Produced by Farah in the United States, these striped trousers exemplify the mid-to-late 20th-century intersection of workwear and leisurewear, a defining aesthetic of the brand’s trajectory in American and British menswear. Originally established in 1920, Farah gained prominence for its durable, low-maintenance trousers, becoming a staple in casual and professional wardrobes from the 1960s through the 1980s. These trousers encapsulate the brand’s commitment to structured tailoring with an emphasis on wearability, utilizing a high-rise cut, pressed creases, and a textured woven fabric that enhances both durability and refined appearance. Designed as a versatile staple, they bridge the gap between workwear resilience and business casual sophistication, offering a practical yet polished alternative to traditional suiting. The construction is indicative of mass-market American tailoring with industrial precision. The waistband is fully interfaced, reinforced with an inner facing fabric to ensure long-term shape retention. A hook-and-bar closure is paired with a metallic zipper fly, favoring a streamlined fastening system that minimizes bulk while ensuring security. The fly construction features a heavy-duty Talon zipper with metal teeth and a pull-tab, a hallmark of mid-century American workwear that prioritizes longevity over delicate finishing. The waistband interior is lined with a sturdy woven textile, likely a cotton twill or poly-cotton blend, in a contrast beige tone, reinforcing both durability and comfort. Overlocked seam finishing prevents fabric fraying, while zigzag stitch reinforcement along the waistband lining ensures the trousers withstand repeated wear and laundering. The trousers follow a slim straight-leg pattern with a structured waistband, side slant pockets, and single-welt back pockets. The pinstripe fabric suggests a yarn-dyed woven textile, requiring precise pattern alignment at seam junctions. The grain placement is executed with precision, as the pinstripes remain uninterrupted across the front and back leg panels, indicating careful pattern-cutting and quality control in the assembly process. A structured waistband extension tab secures the fastening, ensuring a firm fit, while belt loops are evenly spaced and bar-tacked at high-stress points, reinforcing their durability under frequent belt use. The leg is finished with a pressed crease that maintains a sharp, elongated silhouette, underscoring the trousers’ formal intent while allowing for crossover into leisure styling. Pocket construction is executed with precision, with side pockets seamlessly integrated into the design to maintain a clean silhouette. The back pockets employ a single-welt technique, demanding careful pressing and reinforcement to prevent sagging over time. The pocket bags are constructed from the same beige lining fabric as the waistband, ensuring consistency in weight distribution and minimizing unnecessary bulk. Seam reinforcements are placed at stress points, with bar tacking securing the pocket openings against wear and tear. The hem is finished with a blind stitch or turn-up method, maintaining the uninterrupted pinstripe pattern and reinforcing the trousers’ refined aesthetic. The fabric composition suggests a tropical worsted weave, engineered for lightweight durability and breathability. The open yet structured weave allows for airflow while maintaining a crisp hand and smooth drape, making it particularly suitable for warm-weather tailoring or workwear that requires year-round versatility. The visible pinstripe pattern is integrated into the weave rather than printed, indicating a suiting-grade textile with inherent structural stability. The estimated fabric weight falls within the 250–300 GSM range, placing it within the lightweight-to-midweight category, ensuring comfort without sacrificing rigidity. The material is likely a polyester-wool blend, reflecting Farah’s historical use of permanent-press fabrics that resist wrinkling while offering the durability of synthetic fibers. A permanent crease treatment enhances the trousers’ ability to maintain a sharp profile without the need for frequent pressing, a signature feature of Farah’s low-maintenance approach to menswear. This particular textile aligns with several high-performance worsted weaves, including tropical wool—a high-twist, open-weave suiting fabric designed for warm climates; fresco wool, a dry, open-weave worsted with superior airflow and wrinkle resistance; gabardine, a tightly woven twill with a smooth face, commonly used for structured military and business suiting; and worsted pinstripe twill, a refined textile traditionally used in formalwear and military dress uniforms. Notable textile mills producing comparable fabrics include Holland & Sherry, known for lightweight worsted suiting and pinstripe variations; Dormeuil, specializing in high-performance tropical wools with tonal stripe designs; Vitale Barberis Canonico, a historic mill producing refined worsted wools for structured tailoring; and Tallia di Delfino, which offers premium worsted suiting with an emphasis on elegance and technical precision. Structurally, the trousers adhere to a traditional workwear trouser pattern while integrating elements of suiting construction. The panel configuration emphasizes reinforcement at stress points, particularly along the crotch, side seams, and waistband, ensuring long-term durability. The waistband is internally bound with bias-cut fabric, preventing fraying and reinforcing structural integrity. The fly guard is extended with a reinforced zipper placket, ensuring stability and ease of fastening. The pressed crease running the length of the trousers enhances their formal aesthetic while contributing to a more elongated leg profile. These design details collectively reinforce the garment’s ability to function in both professional and casual environments, allowing for seamless transitions between workwear and leisurewear. Conceptually, these trousers embody the American mid-century ethos of practical sophistication. Their design reflects a shift from rigid formalwear to more relaxed, maintenance-free