look right. Too thick, brown or trouser-like and it can start to look like Grandpa's pants and like you should be reading the paper in your comfy chair with your basset hound collecting your slippers (or is that just me?). My search around stores brought up a few surprises. In Zara I found many colour options, black, grey, which were passable, and many hideous colours which I chose to ignore. The downside is that they were cut in a skinny style (like most of Zara's clothes) so even a size 36 didn't fit me properly! Thanks, but no thanks. The second place I found some corduroy was in Massimo Dutti (my new favourite store). I found the right colour and the right fit although the material was too thick and as soon as I slipped the pair on I could feel my legs boil. Unfortunately another pass.
I eventually settled on J.Crew's (that seems to be more of a regular occurence) Vintage cord jeans, initally in slim fit. I chose my regular size but for some strange reason this pair didn't fit me at all. They were very tight in the calf and while I could eventually button them up they were by no means comfortable. Interestingly I had also ordered a pair of cream jeans, also in a slim fit and the exact same size and these fit me perfectly so I thought I was going crazy. I swallowed my pride and decided to try again and order the straight cut style in my usual size. Having seen a black pair at Zara I felt the colour looked a little too 'plush' and retro-70s (and also attract a lot of lint) so I passed on that colour. I first ordered a pair in 'vintage fatigue' and later went back and ordered another pair in a 'stone' colour. As I had the rejected slim fit pair with me already I was confident that the material and pant style (cut as a jean) was right and I'm just praying the cut (straight fit) was right for me.
Update: Wow, that was quick. I had received an email from my mail forwarder that they had received the package and immediately forwarded the item on Friday. On Monday afternoon it had already arrived. A full review will come soon. I will tell you now though, even though I'm not bothered by it at all, the "vintage fatigue" colour is essentially brown. Felt like I've come back full circle to Primary School!
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