Wouldn't You Just Dye Without Paul Smith?

Over the course of Series 10 the Doctor seems to have acquired three known new pairs of trousers, all of them black rather than the various dark navy ones seen in the last two series. In order of appearance these are:

• Chris Kerr forward pleated trousers made from Harrisons super 150 wool
• Unknown Victorian style trousers
• Paul Smith flat fronted stretch cotton trousers (originally blue but overdyed black)

The black overdyed Paul Smith trousers as part of the 'all-black' variant.

Of these three the only off-the-shelf ones are the Paul Smiths, from their appearance they more than likely started life as the dark navy stretch cotton trousers that first appeared towards the end of Series 9. They are sometimes called 'chino-style' however this is a slightly misleading name as they are really formal trousers that just happen to be made of cotton.

Series 10 promo picture featuring what I believe to be the black trousers.

Both the navy and black versions have returned for Series 10, with the black ones being worn as part of multiple different costumes. Given that these SA trousers have sold out and the bottle required to attempt to overdye such expensive trousers I decided to look for alternatives.

Only the coat is navy, everything else is black.

The closest alt pair I could find on the high street weren't bad but had accuracy issues with all four pockets and the fabric was fuzzier and thinner than the Paul Smith stuff. I therefore decided instead to try and find a second-hand pair of Paul Smith trousers and dye them myself.

I'd be happy too if I were wearing such an awesome outfit.

Initially I found a lovely pair of dark navy cotton trousers by Paul Smith, from the inner lining strip near the zipper I could tell that they weren't the Screen Accurate ones however they were externally completely identical in terms of fabric and design features so could be classed as a Screen Accurate Variant (SA-V). After they arrived however I began to realise the leg was slightly too short for me, being fairly tall I decided these trousers would be better suited to someone slightly shorter who could appreciate them more as a nearly perfect pair of navy trousers. I reluctantly put these trousers to one side and continued my search.

The SA-V trousers directly compared to the SA ones.

Some time later I managed to find two more pairs of SA-V stretch cotton trousers, one a washed out black, the other a dark grey. The faded black one was a size 32 as well, making it a more suitable size for me than the dark navy ones (size 34) I originally got ahold of. The legs had been shortened so I decided to get both, that way given the fabric for both would be identical after dyeing I could cannibalise the second to add cuffs if there was not enough excess leg length on the first.

The two new pairs of trousers fated to be overdyed black.

As soon as they arrived I opened up the base of the leg to release as much fabric from the inside as possible, both had been amateurishly shortened using iron-on tape. Fortunately after pinning I decided there'd be enough surplus leg length to add cuffs without sacrificing the second pair. After removing as much of the adhesive as possible and nearly completely ironing out the crease where the leg originally ended I made up a dye bath and dropped them both in to stew.

A brief pause to take a picture between the hour of constant stirring to ensure an even dye.

The end result was exactly what I'd hoped for, the dye penetrated the fabric well due to the high cotton content and both trousers ended up black. However, due to the size 34 trousers starting off as a lighter colour the black on them was very slightly more of a faded shade, still definitely black but not quite perfect. I considered simply saying "that'll do" and calling it a day but given that I knew at this point I'd end up selling these trousers I decided to do it properly and give them a second dye bath to fully saturate the fabric. This was a bit tedious and added some additional cost but I'm happy to say it was worth it as the fabric ended up a deeper shade of black afterwards. The only real difference between my overdyed black trousers and the actual ones is that the SA pair is a marginally slimmer cut, though this of course can be a bit subjective depending on the wearer's leg proportions.

The end result against a white background to show the new black colour.

Overall I'm exceedingly happy with how these turned out, I was definitely not going to overdye my actual S9-S10 navy ones so this was the next best thing to 'ruining' an already fully Screen Accurate pair. Strangely enough the SA trousers also came in black so Hayley's overdyeing of the pre-existing navy ones wasn't strictly speaking necessarily. They were probably older, slightly worn pairs that she decided to breathe some new life into, like the characterful distressing done to the older Budd shirts.

Everything cotton soaked up the dye, including the pocket fabric.

