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OT: Any suggestions for khakis or business casual work pants?

Ranger Dan

Ranger Dan

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Aug 31, 2003
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I remember wearing Dockers brand when they were popular back in the 90’s, then an assortment of various mid level or department store brands for a while. Recently I’ve been wearing Jos A Bank Traveler Twill pants. They are fine pants, but I only buy them when on sale as they are quite expensive. What do you guys wear? Are there any other brands that you would recommend? I’d also consider some form of semi dress slacks. They must be wrinkle free, as I’m philosophically opposed to ironing clothes for routine work days.
 
Can you wear denim at your workplace? I wear jeans - basic blue, dark blue, black, grey almost every day. I call on clients in many industries and most allow jeans in their workplaces. Sometimes I’ll dress it up a bit with a sport coat.
 
Bill’s Khakis - there is no other option.

It’s WAS a small company from Reading, PA, made quietly famous due to quality, fit and durability, but also because many movie stars have raved about them (Brad Pitt). I think it was recently purchased by a private equity company. The Young Men’s Shop (or whatever it’s called now) in SC carries them.

Regardless, they have multiple fits for body size “M1, M2, M3”

I have numerous pairs, some of which I’ve owned for 20 years.
 
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Believe it or not, Sam’s Club has a decent selection of casual slacks theat won’t break your budget. I wear expensive microfiber pants (Adidas fit me best) for Golf and I have many pair of high quality wool slacks for work. Casual Friday’s and kicking around the pubs are where the Perry Ellis slacks from Sam’s come in.
 
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0018+Men_in_Red_Kilts.jpg
 
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Ranger Dan said:
I remember wearing Dockers brand when they were popular back in the 90’s, then an assortment of various mid level or department store brands for a while. Recently I’ve been wearing Jos A Bank Traveler Twill pants. They are fine pants, but I only buy them when on sale as they are quite expensive. What do you guys wear? Are there any other brands that you would recommend? I’d also consider some form of semi dress slacks. They must be wrinkle free, as I’m philosophically opposed to ironing clothes for routine work days.
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If you live close to a Haggar factory store, I highly recommend them if you don't want to break the bank.
 
MoyerJones said:
Bill’s Khakis - there is no other option.

It’s WAS a small company from Reading, PA, made quietly famous due to quality, fit and durability, but also because many movie stars have raved about them (Brad Pitt). I think it was recently purchased by a private equity company. The Young Men’s Shop (or whatever it’s called now) in SC carries them.

Regardless, they have multiple fits for body size “M1, M2, M3”

I have numerous pairs, some of which I’ve owned for 20 years.
Click to expand...
Bills are the best. Real khakis, deep pockets, great fit, made to last. Bill is passionate about khakis.
 
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Lulu Lemon ABC pants. Most comfortable pants i have ever worn. They are $125 but you can find them on sale from time to time. They do not wrinkle at all. Worth the investment
 
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artsandletters said:
Bills are the best. Real khakis, deep pockets, great fit, made to last. Bill is passionate about khakis.
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Bill Thomas may be passionate about khakis, but he's doing it at Oxford Industries, running their revival of the Duck Head brand.

Bills Khakis is owned by NEJ Inc, a company that specializes in providing branded clothing to large department and box stores. Quality is typically "different" than what is found at smaller establishments. In the case of Bills, it is definitely "different." from the product that came out of Reading. Claim of being produced in the USA is borderline. Clothes are designed, cut, and sewn here but the fabric is woven in overseas factories, typically Bangladesh. Quality is shit, certainly not worth the $155 MSRP. If you have to have them, scour your local TJ Maxx or Marshall's. They make regular appearances in those places for around $30/pair.
 
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Art said:
Bill Thomas may be passionate about khakis, but he's doing it at Oxford Industries, running their revival of the Duck Head brand.