garments, aligning with the cultural shift of the 1970s–1980s when permanent-press fabrics and effortless styling became dominant. The high-rise cut and structured waistband lend an air of formality, while the lightweight pinstriped fabric and straight-leg silhouette ensure comfort and versatility. This balance between function and aesthetic is a defining characteristic of Farah’s design philosophy, making these trousers a testament to mid-century American practicality. The aesthetic positioning of these trousers places them within the lineage of heritage American casualwear, aligning them with iconic workwear-meets-tailoring brands such as Levi’s Sta-Prest, Dickies 874, and Haggar slacks. Their textured woven stripe pattern differentiates them from standard polyester-blend work trousers, offering a level of depth and refinement that elevates them above purely utilitarian garments. The olive-green hue, though uncommon in traditional business suiting, reflects the late 1970s and early 1980s shift toward earthy, muted tones in menswear, reinforcing their historical relevance within that period’s fashion landscape. These trousers were produced at a time when American menswear was transitioning away from strict formalwear and embracing more accessible, easy-care garments. Farah, widely recognized for its non-iron slacks, capitalized on this movement, becoming particularly popular within the UK’s mod and skinhead subcultures, where sharply cut trousers and effortless styling became essential wardrobe components. The brand’s ability to merge durability with sharp aesthetics made it a defining label of the era, bridging the gap between workwear and casual tailoring. From a contemporary fashion perspective, these trousers align with the modern resurgence of vintage-inspired workwear and mid-century tailoring. Brands such as Engineered Garments, Universal Works, and Aime Leon Dore have drawn from similar influences, reviving structured, high-rise trousers with permanent creases and textured weaves. Their adaptability for both vintage collectors and contemporary casualwear consumers ensures their continued market relevance, appealing to those who value both archival authenticity and practical styling. As a market proposition, these trousers represent a prime example of vintage American workwear-leisurewear hybridization. Their tailored construction, textured fabric, and permanent crease detailing distinguish them from lower-end workwear alternatives while maintaining accessibility in styling. The use of durable, easy-care fabric and functional design details reinforces their position within both vintage menswear circles and contemporary heritage workwear markets. Their enduring appeal ensures a broad range of interest, spanning archival collectors, mod and skinhead fashion enthusiasts, and contemporary consumers seeking effortless, structured trousers with a refined mid-century sensibility.
The delicate pinstripe pattern and slightly relaxed cut evoke the fluidity favored by Bianca Saunders, whose deconstructed approach to traditional menswear reimagines structure through a contemporary lens. This interplay of precision and ease also recalls Rudi Gernreich’s radical engagement with pattern and textile, aligning with the unexpected color choice and unconventional refinement of these trousers. Goldworm’s mid-century textile expertise further reinforces this aesthetic, lending a historical precedent to the garment’s soft drape and finely considered detailing. The garment’s inherent playfulness finds resonance in the work of Libertine and Comme des Garçons, whose deconstructionist philosophies imbue traditional tailoring with a subversive elegance. Tsumori Chisato’s signature whimsy is present in the unexpected tonal composition, where color functions as a quiet yet decisive disruption of conventional suiting norms. Meanwhile, the streetwear crossover facilitated by Palm Angels integrates this piece into a broader framework of relaxed yet sharp tailoring, positioning it within a contemporary sartorial vernacular that balances precision with nonchalance. Needles Japan’s signature fluidity in silhouette and controlled dishevelment parallels the trousers’ balance of refinement and ease, while Massimo Alba’s washed, lived-in textures imbue them with a quiet depth that resists rigid formalism. Corridor NYC’s structured yet breathable fabric selections further reinforce the garment’s versatility, enhancing wearability without compromising its sculptural integrity. Paul Smith’s legacy of imbuing classic tailoring with subtle irreverence underscores the equilibrium at play in these trousers, where the traditional is reinterpreted without abandoning its core tenets. At the avant-garde level, the influence of Raf Simons, Maison Margiela, and Yohji Yamamoto introduces a conceptual depth that challenges the boundaries of conventional tailoring. Each designer has, in different ways, dismantled and reassembled the language of suiting, making their presence in this discourse both relevant and necessary. Jun Takahashi’s hybridized approach to streetwear provides an additional layer of subversion, bridging structured tailoring with a more casual, rule-breaking sensibility. Helmut Lang’s legacy of architectural minimalism further informs the garment’s precise silhouette, where clean lines and intentional disruptions coalesce into a quiet yet deliberate rebellion against convention. These trousers exist at the nexus of heritage and progressive tailoring, engaging in a dialogue between mid-century refinement and contemporary reimagination. Their execution is an exercise in subtle defiance—anchored in classical structure yet liberated from rigid formality, allowing for a seamless transition between tradition, high fashion, and modern versatility. Through calculated deviations and thoughtful materiality, they redefine the parameters of menswear, offering a silhouette that is at once rooted in history and wholly attuned to the present.
Measurements (cm):
Waist: 38
Inseam: 77
Outseam: 101
Opening: 19
Size Conversion (approximate)
US Men’s Size: 29–30
US Women’s Size: 6–8
EU Men’s Size: 46
EU Women’s Size: 36–38
SKU: 005353
