Planning the Balmain "leather" skinnies

This morning's Guardian weekly fashion video How to Wear Leather video link is all about leather: dresses, trousers, pleated skirt and even shorts! So this is a leather winter, but unlike last winter, it's NOT about motorcycle jackets, although no one could tear me away from my dark red leather jacket right now. But onward...I guess until we hit the leather underwear dilemma.

 I had a pair of leather trousers I loved, back in 1983, made of dark brown calf which I'd bought very cheap in a Hong Kong outlet that supplied me with all my discounted designer items. I recall wearing them out into Hong Kong's New Territories the day I produced a team radio piece for NPR on Chinese clans. Funny how "what I wore" moments really stick. My colleague went on to greater fame and fortune at ABC News, but where did those trousers go? Anyway, here we are, full circle, back at a leather trousers moment. But do you like your ankles sticking out of your trousers? I think it would just look dumb on me.

Gemma Arterton, whom I take to be some kind of celeb, wearing the short kind of leather trousers..

Burda has been showing us variations of leather trousers for a while, like this one from the BurdaEasy AutumnWinter 2010, and BurdaStyle August 2010

Frankly, my inspiration was neither a moth-eaten T-shirt look, nor what Selfish Seamstress calls "Clown Love, but rather, the designer Balmain, as in these:

I've bought some rather convincing pleather which I intend to use for my test pair before contacting Mr. Fauck at Leather Heaven up in Berlin for the real thing. (He supplied me with the gorgeous kingfisher blue suede for last spring's Burda dress. see PR Review.) 

Of these two design choices, neither is ideal. The main problem is that my inseam is 33.5 inches and I like my full leg length to run about 108-110 cm, while the Easy Burdas at the top are only 99 cm and the Clown trousers slightly more. So, if I want the dribbly-hemmed Balmain look, we're in for some major lengthening.

Second problem, as Dingyadi and Bubblegum4breakfast, and I have found out, Burda "slims" require a lot of taking in.  The Burda Easy's have three leg seams which promise more in the way of fitting possibilities than the BurdaStyle clown and have a rather nifty padded motorcycle knee. On the other hand, the clown versions have that crucial seam at the knee which I'll need if I transfer my results to real leather. 

I think a muslin for the muslin may be required. How boring. I wish Selfish would finish with her damn curtains and give me some advice.