Slim Fit Blues or: The Curse of the Cyclists Thighs

Although modern and "relaxed" fits have gotten entirely out-of-hand as of late (often leaving inches of fabric billowing around my legs), I have the opposite problem a lot of times when trying on pants that seem like they should fit me.

In short, I have thunder thighs.

Okay, so I'm certainly no Alberto Contador, but more often than not, pairs of pants in my usual sizing (34x34 or 34x36) that were made in the mid 80s (or so) and before often look like they were painted on my legs when I put them on.

For your sake, I'll spare you the visuals. For reference though, I'll call forth these very cool gray pinstripe Levi's jeans from what I'm guessing are the early to mid 80s or so.

Gray and light gray pinstripe. New wave, no wave, way cool.

34x34? Sweet!

Like the kick-ass cords in this post, the pictured Levis were only $1, so I didn't even bother trying them on at the thrift store before making my purchase. I had the same problem with these, though, that I had with the aforementioned corduroys, as it looked like my legs (especially my thighs) had been vacuum-sealed when I put in the work of slipping them on. Actually, "slipping" is probably the wrong term, as I nearly needed outside assistance getting them off again.

I ran into the same problem in recently buying some vintage madras pants off ebay. The waist fit great, the length was just about right, but the legs were nearly as tight as the lycra I wear when I'm actually doing long distance rides.

Damn, did I just admit that I sometimes wear lycra?

Oh dear.

Stocking up in the off season

Over the course of the past couple years, I've discovered that despite being very tall, my leg measurements are not all that weird, and it's not all that hard to find pants that are fairly nice. Shirts are another matter entirely (and discussed more in this post), as my sleeve length runs 3-4 inches longer than my inseam, making jackets and shirts rare finds indeed.

At any rate, this post is about pants, and I scored some absolute gems recently. Unfortunately, they're all wool, and despite a couple pairs of them being fairly light, they'll probably get packed away for the next couple months.

First off is two pairs obviously tailored for the same person, as they're exactly the same other than color. Oh, and look (and lust) at those colors! Navy and dark brown, with beige, red, and light blue woven into each.



If these were part of a suit combo at one time, I weep at not having found the jackets to go along with them.



There are no tags of any sort in the pants, but the fabric is killer on each. The bright threads woven through each makes me think I should try to break each pair out at least once with something complimentary before it gets really warm. Perhaps the best part is that each pair was only $1 on sale.

The next pair (and these will really be coveted in October or so) is a seriously dense pair of vintage army-issue wool pants in the standard green. They're as solid as they come, with a full metal zipper and great detailing. They are, however, much too warm to wear when the temperature is anywhere above 50 degrees.



I am a sucker for crisp military wear, so I forked over a whopping $3 for these. I certainly don't foresee any cold legs while biking with them on.

When you wish upon a (thrift) store

I am not a proud man. Sometimes I get all excited about a clothing item that I know I shouldn't be excited about, and I am not ashamed of that. A couple months ago, I saw a pair of baby-blue Gap khakis at a thrift store and lusted after them for spring. Unfortunately, they weren't even close to my size, so I got on the internet and looked around for something similar, only to be denied.

Imagine my surprise when I snagged these babies this weekend for only $2; half off their original price.



Definitely a sign of spring. And if that weren't enough, I also found a couple other great pairs of pants. The first were these 100% wool beauts in brown with threads of orange, blue, and green woven in ($3).



Finally, in the "you can never have too many pairs" category are these Land's End khakis, with suspender buttons (again $2, half off their original price).



Oh, and speaking of suspenders, I hauled in these emerald green and navy (sadly, my picture does not do them justice) numbers at the same time ($2).



Oh, and it is totally on. I rode the bike to work today after a nearly 4 month slumber.

And it was good.

A hint of things to come?

Although I've run across some nicer winter items lately, a couple thrift finds from today make me think that we're on the verge of getting out of this winter funk. If not, then these items are certainly teases.



First up is a pair of Louis Raphael seersucker pants. I've been holding out for a pair in my size since last summer, and I finally ran across this nice 100% cotton pair in a 36/34 (the waist seems a bit smaller than the listed size, but that's fine by me). I know I could have just bought a pair new, but that's not really my style. Besides, these were $4, and look like they haven't been worn (although they're going to need a good steam before I break them out).



The second find (for $1) was this slick square-end tie with the department store hanger tag still on it. It's kind of a shiny woven thing that would probably work just fine during these cool months, but the blue is going to be cracking electric when the sun comes out and it finally starts to warm up.

I can feel it. Can't you?