Spier & Mackay recently opened preorders for their moleskin and corduroy trousers for fall, which kicked off a years-long seasonal tradition of mine: Desiring moleskin trousers despite knowing I’d likely never wear them.
Moleskin is like Corduroy, without the cords. Which is also what velvet is, sort of, only velvet is softer and woven differently. There’s an explanation of that here. But the reason people love these fabrics is because they’re soft, comfortable and warm.
Last winter I was finally pushed to try a pair of moleskin trousers because of one David Coggins (whose site The Contender is worth reading, as are his books). Back in January at Pitti Uomo in Florence, he was there, attending the parties, shmoozing everyone, living life as a menswear writer does. And I noticed something: he wore essentially one outfit the entire time. Green herringbone tweed jacket and green moleskin trousers, with different shirts, ties and scarves each day.
Even when we happened to be on the same flight to Paris on our way out of town, he was wearing it (maybe without a tie). After Pitti, I saw on his Instagram he flew directly to Argentina and spent another couple weeks in Patagonia, which is no doubt why he packed so lightly for Italy. I imagine he chose the moleskin trousers because they were very comfortable, and the tweed jacket because it is so durable and versatile.
When I got home, I tried a pair of Spier & Mackay’s—cut in cloth from well respected British fabric mill Brisbane Moss—in the perennial favorite color “lovat,” which is a brownish green that evokes the British countryside. The fabric is indeed quite soft and comfortable. But their plush thickness, and the full, straight cut of Spier’s “contemporary fit” made me feel decidedly frumpy.
In contrast, I noticed Coggins’ trousers were cut slim. Check out this photo snapped of him at Pitti by Jamie Ferguson.
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His are also a hue of green closer to the evergreen colors of the woods, which have more blue than yellow to them. So perhaps I’ll give them another try, this time in a more urbane color like navy—which will evoke the English countryside less and the sophisticated cityscape more—with the expectation that I would have them slimmed in the knee to give them a more youthful, less frumpy silhouette.
Check out the moleskin trousers at Spier & Mackay here. There are four new arrivals for this fall as well as some left over from last season on sale (including that navy in tons of sizes).
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I know they are pricier than S&M, but keep an eye out at NMWA for when they drop their Rota trousers in moleskin. Some of my favorite fall/winter pants.
Hello hello, thanks for this. I realize it’s late to be commenting, but I thought I’d mention a few details for the sake of obsessiveness. The moleskin trousers are indeed a favorite (made by Jake Mueser), but the bottom photo are a pair of grey flannels, also made by Jake, that are narrower and a little dressier. Recommend both! Salut!
Thank you David for clarifying!