As a result of this quest for accuracy however I have ended up with two additional pairs of SA-V Paul Smith trousers, if anyone's been hunting for their very own pair (or pairs) to add to their collection check out my blog's Sale's Page.

iTailor Trousers for Twelve

Unlike the more elaborate patterned trousers that make up his ‘Space Hobo’ look, Capaldi’s plain trousers are much easier to find off-the-peg alternatives for. Unfortunately, if you’re an unusual size or a bit of a stickler for detail it’s not so easy to find something that ticks all the boxes. I ended up returning three different off-the-peg trousers due to either accuracy or sizing problems.

Luckily though there is a budget friendly solution to this that achieves a level of accuracy close to the original Paul Smith trousers. A fairly well known website called iTailor uses a configuration tool to create custom pieces of clothing; these are tailored to your measurements in the Orient and usually take about a month to arrive. The quality of their work is as good as anything you’ll find in high street shops and their website’s 3D designer gives a wide array of customisation options, they’ll also sometimes do small things not listed on the website’s options if you ask specially.

Now, after ordering several shirts through them there is one piece of advice I would definitely give. The measurements section asks for you own body measurements, it’s very easy to take these incorrectly and you’ll end up with a garment that’s their idea of the ideal fit for your body rather than yours, for example their shirts have very tight arms. Although they don’t advertise this, they also allow you to give them measurements taken directly from a pre-existing well-fitting garment. I cannot recommend this enough. If you’re going to order something send them an email first and ask for their garment measurement guide for that specific item, after you order it send them an email with your order number and the garment measurements you want for your tailored item.

My Doctor Mysterio outfit (minus the coat) featuring SA TM Lewin waistcoat, iTailor trousers and ModernTailor shirt.

Please note that navy, charcoal and black are quite difficult to photograph accurately and can easily be mistaken for each other in photos depending on the camera and lighting. I've tried to selectively use photos that show the fabric colour accurately however as I'm just using a phone camera the colour quality is slightly limited.

The Trousers:

Moving back onto Capaldi, his Doctor has been seen in many different trousers, some of which have only slight differences. I've tried to list all the ones seen so far below, though as Series 10 hasn't aired yet there may be more to come:

1.     Paul Smith dark navy pleated (Series 8)

2.     Unknown black pleated (Series 8)

3.     Chris Kerr dark navy pleated (Series 9)

4.     Chris Kerr grey houndstooth pleated (Series 9)

5.     Mendoza navy check flat front (Series 9)

6.     Hugo Boss Caleb grey check flat front (Series 9)

7.     Hugo Boss Caleb grey check [inverted pattern] flat front (Series 9)

8.     Paul Smith 'chino style' dark navy flat front (Series 9/10)

9.     Custom dark navy 'jeans inseam' flat front (Series 10)

10. Custom black pleated (Series 10)

11. Custom black Victorian flat front (Series 10)

I ordered some pleated black trousers for my Dinner Suit outfit (trouser #2) a while back however much to my surprise the Doctor has been seen in some black pleated trousers for Series 10 (trouser #10) that are basically exactly the same. Note that as nothing has been seen of the rear I'm assuming they are made in the same style as Paul Smith trousers (two welt pockets with double darts above each. More recently I ordered some dark navy flat fronts from them as an alternative to the Paul Smith 'chino style' ones (trouser #8) however these I was less satisfied with. Firstly, iTailor failed to pass on my special sizing requests despite acknowledging it resulting in a three week delay whilst they made me a replacement pair, I did end up with a spare pair of trousers from this so it wasn't all bad. Secondly the dark navy colour was not quite as dark as it looked in the pictures, this I'll discuss further down.

Review - The Accuracy:

The iTailor 3D customisation tool will allow you to create a decent replica of some of the plain-coloured trousers save for a couple of details. Capaldi’s pleated trousers all use forward pleats, meaning the pleat is the other way round compared to the vast majority of trousers seen today. The pleat direction is not specifiable in the designer so has to be requested specially. 

My specially requested forward pleats.

Also, the majority of Paul Smith trousers have two darts between each of the rear pockets and the waistband whereas iTailor only do one on their trousers. I asked them as a special request to do two on my navy trousers but they didn't so don't get your hopes up too high, it's a relatively small detail so I din't make a fuss about it.

The rear of both my trousers.

Both the black and dark navy fabrics are a slightly shiny wool blend twill that feels no better nor worse than found on any other trousers of this price point. The black is quite similar in appearance to the Palmer waistcoat's fabric although the twill weave is slightly less fine, it is a very slightly different shade of black but does a fairly good job at looking like a matching set as the S10 pleated trousers have been described.

