Margaret Howell Pleated Crop Trouser

Pleats have a reputation for adding bulk, and a badly cut pleat does. What a pleat actually is, is a way of putting more cloth into the leg than the waist measurement allows, folded at the top and released as it falls. Done properly the fold lies flat when you stand and opens when you sit or walk, so the trouser has room where room is needed and a clean line where it is seen. In cotton rather than wool the pleat sits a little crisper and the leg holds its shape through a day. Cropping the leg is the decision that makes the whole thing modern: the trouser ends above the shoe, the ankle is visible, and the eye reads the pleat and the hem as one line rather than as a long fall of cloth.

Why we selected it

The pleated trouser is coming back badly in a lot of places. This is the version that treats the pleat as a construction rather than as a reference.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton, made in Italy. Relaxed fit, pleated front, cropped leg. Color: Slate.

Fit notes

Relaxed through the hip and the thigh where the pleat releases, and cropped at the ankle. Lettered sizing. Cotton holds a pressed pleat better than linen and worse than wool, so it will want a press if you want the fold sharp.

Styling

With the Bib Front Shirt untucked or the Monogram Shirt tucked, which are two different trousers. Under the DB Jacket, where Slate on Slate is the plainest thing you could wear. Flat shoes, because the crop is doing the work at the ankle.

Care

Wash cool and hang by the hem from the waistband rather than folding over a bar, which is what keeps the pleat where it was set. Press the pleat from the reverse. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Relaxed Pleated Trouser puts a pleated front into a compact linen twill, and the Relaxed Crop Pant is cotton and linen together, cut wider through the leg. The Midi Waist Crop Flannel Trousers are wool, cut slim. There is more on the house on the Margaret Howell designer page. Everything we carry from Margaret Howell is listed together.