Men's Corduroys (Pants)

Corduroy is cotton woven with an extra set of yarns that get cut and brushed into raised vertical ridges. Each ridge is a wale, and the number of wales per inch tells you almost everything about how a pair will look. Eight wales per inch gives fat, chunky ribs with obvious shadow between them. Eleven is the standard trouser weight. Sixteen and above, sold as needlecord or babycord, is fine enough to read as a textured chino from across a room.

Those cut tufts stand upright, and standing fibers trap air. Cords feel noticeably warmer than a flat twill of the same weight. The pile also has a direction. Run your hand up the leg and the fabric looks darker, run it down and it looks lighter. That nap direction must match between the two legs and the pockets. Mismatched panels are the fastest way to spot a badly cut pair. Pile crushes flat where you sit and where the knee bends, and the marks stay until steam lifts the fibers again.

Wool dress trousers outrank cords in formality every time, since pile catches light and reads casual whatever the color. The chino is the flat-faced version of the same cotton idea, cooler and lighter and neutral enough for most of the year, where cords announce a season. Set beside moleskin, a densely brushed cotton with no ribs at all, corduroy gives more texture and less wind resistance. Wale count is what makes cords a distinct trouser rather than a chino with a finish.

Cool, dry autumn and winter weather suits them, which is why they live in the same wardrobe as tweed jackets and suede boots. Wide wales add visual bulk to the leg, so a slimmer frame carries an 8-wale pair better than a heavy build does. Real heat and humidity rule corduroy out completely, because pile does not breathe and traps sweat against the skin. Brown, olive and rust wear the texture better than pale colors, which show every crushed patch.

Squeeze a handful of the fabric and let go. Good pile springs back, while thin pile stays flat and will look worn out within a season. Turn cords inside out before washing, since the pile abrades against the drum and goes shiny. Keep the iron off the face of the fabric and steam them on a hanger instead, because pressing crushes the wales permanently.