Palmer waistcoat shown against black iTailor trousers.

I can't be totally sure but the dark navy fabric appears noticeably lighter than the original Paul Smith flat fronted trousers (though I believe the weave is similar) and have more contrast against the Palmer than they should. It is also a noticeably different weave and shade of navy compared to the Series 8 Paul Smith trousers and the Series 9 Chris Kerr ones. Given the fabric is too light I may try and overdye mine at some future point to darken the colour, until I attempt this I hesitate to recommend iTailor for any of the dark navy trousers. I've included the dark navy trousers in the table further down just in case anyone specifically wants them anyway.

Palmer waistcoat shown against dark navy iTailor trousers.

Providing you follow the instructions later in this article the actual design features of the trousers should be near identical to the screen used trousers, save for the twin pocket darts. The rear welt pockets are button-less like the originals and the cuffs have a nice 1.5 inch height to them

iTailor's dark navy against a swatch of screen accurate fabric from S9's pleated trousers.

Review - The Fit:

This is where the trousers fall down a bit. If you order using the standard body measurement route they'll basically end up as a regular fitting pair of trousers rather than Capaldi's slim, body-hugging style. Unfortunately, although using garment measurements improves this significantly it does not result in a perfect fitting pair of trousers.

When I ordered the the black trousers I followed the iTailor measuring guide and the resulting trousers were looser round the back of the knee than Capaldi's. In addition the leg width was made within moderate tailoring tolerances albeit at the upper end of the size, resulting in legs than did not quite hug the body as I'd hoped. I assumed that it was down to the guide not asking for many places to measure the leg width so in my next order for the navy trousers I specified several width measurements, each 5 inches further up the leg. After receiving the second, corrected, pair of navy trousers I discovered that iTailor add extra to your very specific measurements from around the mid-leg area and tend to make it baggier than specified. The cut is good enough for the moment but I may have to have the legs taken in slightly from mid-femur to mid-fibular eventually, the leg half-width around the knee is currently about half an inch larger than specified in the order.

How to Order:

Before you order be sure to get in touch with iTailor (info@itailor.com) to ask if they'll take garment measurements rather than body measurements in addition to any minor customisations you require. If they give the go ahead this covers you in case they screw up and forget your special requirements like what happened with my navy trousers.

The table below will guide you through what options to choose in order to achieve as close a replica as possible. Note that I’ve grouped the two pleated trousers together as although they are technically different the differences are way too subtle to really capture in a replica such as this.

	Black S8/10 Pleated	Navy S8/9 Pleated	Navy S9/10 Flat Fronts
Fabric	Black (3799-22)	Dark Navy (3799-20)	Dark Navy (3799-20)
Style	Narrow/Slim	Narrow/Slim	Narrow/Slim
Pleat	Single Pleat	Single Pleat	No Pleats
Pant Pocket	Slanted	Slanted	Slanted
Back Pockets	Single Opening (Both)	Single Opening (Both)	Single Opening (Both)
Belt Loops	Single (Normal)	Single (Normal)	Single (Normal)
Cuffs	Cuff	Cuff	Cuff

After placing the order send an email to iTailor customer service (info@itailor.com) quoting your order number. Ask them to do forward pleats if desired (and maybe twin darts above each rear pocket but they probably won't) in addition to supplying your own garment measurements and asking them to ignore whatever measurements you've put into the 3D configurator. I would also include additional leg measurements as I mentioned earlier to try and get the legs close to Capaldi's, though iTailor may make them slightly looser.

Verdict:

So to summarise, I would recommend iTailor for the black Mummy/S10 pleated trousers due to how well they match in terms of design (and fabric for S10) to the originals. I would not recommend them for any dark navy trousers as their fabric simply isn't dark enough and looks kinda off to my eye, though maybe mine are salvageable depending on how they dye. If you do order from them be prepared to wait up to 6 weeks though it can be a lot less depending on the time of year. They will likely claim they will do twin darts above the pocket but simply won't do it when they make them and the trousers will likely be a bit looser than they should around the mid-leg even if you give them very specific measurements, this is a fairly easy fix for a seamstress however. If possible try and order the trousers during one of their sales events, I did this with mine, they have a 'fabric of the week' deal where they knock £10 off the price of whatever fabric it is.