Nicholas Daley Two Pleat Wide Leg Trouser

This is the opposite decision to the tapered 2-Pleat Trouser, and the difference between them is the whole argument about what pleats are for. Both open the front of the trouser and release cloth across the thigh. The tapered version then closes all of that volume down through the calf, so the trouser resolves into a line at the shoe. This one does not. It carries the width the pleats create all the way to the hem, and the result is a column rather than a taper: cloth moving on its own as you walk, covering the shoe rather than stopping above it.

Wide-leg trousers ask something of the wearer that tapered ones do not, which is a willingness to be seen in an amount of fabric. What makes them work rather than overwhelm is where the volume starts. Cut from the waist, as here, the trouser reads as intentional. Cut from the knee, it reads as a mistake. The elasticated back waistband is the practical concession, and it is a good one, because a high-waisted wide-leg trouser has to sit exactly on the waist to work and elastic at the back is what keeps it there through a day.

Why we selected it

We took this because a wide leg is the most useful volume in a wardrobe and because most of what is made in that shape is either cheap or theatrical. This is neither. It is also the trouser of his that reads best on the widest range of people, which is why we took it in more than one shade rather than picking the safe one and leaving it there.

Nicholas Daley cuts the same pleated trouser wide and tapered across his collections, and the two are better understood as a pair of positions than as two products.

The colour

Black is what makes a wide leg easy to wear. A dark cloth reads as one continuous shape, so the eye takes the silhouette and very little of what is happening inside it: the folds the pleats throw across the thigh register as shadow rather than as cloth, and the trouser looks like a decision about proportion instead of a decision about quantity. That is why black is the usual answer to a wide leg, and it is why this is the one to own if the trouser is going to be worn every week rather than occasionally. It is also the version that behaves when you stand still: the volume registers as you move and settles back into a line when you stop, which is not something a pale wide leg does.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton, made in England. Two pleats, wide leg, elasticated waistband at the back. Colour: Black.

Fit notes

Worn on the waist rather than the hip, which is not optional with this cut. The elastic at the back allows some range at the waist while the front stays flat and pleated, so the trouser will accommodate a size either way better than a fully fixed waistband. Length matters more here than on a tapered trouser: a wide leg needs to reach the top of the shoe and no further, and hemming is worth doing properly.

Styling

With the Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black tucked, which is the sharpest version. With the Waffle Crew Neck untucked, which is the easier one. Wide trousers want a substantial shoe under them; a thin sole disappears.

Care

Wash cool inside out and hang to dry, ideally by the waistband so the leg hangs straight and the weight of the water pulls the creases out. Press on the reverse and only on the reverse: a crease down the front is worth having on a wide leg, and a hot iron on the face of a black cotton leaves a shine that does not come out. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Two Pleat Wide Leg Trouser in beige is the same trouser in beige. The Wide Leg Trouser is the corduroy at the same width, and the Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black the shirt over it. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.