Work slacks keep wearing out between legs - how to prevent?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I wear black dress slacks as part of my work uniform, and for years now I’ve been buying fairly standard Dickies slacks. In the last year or so, however, I’ve started encountering a problem that I never had before. Within a week or two of starting to wear them to work a few times a week, the fabric in the crotch area on either side of the middle seam starts to pill up, then wear thin, and eventually just sort of gives way so that I’m left with a pair of holes like so;

A pair of pants that used to last me a year or longer gets me maybe 2-3 months now. I’ve admittedly put on a little weight and don’t have much of a thigh gap these days, and my boxers haven’t been wearing out in the same way, so I assume the damage is being caused by the pant legs rubbing and grinding against each other while I walk. I’ve tried going up a size and going down a size, but that hasn’t helped.

Anyone got any tips for how I can prevent this from happening, or at least slow the wear and tear?

2

Coincidentally, I was just reading this:

Your stuff is actually worse now

It starts with her bra.

Sorry, no hints.

3

If the holes aren’t normally visible (it looks like they aren’t) you could extend the life of the pants by sewing patches on the inside of the leg. Cut up one of your old pairs for material.

~Max

4

I don’t think there’s anything you can do to prevent the material from wearing away if it’s rubbing together. When my daughter started gaining weight, this happened to all her pants and leggings - denim, polyester, etc, - didn’t matter if it was natural fiber or synthetic. Patching them on the inside just made them uncomfortable to wear. Patching them on the outside never looked very good. We’ve never found any way to avoid this from happening.

I don’t want to sound unkind or like Captain Obvious, but in order to stop the pants from rubbing and wearing away you’ll have to lose weight. Or just accept that this is going to happen and plan on buying pants more often.

5

Exactly the same thing happened to me, and with the same underlying cause.

You could try other brands than Dickies, in the hope of finding something cut a little more generously in the hip and thigh.

But, yeah, if that fails then what needscoffee said. The way I fixed my problem was by losing the surplus weight.

6

Here’s an old thread about this:

7

I used to have this exact same problem. Duluth Trading pants are stitched extra strong and with a special “crotch gusset” meant to prevent it, and it works. I highly recommend their pants.

8

Better stitching is not going to solve a problem with the bulk fabric sanding itself into holiness nowhere near the seams.

What might help is buying a different brand made of, ironically, less heavy duty, less rough-surfaced fabric. It’s still have your two inner legs sanding against each other all day, but the finer “grit” of the fabric may make it last longer.

9

But the different piecing (gusset) or fabric might.

Different brands may also have different crotch lengths that may wear differently.

10

I have a bunch of Duluth stuff and it is very durable. I’m not small–6’2" 220#. Plus they have a lifetime guarantee.

11

Or go another path: how do you feel about kilts?

12

Aggravatingly enough, they don’t seem to sell black pants in that style. I’ll have to browse them a bit.

13

A while ago I became hooked on the Richard Sharpe TV series based on the books by Bernard Cornwell. Sharpe’s solution to the wearing-out problem was lining the inside of his pants legs with leather. Quite eye-catching!

Carry on. :saluting_face:

BTW, in the books we learn that Sharpe looted these pants from a dead French officer.

14

Thirding (or fourthing) Duluth Trading pants. I’m wearing a pair of their Ballroom black jeans in my classroom as I type. Very comfortable, and they wear like iron.

15

What are the limits to what you can wear? Do they have to be black? A certain fabric? Are the ones with thigh pockets too casual? Is denim ruled out?

16

You could eliminate the problem by changing your gait. Walk by turning your feet outward (abduct) while keeping your knees bent ~45 degrees. This will increase the angle between your thighs. To keep your balance, raise your arms to the horizontal plane while keeping your elbows maximally flexed. Raise and lower your arms at the shoulder to keep proper balance while walking. Problem solved.

…don’t quack while doing this, or people may think you’re silly.

17

Clever. A bit mean, but clever.

Bravo @Tibby. :slight_smile:

18

I’m fat, probably considerably more so than the OP, and I have no thigh gap whatsoever. It does happen eventually to mine; but not within a week or two, that’s absurdly short. More like a year or two of similarly heavy use.

I suspect they’re now selling what looks like the same pants made with crappier material. Whether you can find anything that’ll hold up better that otherwise works, I’ve no idea; but you could try complaining to the company. It’s not the fault of your body, it’s a fault in the clothes.

19

These might also fit the bill, and come in black:

My somewhat limited experience with the brand has also been universally positive.

20

For my suit pants, I take them to my dry cleaner/tailor, and and ask them to sew in pieces of cloth inside the thighs, so that when you move your legs, your thighs are moving these loose pieces of cloth. As a consequence, the actual inner parts of the pants legs don’t rub together as much.