Corduroys: The perfect winter trousers

What happened to cords?

I swear, they used to be everywhere. Remember? I know I’m not crazy. I have these distinct memories of my parents buying me wide-wale cords at Kohl’s, or maybe it was JCPenney, or maybe it was Target.

A worn-in pair of corduroys are comfortable like a pair of sweatpants, yet dignified and strong.

Wherever it was, it wasn’t anywhere particularly fancy. Corduroys were standard and easy to find. They were what we wore when the weather got cold. I remember getting them before school every year. Boys wore them, older kids wore them, dads wore them, grandpas wore them. Everyone wore them.

But gradually, something strange happened. Our culture started shifting away from classically influenced clothing and moving toward sport-influenced clothing.

Sweatpants nation

Think back into the foggy recesses of your mind. Tug on those dusty memories. If you think hard, you can probably remember a time when guys wore chinos instead of sweatpants. Or leather shoes instead of sneakers. When more guys wore ties to work and fewer wore T-shirts. When every man had a sport coat in his closet. When cords were common and unremarkable.

If you have never thought about any of this, you might be wondering for the first time, “Oh yeah, what ever happened to cords?” It’s one of those things that happened very slowly, so it’s hard to pin down an exact year they faded. They just vanished from the mainstream.

A true tragedy, because cords are the perfect winter trousers.

Seasonal classic

Even though cords have shrunk in terms of their popularity, you can still find them if you know where to look. It may not be easy to hunt down 100% cotton cords with no stretch added, but you can do it. I recommend J. Press, Cordings, or J. Crew. These aren’t cheap pants, but they are great pants. Unfortunately, because cords are not as common as they once were, we end up paying a premium for what was standard just a few decades ago.

Cords are warm and cozy. The fabric is luxurious. A worn-in pair of corduroys are comfortable like a pair of sweatpants, yet dignified and strong. Classic clothing — like cords — understands the seasons. The summer pieces feel inexplicably like summer, and the winter pieces feel undeniably like winter. Classic clothing helps us feel both season and time in our clothes. This adds a natural variance to life.

When you bring your summer shirts out of storage, it’s exciting. When you wear your overcoat for the first time after the temperature drops, you have an extra skip in your step. Classic seasonal clothing allows us to reflect the changing world around us. It’s deeply organic. It feels whole. You would never wear a pair of cords in the spring or the summer, but you would in the autumn or the winter. Cords solidify an outfit as being autumnal or wintery.

A shot of color

While a simple pair of neutral cords is a must-have, cords don’t only come in navy or brown. Cords are fascinating in that there is a tradition of them being bold and bright. Red cords, yellow cords, purple cords, green cords. These are all classic iterations. This is something very unique. We don’t see this kind of adventure in other classic pairs of pants. Cords are very special for this reason. Bright and colorful, yet traditional and classic.

The bright and colorful cords of the winter are like the brightly painted houses you see near a gloomy fjord in Norway. They are a shot of color in the darkness of winter. A bright reminder when the sun hasn’t shined in weeks. They are indefatigable optimism when everything feels grim. They are a supremely unique instance when you can wear red pants as part of a traditional outfit.

When working with a pair of brown or navy cords, you have many options with your shirt. Take your pick of an OCBD, and it will most likely work great. When working with a pair of bright and colorful cords, you want to keep your shirt simple. Stick with white or light blue to make sure you don’t look clownish. Too many colorful pieces is never a good idea.

Flexible formality

Cords are incredibly flexible in terms of formality. You can dress cords up and you can dress cords down. Cords work great when paired with an OCBD, loafers, navy blazer, and knit tie. They also work great with bean boots, an OCBD, and a Shetland wool sweater thrown on top.

The rich texture of corduroy is unparalleled. Whether you are wearing fine wale or wide wale, there is no other pant in our wardrobe that offers this level of textural interest. The only other classical fabric that comes close is seersucker. The grooves of corduroy feel nice to the touch, and the unique texture adds a subtle point of interest to every outfit. Often, we think of color when we are considering interesting points in an outfit. But texture plays its own role. Cords are a wonderful reminder of that.

Winter can be depressing. The weather is often oppressive. Our mood can turn dour. The mundanity of it all can get to you. But cords give us something in our closet to look forward to. They are fun. They are comfortable. They are interesting. They are cozy. They can be bright and colorful. They are classic and traditional. They are the perfect winter pant.