#britches

Chapter 1 of Shadow of Night. Diana and Matthew have just timewalked to the 16th century and are now getting ready to meet M's friends. D has found out that they are the famous School of Night.

‘Putting aside how reckless your friends can be, you can’t expect me to be blasé when you introduce me to people I’ve spent my adult life studying,’ I said. ‘Thomas Harriot is one of the foremost astronomers of the time. Your friend Henry Percy is an alchemist.’ Pierre, familiar with the signs of a woman on the edge, hastily thrust a set of black britches at my husband so he wouldn’t be bare legged when my anger erupted.

Friends, readers, fellow adowscion members, historians, I would greatly appreciate your input on the matter. What was Pierre's thinking here? Please, my imagination is running wild right now. :-)))

Ange Laurent de La Live de Jully

Artist: Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725-1805)

Date: ca. 1759

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States

Description

Like Jacques Onésime de Bergeret, Lalive de Jully (1725-79) was an influential collector, amateur, and painter in the Parisian art world of the 1750s and 1760s. One of Jean-Baptiste Greuze's first patrons, Lalive is depicted seated on a chair he had commissioned as part of a suite of furniture à la grecque. This furniture subtly reveals Lalive's avant-garde taste in rejecting the curvilinear forms of the rococo in favor of rectilinear shapes and archaeological decor before the full flowering of the neoclassical style.

Greuze placed Lalive in the center of the canvas; his torso twists toward the harp, as his head, shown in three-quarter pose, turns to the viewer. He is casually attired in a white silk dressing gown, a scarf around his neck, and his britches unbuttoned at the knees. The captivating expression, a faint smile and slightly raised eyebrows, further enhances the contrived informality of the portrait. The emphasis on the face and hands counterbalances the rigid series of parallel vertical lines that define the space.

It has honestly been so long I don't remember how women's sizes translated.

Men's pants have clear measurements. The first number is your waist size, where the band of the pants wrap and the second number is then inseam. From your crotch to the where you want the cuff to land on your ankle. It looks like 32 (waist) x 30 (inseam).

When I weighed around `180 I wore 36 x 30. Your inseam does not change. Right now at about 150 34 x 30 are loose. But all that can depend on your body size, shape, height etc.

Loose fit or casual fit are better than those that say "tapered". Wrangler cargo pants are cheap for the regular wear pants and come in a loose fit and boot cut (wider cuff). Farm Supply stores are great places to start. They sell their own brands and a fair amount of farmers are stocky and short so they tend to carry a wide range of sizes. Off brands like Tractor Supply brand are cheaper, sometimes less than 15 bucks a pair.

The common styles are cargo, painter, and casual. Cargo have the wider thigh pockets, painter have narrower "tool" side pockets and casual are like regular jeans with the two front and two back pockets. I love cargo for the room and pockets but everyone likes different things.

There is denim (jeans) , cotton (casual or daily work/dress pants) and canvas (sturdy work pants) in most brands. Canvas can be heavier but very sturdy. Jeans can be heavy but depends on the finish and cotton can be versatile and cheap.

Don't be afraid to shop in the big and tall men's section. They sometimes have lots of sizes you can try on for fit. Wrangler pants go as large as a 60 waist on their website. Jeans up to 66. Tractor Supplies website has casual style work pants for 15.00 and they go to a waist of 44. A very affordable option to try out.

There are more companies coming out with pants made for women that are formed for active (work or play) women. Many of these specialized pants are really expensive (150.00 or more) and are way out of my budget. But for women who need very protective gear and maybe have a "work wear budget you can check places like https://redantspants.com/ https://sheflyapparel.com/ https://dovetailworkwear.com/

For me a pair of Wrangler (flannel lined in winter) cargo pants and a P-Style in the pocket is cheaper and works fine for me. AND i am ROUGH on pants between my three jobs and my acreage. I would love to test drive and support these companies products but my budget says "NO".

First ever thrifted Belstaff jacket, naturally it is NOT the iconic Trailmaster.

Tweed Cap: Mucros, thrifted

Sunnies: Ray Ban, eBay

Jacket: Belstaff, thrifted

Sweater: Woolrich, vintage, thrifted

Trousers: Britches, thrifted