Nicholas Daley Pleated Trouser – Black

A single pleat is a decision about how much a trouser should announce itself. Two pleats give you volume and the manners of tailoring. None gives you a flat front and a modern line. One sits between them and does something more useful than either, which is to release cloth across the thigh where a body genuinely needs it and then let the leg draw back in below the knee. That is the entire shape here: high on the waist, full at the top of the leg, tapered to the ankle. It is cut in Japan in a plain cotton, with no check, no contrast panel, and nothing else to look at. Among a designer’s worth of tartans, waxed panels, and hand-crochet, this is the trouser that does not raise its voice, and it is the one most likely to be worn to pieces.

Why we selected it

We selected this for the cut and bought both neutrals, because a trouser this plain gets worn constantly and one colour was never going to cover it. It is the pair we point to when a customer likes Daley’s proportion and does not want a pattern.

The colour

Black is the more useful of the two and the harder to get right. A flat black cotton absorbs light and can look like nothing at all, so what saves it here is the cut: the pleat throws a fold down the front of the leg and the taper draws a line at the ankle, and those two shadows are all the definition a black trouser needs. It will go with everything else he makes, including the tartans, which is not true of the khaki.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton, cut and sewn in Japan. Single pleat, high waist, tapered leg. Colour: Black.

Fit notes

Worn on the waist rather than the hip, with the pleat releasing across the thigh and the leg drawing in below the knee. Cotton of this weight softens and relaxes over the first season. Between sizes, take the smaller waist; the pleat supplies the ease.

Styling

With the Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black for something entirely quiet, or under any of the tartan and check pieces, which need a plain black trouser beneath them more than they need anything else. This is the trouser that makes the loud half of his work wearable.

Care

Wash cool inside out and hang to dry. Black cotton fades from heat and friction rather than from washing, so keep it out of a hot dryer. Press on the reverse if you want the crease. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Pleated Trouser in khaki is the same trouser in the lighter colour. The 2-Pleat Trouser adds a second pleat in the same Japanese cotton, and the Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black is the shirt over it. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.