# Why is there a massive bulge on my pants when I sit down?



## Liquidus (Mar 2, 2009)

Oh, the problems never end.  I finally noticed how much my chinos bulge when I sit down. Here's a picture:


Here's a picture of me standing up:



These are BB Clark 31/30 chinos (flat front, straight fit, sits at waist). I am around 5'8" and 146 lb. I think I have a pretty small waist, but normal or large size thighs. Everything feels fine when I am standing up. The pants aren't tight against my thighs or crotch. When I sit down, the pants are flush with my thighs and I can definitely feel the crotch part of the pants. I've searched around this forum for pants bulging and I've heard a variety of reasons like seat of pants not big enough, wide hips, pocket stiching, common with flat fronts, etc. I was meeting with Joe from MyTailor today and I showed him the problem and he said the rise is too long. Can anyone provide a definitive reason why I get this bulging? Once I know what to look for, I can go back to BB and try on their other pants. I'm guessing the problem has something to do with me not buying the right size/type of pants, but it's hard to know if it fits right if you've never really known what "fitting right" feels like.


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## Lowndes (Feb 25, 2008)

Where are you sitting? It looks like you stuffed yourself in a locker.


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## Liquidus (Mar 2, 2009)

I am sitting in my dorm room in front of a mirror attached to my closet door.


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## Chengdu nanhai (Apr 12, 2009)

I have noticed the same problem when I sit down. Frankly I think there are to factors: 1. we are slim and don't fill up the pants as much while sitting; 2. Chino is stiffer than wool, so the excess cloth pops up rather than flattens on the lap.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

It's a fact of life. Deal with it!


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## deanayer (Mar 30, 2008)

Jovan said:


> It's a fact of life. Deal with it!


+1 its the nature of the chino beast.


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## Chengdu nanhai (Apr 12, 2009)

By the way, OP, how do you like your Clark chinos? And how often do you wear chinos during a school week? As an undergrad myself, I find myself wearing them sparingly, about once a week or so. 

I think we should start an undergrad support group, sans Jovan :icon_smile_big: Sorry, but you are out of our league as a satorialist.


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## Liquidus (Mar 2, 2009)

Are you guys serious? I can get fine shirts made for my body but with chinos I have to live with this? 

Even if there's nothing I can do about the bulge, do the pants look/sound like they fit right?

Chengdu nanhai: The students on my campus are very casual. Everyone wears jeans and flip flops. I have decided to wear a mix of jeans and chinos, but I have not decided on the proportion of each. As for the chinos themselves, I think they look great. I think the British tan color goes well with my brown AE wilbert and the non-iron treatment means that they have no wrinkles at all.


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## Mr. Moo (Jan 27, 2009)

Seriously? Are you 10 or something? How are you unaware that this is 100% normal and happens to every single person who wears chinos?


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## Liquidus (Mar 2, 2009)

Probably because I don't see anyone wearing chinos where I am. And I'm usually not looking at guys below the waist.


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## Chengdu nanhai (Apr 12, 2009)

Liquidus said:


> *Probably because I don't see anyone wearing chinos where I am. *And I'm usually not looking at guys below the waist.


That's interesting. I actually see quite a few students wearing chinos and boat shoes around campus. Most of them are frat members, so chinos and boat shoes constitute a preppy look on my campus .


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## deanayer (Mar 30, 2008)

Liquidus said:


> Are you guys serious? I can get fine shirts made for my body but with chinos I have to live with this?
> 
> Even if there's nothing I can do about the bulge, do the pants look/sound like they fit right?
> 
> Chengdu nanhai: The students on my campus are very casual. Everyone wears jeans and flip flops. I have decided to wear a mix of jeans and chinos, but I have not decided on the proportion of each. As for the chinos themselves, I think they look great. I think the British tan color goes well with my brown AE wilbert and the non-iron treatment means that they have no wrinkles at all.


Judging by the pictures yes they do fit, maybe a tiny bit on the full side but thats because of your youth as much as the cut of the chinos, so yes thats how they fit. you are freaking out over nothing and the students on your campus look undifferentiated from the waist down in an ocean of blue denim and then there you are, the guy making at least some effort which might be noticed by a certain group of college girls....maybe not the ones shuffling around like barbarians in flip-flops sharing their current state of cuticle health for the world to see but a slightly finer breed...see where this is going?

