Nigel Cabourn Farmer Pant

A herringbone is a twill that reverses direction at regular intervals, and the reason it exists is not decoration. Reversing the twill line balances the diagonal pull that a plain twill puts into a cloth, which is why herringbone trousers hang straighter and twist less around the leg than a same-weight gabardine. Doing that in hemp is unusual, because hemp is stiff and low in elasticity and does not enjoy being woven into a structure that complex. The result is a cloth with real weight and real recovery of shape, though not of stretch, and a visible chevron that reads at arm’s length as texture rather than as pattern. The rest of the trouser is drawn to suit it. A deep rise puts the waistband where a working trouser’s waistband goes, which is at the natural waist rather than the hip, so the leg has its full length to fall through. A rear cinch tab adjusts the waist without a belt, which is how work trousers held themselves up before belt loops were universal and is a cleaner solution under an untucked shirt. The buttons are tonal corozo, cut from a palm nut rather than molded from resin, which is a detail nobody sees on a hanger. Charcoal, and made in Japan.

Why we selected it

Corozo buttons and a cinch tab on a trouser at any price tell you the maker was not economising in the places that are invisible. Combined with a hemp herringbone, which almost nobody weaves, it was not a difficult decision.

Cabourn’s trousers come out of working clothes rather than tailoring, and this is the one where the cloth is doing the most.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent hemp in a herringbone twill. Deep rise, straight leg, rear cinch tab, tonal corozo buttons. Made in Japan. Color: Charcoal.

Fit notes

Deep in the rise, so it sits at the natural waist and is cut to be tucked into rather than covered. The cinch tab means the waist has real adjustment in it, which matters because hemp will not give the way a cotton twill does. Sizing runs 30 through 36 on a waist scale. Expect the cloth to feel stiff for several wearings, then to take a set at the knee and stay there.

Styling

With the Fireman Jacket, which puts two hemp cloths of different weights and different colors against each other, or the French Work Jacket, which is nearly the same cloth in a lighter blend. Under the 50’s Cardigan. The Open Collar Shirt in ivory is the pale counterweight.

Care

Cool water, no tumble drying, and press while slightly damp, which is when a herringbone comes back sharpest. Hemp shrinks once and then holds. Corozo is a natural material and it does not like a hot dryer any more than the cloth does. Our care guidance covers linen and hemp in more detail.

Related pieces

The French Work Pant is hemp and cotton at ninety to ten, and the French Work Jacket is that cloth cut as outerwear. Everything we carry from Nigel Cabourn is listed together.