We have reviewed custom shirts from Woodies before in the past. Our conclusion? Solid fabrics, solid construction and quality, but a lackluster website and not a super flexible pattern leading to difficulty in truly nailing down a perfect fit. Overall, then, solid, but not if you’re super picky about fit. This winter, though, they released flannel-lined chinos. These are something I have wanted for some time, but usually are not available in a fit that I want. A perfect opportunity to try custom pants, then! Woodies has offered custom chinos for quite some time, and I was excited to give these a shot. I had heard good things in the past, and figured that pants are simpler to do than shirts, and so why not give them another go. So, here is our review and experience of Woodies’ custom pants ($98+).
Style & Design
These are nice looking chinos, and Woodies offers most of the basic options you could want. Flat front versus pleats, a cuff or not cuff, and flap rear pockets or not. With chinos, there isn’t that much you can do, but it would still be nice if Woodies offered a bit more by way of customization. This has long been a shortcoming of theirs, and there is not a lot you can customize with their pants. Still, the fact that they even have custom chinos is more than can be said for many other places that are similar when it comes to shirts. You can also select the accent fabric you would like for the flannel lining if you go for a pair of the flannel lined chinos.
The blue chinos I ordered came out quite nice. They are a somewhat muted navy, leaning the slightest bit grey. They actually have a texture to them that borders on a sheen. Both of these things are hard to see in photos, but I think you can get a good sense. I actually like the way these look, and the they are not just a plain, classic navy. But if you wanted a plain navy, you might be disappointed. I also opted for rear pockets, which I don’t love the look of. They seem a bit flat and bland compared to the heftiness of the rest of the flannel lined pant. Perhaps they’d look better on the standard chinos. In all, though, these are pretty standard chinos, available in a bunch of colors. Not perfect, but overall solid. A-
Order Process
The website is clean and easy to use, but the actual customization shows no live preview whatsoever, but they do have decent “sketches” that shows what the different options will do. Shipping is pretty quick. In our experience, orders arrived within 2-3 weeks, which is quite reasonable. A-
First & Second Fitting
This was quite rough. The pictures you see here were the second fitting. The first fitting was even worse than this. The problems are a few-fold. After my first pair came in with way, way too much room in the seat and thighs resulting in terrible “diaper butt”, as well as too much length and not enough of a taper, I emailed them through their contact form. I included fit pictures, very specific instructions, and requested a remake. They were happy to do so, and what you see above is their second attempt. They did fix a bunch of what I asked for, but it is literally as if they removed space from the seat, thigh, and cuff, and just left it in the middle resulting in one of the most oddly, poorly fitting garments I have ever worn. When I emailed them requesting a second remake, they refused, and instead offered a full refund.
From a fit perspective, this is an utter failure. From a customer service perspective, I wish they would have gone ahead with another round, but so long as a company will extend a refund in the end, I think most people would be okay with that, knowing that they will be covered if it doesn't work out (which happens from time to time). C+
Quality & Construction
Build quality here is fine. The flannel is nice and soft, the actual chino material is nice, as described above. No loose stitches or lack of details. The zippier is sturdy, and the pants feel like they would hold up well and break in nicely over time. Too bad I won’t be able to test this given that they don’t fit me. But, for the price, these are about what you would expect as far as quality is concerned. A-
Value & Conclusion
Woodies’ custom pants ($98+) — In the end, we still feel much the same about Woodies. Solid quality and fabrics, as well as options (like flannel lined, etc). Customer service is quite good, and they stand behind their product. If you are a super easy fit, then they have our recommendation. If you think you will need to seriously work with, and develop a long-term relationship with a MTM company, then I would pass on Woodies. They can only do so much, and are not so interested in continually refining and nailing down a fit. They’re good for basic, entry MTM. They are a good value, and have good options. If you want something beyond that, though, we would look elsewhere. Final Grade: B+