Ok, so you say you are suffering chino induced panic? AAAC has the cure - here it is, training wheels for the up and coming sartorialist, its jeans, its chinos, its two in one! I give you the lands end Chino jeans - ta da !!!

Your welcome, now keep reading AAAC because some other college guy has a thread about a shirt he is MAKING HIMSELF so you have some catching up to do.

p.s. thats not a black belt you are wearing with tan chinos and brown shoes is it? ;-)


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## jdpgator (Mar 20, 2008)

You have what some call "Pants tent"


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## Kurt N (Feb 11, 2009)

I suggest slant front pockets instead of on-seam pockets. That reduces the bulge where it's most noticeable, namely on the "wings" sticking out on the sides.


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## Mark L. (Feb 23, 2009)

I've gotten used to having a massive bulge in my pants; it's one of those things that falls into the "good problem to have" category!


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## Cardcaptor Charlie (Jul 7, 2008)

It depends on several things:

1. Fabric and weight of trousers
2. Your waistline shape
3. Whether you wear a belt or braces
4. Tightness of the trousers

If your trousers are light, you are slim, you wear braces and the trousers are not that tight against your waist, then when you sit down your braces will pull the front of the trousers upward thereby decreasing the bulginess.

Vice-versa = the law of physics...


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## JibranK (May 28, 2007)

Start wearing a button fly.


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## Wall (Dec 4, 2008)

jdpgator said:


> You have what some call "Pants tent"


I came in here simply to post this. You stole my thunder!


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## Naive. Jr. (Dec 4, 2008)

*Advantage of button fly*



JibranK said:


> Start wearing a button fly.


Why should a button fly change the shape in question?


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## Frank aka The Minotaur (Nov 12, 2004)

jdpgator said:


> You have what some call "Pants tent"


Or a "genie weenie".


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## rmcnabb (Feb 25, 2009)

I've never known jeans or khakis or any other heavy cloth pants to fit any other way. That extra cloth has to go somewhere. When you fold up your body, you're folding up your pants as well. If you fold your arms, your shirt sleeves buckle. So do your pants. The same thing happens behind your knees when you sit down, and no amount of tailoring can fix it. If you wore lycra or spandex you would have fewer problems.

(I have to mention: remember the scene in Spinal Tap when they try to get through airport security? :icon_smile_big


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## Preu Pummel (Feb 5, 2008)

jdpgator said:


> You have what some call "Pants tent"


All the EC girls I grew up with called it the CLOTH COCK. @[email protected];

It's a kind of modern equiv. of the codpiece. ic12337:


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

Measure your body from your naval to your crotch standing up. Then take the same measurement sitting. The answer should be obvious: the distance decreases; the amount of cloth on the front of your pants doesn't. How it folds will depend, as others have said, on the cut and stiffness of the material.


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## Orsini (Apr 24, 2007)

I seem to recall this subject being worked over a while back and that the consensus among the qualified posers was that it was a tailoring or fit problem. You might try searching for it although I am not certain what keyword to use...


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## Blueboy1938 (Aug 17, 2008)

*Zero "bulge"*

I don't see any "bulge" at all. What I see are two pronounced folds of fabric extending outward to the pockets. The only way to minimize that would be to get chinos with horizontally oriented pockets, like jeans, instead of those parallel to the side seams, as they are on the chinos you have on in the picture. It is, as Jovan has pointed out, a sartorial "fact of life" that you will have to deal with, so long as you have that type of pockets.

In the "real world" very few people are going to notice this, as most of the time when you are sitting your lap is hidden under something. In a college, that would be the library table, classroom desks (although I guess they sometimes only cover a portion), StuU tables, dorm desks, bar tables, etc., etc.

If you can't stop obsessing about this, have your pockets sewn closed:devil:


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## bbcrock (Feb 13, 2009)

Can someone cue the Benny Hill theme song? That's running through my head whenever I see this thread come up.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Here you go:






Just bookmark and load up the page whenever one of these oh-so-silly threads comes up.


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## a tailor (May 16, 2005)

rmcnabb and jursey john said just what i was about to say. 
they are both right.


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## ToryBoy (Oct 13, 2008)

What is the trouser rise compared to your other trousers?

As mentioned by the others, the material has to go somewhere. However, what I have noticed from my trousers, the one with the longer rise has more of a 'bulge' area when I sit down, naturally as there is more material. 
All my other trousers have a shorter rise and have less of a 'bulge' when I stick down.


