Nicholas Daley Wide Leg Trouser

Corduroy and a wide leg are a natural pairing that hardly anyone attempts, and the reason they work is optical. Corduroy is a cut-pile cloth: extra weft yarns woven in, sliced open, and brushed so the cut ends stand up as cords running the length of the fabric. Those cords are vertical lines, and a vertical line on a wide trouser does what vertical lines always do, which is to lengthen and to organise. A wide leg in a flat cloth can read as a shapeless column. A wide leg in corduroy has structure running through it.

Wide wale means the cords are broad and deeply channelled, so the effect is emphatic rather than subtle, and the flare carries it out to the hem rather than closing it down. The waistband is elasticated, which is the practical concession and a sensible one, because a high-waisted wide trouser has to sit exactly on the waist to work and elastic is what keeps it there. In black, all of that texture reads as depth rather than as pattern.

Why we selected it

We took this because black corduroy in a wide leg is a shape almost nobody cuts and because it is the most comfortable trouser Daley makes by a clear margin. It is also the one most people are surprised to find suits them, which is not something we say often about a flare.

Corduroy runs through Nicholas Daley’s trousers, shorts, and shirting, and the wide leg is the most generous cut he gives it.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton, in wide wale corduroy. Made in England. Flared leg, elasticated waistband. Colour: Black.

Fit notes

Worn on the waist, with the elastic giving range at the top and the leg flaring from the thigh. Corduroy has body and softens across the first season without losing its shape. Length is the thing to get right on any flare: it wants to reach the top of the shoe and no further, and a wide wale cord hems well.

Styling

With the Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black corduroy if you want the full texture argument, or with a plain ecru shirt to break it. Under the Fonte Jacket. It needs a substantial shoe.

Care

Wash cool inside out and hang to dry by the waistband so the leg hangs straight. Never press corduroy flat with a hot iron, which crushes the pile and leaves a permanent shine, and on a wide wale it shows badly. Steam it and brush the pile up while damp. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black is the shirt in a black corduroy. The Wide Short is the corduroy short, the Pullcord Trouser in black corduroy the panelled trouser, and the Two Pleat Wide Leg Trouser in black the cotton at the same width. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.