Explorer Pants – a thumbs down
Product Review by Alex C, Frugi Customer & Crusader
Groucho Marx once famously said: “These are my principles. But if you don’t like them, I have others.”
Well, the time has come for the lovely people at Frugi to show how principled they are. Will they allow this Crusader a free voice on this blog, even if it means losing a few sales?
Because the awful truth is, I don’t like these trousers.
Don’t get me wrong. They are beautifully made, of super-soft organic cotton and I know that my bub, Oliver, is extremely comfortable in them. They wash, dry and iron well (although see note on buttons below) and in fact they are my partner’s favourite item of clothing (for our son, that is – I don’t think Dave could squeeze in to them himself).
So where’s the bad?
Well, comfortable is one thing. Baggy and shapeless is quite another, and I think these veer towards that. Even Oli’s most voluminous nappies can’t fill the cut for cloth styling of these trousers, so they just hang. When they’re buttoned to ¾ length, the softness of the fabric means that the inside leg (ie the opposite side to the button) tends to unroll and hang down, giving a curiously lop-sided look – this is noticeable even on the catalogue photo of the product.
Then there’s the buttons. They’re made of wood, which looks fantastic – much nicer than plastic. But they are an absolute bugger to fasten and unfasten. I’ll admit to being a bit cack-handed, but I find these buttons a real struggle. So much so that I have to decide BEFORE dressing Oliver whether I want the trews to be full-length or ¾ length and turn them up if necessary before I put them on him, because he won’t stay still whilst I faff with the length when he’s wearing them. Even unbuttoning them to put them in the wash takes me five minutes!
And talking about the wash, the buttons fall down a bit there, too. I found the stain used on the wood leached onto the fabric during washing, and a small area around each button is now faintly yellow (a bit like a curry stain, actually, which is what I thought it was at first – Oliver being partial to the remains of our Friday night takeway).
If you’re reading this, it obviously means the Frugi crew ARE principled and vigorously espouse freedom of speech! So don’t turn your back on them – this is the first product of theirs I can’t recommend. Try the Explorer zip-offs instead, or the gorgeous cords from the new range.