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## chava (Mar 17, 2009)

*extenz*



Chengdu nanhai said:


> I have noticed the same problem when I sit down. Frankly I think there are to factors: 1. we are slim and don't fill up the pants as much while sitting; 2. Chino is stiffer than wool, so the excess cloth pops up rather than flattens on the lap.


There is a product out there to handle this problem. It's called "Extenz" and should help you fill the void.


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## phdezra (Apr 28, 2009)

There's an hysterical episode of _Curb Your Enthusiasm _on this exact topic...


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## Orsini (Apr 24, 2007)

*"Pleated Puff While Seated Problem" Thread*



Orsini said:


> I seem to recall this subject being worked over a while back and that the consensus among the qualified posers was that it was a tailoring or fit problem. You might try searching for it although I am not certain what keyword to use...


Here is the thread to which I had alluded:

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?p=881462#post881462


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## chava (Mar 17, 2009)

*single person*



Mr. Moo said:


> Seriously? Are you 10 or something? How are you unaware that this is 100% normal and happens to every single person who wears chinos?


Just single persons? How did the married ones get so lucky?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Obviously it doesn't just happen to them, as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" proves.


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## 16412 (Apr 1, 2005)

I have had this problem when buying some trousers and jeans. The problem is mostly the back part. On the pattern the legs part goes straight up but from the seat region the pattern angles. If the angle is not enough then there are problems. The back fork probably needs to be let out, too. Sometimes the front needs a bit of room at the waist because from the waist down to the fork it needs a different shape. Another way to do the fronts is to shorten the fork and the reshape that above; this would certainly need a longer back fork, and the back part still needs a different angle. On premade pants this is a lot of work and probably a larger size to give extra width at the side seam of the back part to get the necessary angle. A longer stride might help.


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## DocD (Jun 2, 2007)

Nothing a good 'ol pair of sweat socks can't fill up!


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## windsor (Dec 12, 2006)

Well, Joe the Tailor told you the rise in those chinos is too long, so why not try on a pair of both regular and short rise chinos and see how they look? Different brands differ in cut and you may have the kind of body shape which is less tolerant of certain cuts, I think trial and error, trying on different models is going to be your least expensive route to solving this problem.


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## Liquidus (Mar 2, 2009)

Assuming I want to wear my pants at my waist, wouldn't a shorter rise just mean I can't do that?


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## a tailor (May 16, 2005)

Liquidus said:


> Assuming I want to wear my pants at my waist, wouldn't a shorter rise just mean I can't do that?


thats true.

you could pull up the front when you sit. ala urkle.

trouser pockets like jeans or western style, would eliminate the wings on each side. 
but not the bulge.


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## chava (Mar 17, 2009)

*socks*



DocD said:


> Nothing a good 'ol pair of sweat socks can't fill up!


You mean a rolled up pair?


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## chava (Mar 17, 2009)

*what?*



WA said:


> I have had this problem when buying some trousers and jeans. The problem is mostly the back part. On the pattern the legs part goes straight up but from the seat region the pattern angles. If the angle is not enough then there are problems. The back fork probably needs to be let out, too. Sometimes the front needs a bit of room at the waist because from the waist down to the fork it needs a different shape. Another way to do the fronts is to shorten the fork and the reshape that above; this would certainly need a longer back fork, and the back part still needs a different angle. On premade pants this is a lot of work and probably a larger size to give extra width at the side seam of the back part to get the necessary angle. A longer stride might help.


Party to the first part, and party to the second part, thereafter the party to the fourth part, in consideration of party to the third part... oh forget it. Just throw em' away and start over.


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## 16412 (Apr 1, 2005)

There are other brands or even other models with some brands, so the cut would be different. Each cut has certain problems to different shaped bodies and if your body doesn't really fit into a cut then try some others. If I buy jeans- rustler fits be best, but levis and brittainas give the problems shown above. Riding in a car for aways the pressure in the crotch and on the thighs gives a good reason to get out and walk around for a bit when wearing the wrong pants.

The pants I make have none of these problems mentioned above. So, custom pattern helped. Another correction for the problem above might, and probably will work, is a wider dart above the hip pockets since sometimes certain problems can be removed with either more or less angle, or, wider or narrower dart. Making the dart wider, as would be needed for this problem, would change the shape of the pocket mouth in rtw.


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## Blueboy1938 (Aug 17, 2008)

Here is whereof I speak in terms of western style pockets. Unfortunately, it's in the UK:



Jeans, really, but the right color:


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