Let’s Talk Corduroy: A Tale of Two Trousers

What I Learned This Black Friday

It was the evening of Thanksgiving sharing the uniquely American experience of sitting in a ‘turkey coma.’ I sat on the sofa in an inattentive daze with American Football playing on the TV wondering “is Black Friday here yet?” So I opened up the websites of a few of my favorite brands to check out the sales. At the end of the shopping I had found 2 pairs of corduroy trousers I was interested in. One pair I got from Brooks Brothers for $72 dollars shipped to my door ($158 retail) and the other for $58.65 from J. Crew ($138 retail). On Friday I ventured across the Connecticut coastline to New Haven to visit the J. Press store. As always the ambience of the store was fantastic with a knowledgeable staff and wide selection but being Black Friday I was in a mood for sales and I cannot say they impressed. I lacked the will to spend the $195 price tag for their corduroy pants. I ended up with only 2 pairs of trousers to compare but I still wondered in this time of ridiculous consumer pricing, how much would $15 (or 30$ at full price) get you, if anything?

When I tried on each of the pants for the first time I noticed a few immediate differences. While they both are looser traditional fitting styles the Brooks Brothers pant seems about a waist size too large. Normally I sit in between a 29 and 30 waist although the pants from BB definitely sit naturally higher than the J. Crew pair and feel as if the waist is a 31 and seem to measure about 31 inches as well. The J. Crew pants measure only slightly over 30 and are more true to fit with a mid rise opposed to the Brooks Brothers pants which trends to a higher rise.

The belt loops on the two pants are opposites with the J. Crew loops looking reminiscent of their standard chinos and the Brooks Brothers pants having distinct wide and sturdy loops that extend around into the lining of the pants for a seamless look. Definetly a win for the Brooks Brothers pair here. Also notice how the wale goes in the same direction on the BB pair, not perpendicular and misaligned like the cheap-looking loops on the J. Crew pair, some good attention to detail that we expect from BB. The wale on the pants are slightly different with a slightly tighter 10 wale on the J. Crew offering compared to 8 wale for BB, this isn’t very noticeable unless you are looking for it and both are wide enough to differentiate between a regular corduroy ‘jean’ style pant and the more trouser-like ones that we have here.

The J. Crew pair has a functional buttoned coin pocket which completes the vintage look which is lacking on the BB offering. The button holes for the pockets on the BB pants are much more usable with the single wire of fabric making them easy to open and close although on a few occasions they had popped open in the middle of the day on their own due to the stretch in the fabric.

The zippers both feel sturdy and well made and the buttons are well stitched on both (not a guarantee with J.Crew if you have read the last review). The button lies on the inside of the BB pair with a clasp closure compared to the more mass-produced esque single button closure which is the same as their chino pants. The inside of the J. Crew pair has a hanging loop which is always helpful. Overall the styling is a preference here with both having slight differences although no large missing pieces.

As for materials we can get our first glimpse when checking the inside label. The Brooks Brothers pair as we mentioned briefly in our review last week has a 1% elastane blend while the J. Crew pair is 100% cotton. While this may seem irrelevant the 1% blend is immediately noticeable when wearing the pants and makes them feel incredibly soft to the touch although the stretching is a concern with durability which I will address later. Having worn both pants in the unusually frigid December temperatures of Vermont in the last few weeks I can happily say that they are both quite warm. Even when exposed to snow and rain they both stayed warm. If I had to pick I would say the J. Crew pair are slightly warmer but they are also using a thicker and heavier weight material than the BB pair which we found when putting them on the scale. Even with the roomier cut and seemingly more material used on the BB pants they still weighed almost 100g less (636 vs. 717) than the J. Crew offering. The BB pants also leave an extra 2 inches of hem which is great if you want to cuff the pants compared to only 1 inch with the J. Crew pair that could prove more difficult if you want to hem them.

When it comes to stitching there is only one glaring concern which comes with the Brooks Brothers pair on the inseam. While the wales on each side of the seam line up much better on the BB pants at the inseam stitch the pants can show through when lightly tugging from either side (shown below). When pointing in the sunlight this can be seen quite easily. The stretch in the fabric with the poor inseam stitch is most likely going to be the primary concern for durability with this garment. Tugging like this often occurs when adjusting in a chair or moving around on a sofa. Comparing this with the J. Crew pants where they did a topstitched seam to hold both pieces of material over each other to prevent any gaps. In the cold air with a gust of wind this is beneficial as there won’t be as much air to seep through to your skin which is why they may feel warmer upon first wear. The J. Crew pants had a loose thread when they arrived which is a source of concern and definitely not out of the ordinary for the brand. They also had some loose threads where the stitching ends on the button holes.

I do plan to bring both of these pairs to my tailor to get them brought in as they fit a bit wide for me although something to note is the Brooks Brothers pair has plenty of hem all around the pants to alter although the J. Crew pants have some hem it is not comparable. I plan to get them brought inwards so it is not a problem for me although this could affect some larger men.

“While not totally disappointing I may look to Ralph Lauren, O’Connells, or Fort Belvedere for my next pair of corduroys for a truly premium experience.”

Originally I was expecting to compare the J. Crew pants as the lower end alternative although as I spent more time wearing them and scrutinizing I started looking at them as equals to be decided between which says a lot about the quality of the BB pair. For this price on sale in the current state of textile prices I can say that both of these garments were worth what I paid, although they let down in their respective areas and neither was necessarily better than the other. While the Brooks Brothers pair excels for those prioritizing polished aesthetics, alterability, and comfort, J. Crew offers a more natural and seemingly durable option for those who can shop off the rack. While not totally disappointing I may look to Ralph Lauren, O’Connells, or Fort Belvedere for my next pair of corduroys for a truly premium experience.