Trousers: Universal Language

Universal Language

Universal Language, along side United Arrows and their sartorial branch Sovereign, had a significant role in shaping my path into tailored wear. The former was also where I had my first experience with MTM as well as introducing me to certain design details that I still hold as primary preferences, through their ready to wear selection.

I view my sartorial journey as two separate timelines; one before and one after venturing into MTM with Ring Jacket. Universal Language was an important part of the first timeline, where a lot of trying and (in hindsight) failing took place, but one item and the details it encompasses still remains to this day: The Universal Language ready to wear gurkha trousers.

Now, I’m being specific about the RTW part, because, although you would think that if it holds true for RTW then certainly it also does for MTM, as has been pointed out before, one key detail on the RTW trousers were not an option when ordering MTM. This was also one of the reasons I eventually moved past their MTM offerings.

Trouser Style

The ready to wear trousers in question has since I first wore them become the standard for my style preferences.

First and foremost, high-waisted, with the current edition sporting a front rise of about 30cm. I say current edition since I’ve been through every size from medium to extra large with this model, and landed on the latter where I found that rise, pleat spread and look after alterations looked exactly the way I wanted it to. I’ll get back to this point later on.

The second detail: double outwards pleats. For me this is the pinnacle of elegance and possibly more importantly comfort.

Side adjusters. I’ll admit that when first coming across this feature my infatuation was mostly of it stylistically, but as we all know, their importance practically can not be overstated.

Tall waistband and long fastening flap. I would add double buttoning here, but depending on how tall the waistband is and to some extent the purpose of the trousers this isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker. But I do prefer the double buttoning to single.

Since I’m not going into more detail on the MTM part regarding Universal Language, I’ll add that the length of the waistband “flap” was the compromise I wasn’t willing to make that they could not accommodate. The MTM option was technically the exact same trousers, but with a waistband flap about half the length of the ones you see in this article. Besides taking away what I perceive as the “elegant part“ of the waistband, it also adds unnecessary “bulk” to that mid part as opposed to creating a sleek, refined waistline, thus defeating the purpose of the whole waistband in my opinion.

Lastly, a coin pocket. Now, this detail is not a dealbreaker either. I wouldn’t necessarily want this for suit trousers, but since all of the Universal Language trousers are separates it works as an additional point of interest.

Side note:

Here you see the RTW trousers from Ring Jacket (top), Universal Language (middle) and lastly MTM trousers from Universal Language (bottom).

As you can see, the waistband on the MTM trousers is significantly shorter than the RTW ones.

The Process

Seeing that these are RTW trousers a few alterations are needed to achieve the right fit and look. When I first bought these, and consequently all the colour renditions as I fell in love with the model, I was not experienced in the world of tailoring and the possibilities available. Thus, I bought them in the size that fit my waist, which was medium, and tapered them from there. Additionally, these were also my first high-waisted trousers, so even at the rise of the medium size, that was still quite a steep jump from regular rise (not low rise mind you).

As my preferences matured and I became more aware, I realised that I wanted an even higher rise and also my first tryout as far as tapering goes does not align with my current wishes. Throughout the next two years a lot of buying and selling occurred until I settled on extra large as being the ideal size to carve my favourite trousers from.

An additional note to bear in mind is that this was a specific RTW model, made and sold one season and seemingly never returned to by the brand again. A decision I really don’t understand. If they had sold these in Europe they would’ve been out of stock in seconds. In any case, the point being that I had to follow their online outlet store with eagle eyes to pick up whatever deadstock that was released the next two years. On the bright side, I’ve since picked up all of them, stocking up two pairs of each colour, each time at a bargain so ridiculous it makes you wonder just how unpopular these trousers were in Japan. Again, given the amount of feedback and inquiries I get regarding these, I just can not comprehend the situation. If they’d let me order these I would easily pay double their original sales price.

Ready to wear alterations

So, we’ve finally arrived at the most important part once you’ve gotten your hands on the trousers you’ve been eyeing all that time: The alterations.

When it comes to ready to wear and MTM to some extent, there are some limitations, although possibly fewer than you think. One important point to keep in mind is the cut of the trousers. I’ve tried my ‘sizing up and tapering down’ method with certain brands where the cut just doesn’t allow for a good result. With this model I was able to go up two sizes (perhaps more, but I haven’t tried), and after altering them they have a nice silhouette, the seat area isn’t restricted and the front looks balanced and proportional.

The difference in rise between medium and extra large is about 2cm and those are well worth it. The second benefit in the case of these is that the two pleats are quite narrowly placed in relation to each other, so the size up adds slightly more spread between the pleats. This also is beneficial in terms of comfort and movement.

The last benefit of sizing up visually is that the bigger size will have an even longer button fastener, which means a more refined front.

I’ve mentioned this in an earlier article, but if a ready to wear trouser you are interested in have pockets that flares or the front or back is too tight, sizing up and having a good tailor (or if the house tailors are skilled) look at it might be a solution.

Conclusion

Although I prefer MTM and bespoke to RTW, I am obviously not opposed to a good deal, especially if you don’t have to make compromises on preferences.

These RTW trousers definitely checks all the boxes for such a deal and they’ve become my go-to separate trousers. A true staple in my wardrobe.

It’s a shame Universal Language didn’t continue to make them, although you never know what the future holds. But I’ve also noticed that other Japanese brands moved away from a lot of the “sartorial” offerings that used to be part of their catalogue, so the condition the world has been in the past 3 years might of course be part of the reason; that they simply had to make safer choices.