Under 5’10 Corduroys Review
Another look at a different pair of pants from the brand looking to help short folks get proper fit.
Under 5’10 Corduroys Review Introduction
Under 5’10 was a relative newcomer for me - but I jumped in pretty heavily in that last year and a half and have tried many, many of their pieces. I own a whole bunch of their pants - from chinos, jeans, performance pants. I’ve got most. You can read my review for those as “travel pants” here: Under 510 Pants Review.
I prioritize pants because as a short guy, it’s easier to find shirts. Recently, the brand released their line of stretch corduroy pants. As a recovering (ok still practicing) prep I admit I’d been eyeing cords for a while, but had yet to pull the trigger as I know they are tough to get in my fit/length. Well, enter Under 5’10.
This is my review of the Under 5’10 Stretch Corduroy pants. I own three colors, and they have been regular options for me in my travel schedule, to work, around NYC, and out to dinners from casual to Michelin.
As always for full transparency, I purchased all of these items with my own money. This is not sponsored, and I had no interaction with the Brand for this review. I do use affiliate links which help to support the site if you decide to use them to make a purchase, but you’re under no obligation to do so and there’s no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Under 5’10 Corduroys Overview
As these are a relatively simple product idea and are not travel focused/tech pants (my usual bread and butter for reviews) - this is going to be relatively easy. These are cords. No kidding!
Macro of the fabric.
They are made in a five pocket style, which is like jeans, so it’s a very versatile and classic style. These are not the pleated/dress pant style that you see in some of the old school menswear circles. They are not the wide wale of those styles so you’re not going to look like a professor when wearing these.
They are SUPER soft, and also contain 2% spandex to give some stretch for added comfort. Which is a very modern thing with pants and I’m frankly here for it.
The buttons are all metal.
Here’s the full list from of details the site:
Corduroy fabric with added stretch
Velvety soft hand feel
Thin wale (narrow lines) for a modern look
98% Cotton, 2% Spandex
Leg hem opening roughly 6.5 inches flat across on waist sizes 32"
Tapers from knee to ankle
Color-matched stitching
Branded crown button closure with zip fly; Five pocket styling
Beyond the look, these are obviously designed for shorter men. So the pattern cutting, inseam lengths, tapers, and waists are going to be geared towards us. Finally.
They’ve expanded on their colorways recently - so you’ve got graphite, beige, navy, burgundy, brown, and olive green. Really nice options.
It retails for $65.00 USD list price as of January 2025 - but an important note is that as stock gets low, they put them on ridiculous sale prices. As of writing, the last few burgundy were on sale for $20.00, for instance. Insane and love to see it. This is just an inventory management technique, not an indication of their quality, don’t worry.
The Fit of the Under 5’10 Corduroys
Obviously the most important part of this article is going to be how they fit. For me, considering I bought all three of the first colors within a few months of each other, the fit was amazing. It wasn’t fool proof, however. I had to buy two different sizes to get mine right. But, they offer very easy returns and exchanges so it wasn’t hard at all. I’m 5’6” and maybe around 140lbs for reference. In the below pictures I had the brown color. A model, I am not. I’m just a guy with a website that wants his clothes to fit.
I started with 30/26. I found these a bit too tight in the waist and legs. Sometimes with these brands, when you bump up to a diff length, it actually updates the “pattern” of the piece. Meaning, the shape they cut out of the raw fabric and with that comes a slight increase in size in other areas. So I kept the 30 waist and updated the length to 27. One reason was to give them a more casual look when wearing sneakers as they’d bunch a little more. But the other was because I had an inkling they would make the pattern slightly larger and more comfortable in my hips, waist, and upper thighs. I was right and that’s the winning size for me - 30/27. This is what you’ll see in all pictures. As noted I’ve been wearing these for months at this point so I do not have the other fit to compare, unfortunately.
Great taper. Can’t emphasize that enough. GREAT. These are slim without being too skinny (obviously this depends on your body type, if you’re thicker/wider - you can’t call pants “skinny” just because they are tight on you, that’s not really a fair shot). For most people, they will be slim and modern. Of course by using the methods above, you can get them skinnier in some ways.
The Good
Ready to travel.
I’ve been using Under 5’10 for nearly two years at this point and have tried many of their pants as noted above. My regular jeans are theirs, too. I actually started using them for my travels (this is a travel focused site after all) because at the end of the day I prioritize fit. I will never say these are better “travel pants” than Western Rise (which I think are the GOAT). It’s very hard to get travel/tech pants to fit me however, and I often have to alter them heavily based on length. As my short brethren know, the more you change the length, the more you affect the taper and how they “fall” at your ankle and lower calves. They begin to get boxier. I HATE that. These guys have nailed the formula on their taper - and frankly I find it better than Peter Manning and Ash and Erie. Two brands that I think admittedly are higher quality overall, but they have this weird “flare” in their calves/lower legs then a slimmer leg hole that I just can’t get past. Could be because I lean more towards a British/European fit after having lived over there for years and I’m just not into the American fit that I think those brands target. For me, Under 5’10 has a perfect fit.
Frankly, I’d be over the moon if they did some kind of collaboration with, like, Western Rise for short dudes! Dream come true right there.
Options. I love all the options for sizes. Some brands that offer smaller sizes only offer them on very specific combinations. With Under 5’10, you kind of can go mental with it, at least as far as I can tell. Skinny and 5’8’? Well, get a slightly longer length and small waist. You can do that. Pretty short but a little heavy set or naturally thicker/wider? Cool - get a shorter inseam and a bigger waist. You can do that too. It’s really nice to see.
Price. Full retail price, I’d say these are priced near the same as a pair of Gap pants (which are $69.99 at the time of writing). I would say they are slightly below that in quality though. Completely acceptable to me especially at this price point. I admit, I grabbed the Burgundy at $20.00 on sale - how could I not? I also bought two backup pairs for when I wear out my main two. You never know if you’ll be able to get them in the future. If you know you know, amirite? I would also say that over time, I’ve seen their quality and QA improve in their products. This is completely normal for a young brand as they grow and scale up their business.
The Bad
Talked about this in my other reivew, but there are no travel benefits to these pants. Maybe someday they’ll come out with a tech/travel pant, but these are just regular pants. Which is still OK - I’m just mentioning because again, my site is focused on travel products.
I think I’d like to see their quality continue to improve. Doesn’t need too much, but just a little bit more would make them kind of a Goldilocks option. So, keep going the way you’re going, folks!
The availability can be spotty. They seem to do a lot of batch productions, which is fine, I get that as a small brand. One of the biggest hidden costs end-consumers don’t realize is warehousing/storage costs. Small brands can actually go bankrupt doing this. It’s wild. But that’s also why you see a lot of young, online brands that do Pre-orders. Then they can order exactly what they need. Make sense? So it’s a very reasonable issue, but it means your ability to buy exactly when you want can get affected. Just sign up for notifications if your size is gone. I do it all the time.
That’s pretty much all I got. I’m frankly all in on them purely based on fit and look.
Final Thoughts On My Under 5’10 Corduroys Review
Let’s be real for a minute. A person’s individual confidence can be greatly affected by the way they look. More specifically, how their clothes FIT. It’s about how you’re presenting yourself to the world. And for people that do not fit the “middle zone” - and this includes very tall people too, I see you! - it’s a great source of personal anxiety when buying clothes or putting outfits together. Being able to represent the image that was in your head to the real world, feels so good. And for years, short folks really had a hard time doing that. We’d unintentionally look sloppy because clothing wasn’t really made for us. Under 5’10 is one of the brands helping to make that a thing of the past.
Clothing can make your confidence. Anyone that has ever worn a custom suit or shirt or pants can tell you that. It’s a wildly different thing to have clothing that was made for you (or was made with you in mind in the case of this brand). I can’t stress that enough.
I’ve been pretty thrilled with what I’ve found from them, and I think the Corduroys are one of the best things they make from an all around perspective: look, flexibility, and acceptable quality.
You can only get them direct, so head on over and check them out and see if they are right for you, too.
Wander more - and wander smarter everyone.
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