Bills Khakis is owned by NEJ Inc, a company that specializes in providing branded clothing to large department and box stores. Quality is typically "different" than what is found at smaller establishments. In the case of Bills, it is definitely "different." from the product that came out of Reading. Claim of being produced in the USA is borderline. Clothes are designed, cut, and sewn here but the fabric is woven in overseas factories, typically Bangladesh. Quality is shit, certainly not worth the $155 MSRP. If you have to have them, scour your local TJ Maxx or Marshall's. They make regular appearances in those places for around $30/pair.
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The khakis I got from Bill were from his early days in Reading. They were great pants. I spoke to Bill on the phone and he told me his story. It was probably twenty years ago that I spoke to him and if I remember correctly, Bill was an adman before starting his khaki enterprise. I kind of recall that he was a Michie grad. I wouldn’t trust either of those memories.

Anyway, my frame of reference for Bills Khakis goes back to its earliest products. I haven’t paid attention since but I’m sure you’re right about the lower standards. Once you sell out, you sell out.
 
I just bought three pairs of Ralf Laurens from May company. Blue, grey and khaki. Love them and done for the next two years. They are a wool blend whereas the cotton are limiting. I can wear them with a jacket and tie it just a golf shirt. Great for travel for the meeting and afterward during a casual dinner.
 
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If you want to look good at work, save your golf specific clothing for the golf course.

Many of the better men's brands offer a khaki pant suitable for the office and social occasions.
 
Since we are on the subject...

Are khakis a style or a color?

I always just called a certain style of pants khakis and then was told that term referred to the general color and not the style. So is there such a thing as “blue khakis” and can a pair of beige dress slacks be referred to as “khakis”?

I’m so confused.
 
rohrmd9 said:
Since we are on the subject...

Are khakis a style or a color?

I always just called a certain style of pants khakis and then was told that term referred to the general color and not the style. So is there such a thing as “blue khakis” and can a pair of beige dress slacks be referred to as “khakis”?

I’m so confused.
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In my opinion, khaki is both a color and a style. You could have khaki colored slacks and blue colored khaki pants.
 
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PSU_Chicago said:
If you want to look good at work, save your golf specific clothing for the golf course.

Many of the better men's brands offer a khaki pant suitable for the office and social occasions.
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Thanks for the opinion, but I was soliciting input for specific brands that you might recommend. Care to nominate any?
 
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Obliviax said:
I just bought three pairs of Ralf Laurens from May company. Blue, grey and khaki. Love them and done for the next two years. They are a wool blend whereas the cotton are limiting. I can wear them with a jacket and tie it just a golf shirt. Great for travel for the meeting and afterward during a casual dinner.
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Are they washable and wrinkle free? Can you include a link?
 
CF LION said:
Can you wear denim at your workplace? I wear jeans - basic blue, dark blue, black, grey almost every day. I call on clients in many industries and most allow jeans in their workplaces. Sometimes I’ll dress it up a bit with a sport coat.
Click to expand...
When I was working in Europe a few years ago, I was shocked that virtually all managers wore jeans every day. Of course this isn't corporate ivory tower type environment, but still was used to jeans being the exception and not the norm. My companies dress code says business casual. This applies to everyone who's normal workplace is in an office environment. We can wear jeans on Friday and when there is inclement weather. There are people, including the new Plant Manager, that sprinkle in "dressy" jeans at other times, but I try to abide by the dress code. If they would soften the dress code then I'd wear jeans more often for sure.
 
Ranger Dan said:
When I was working in Europe a few years ago, I was shocked that virtually all managers wore jeans every day. Of course this isn't corporate ivory tower type environment, but still was used to jeans being the exception and not the norm. My companies dress code says business casual. This applies to everyone who's normal workplace is in an office environment. We can wear jeans on Friday and when there is inclement weather. There are people, including the new Plant Manager, that sprinkle in "dressy" jeans at other times, but I try to abide by the dress code. If they would soften the dress code then I'd wear jeans more often for sure.
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They are not washable...but are pretty wrinkle free. I hang them up overnight and that seems to do the trick, on most occasions.

https://www.macys.com/shop/product/...ltraflex-dress-pants?ID=1725263&CategoryID=89
 
Ranger Dan said:
When I was working in Europe a few years ago, I was shocked that virtually all managers wore jeans every day. Of course this isn't corporate ivory tower type environment, but still was used to jeans being the exception and not the norm. My companies dress code says business casual. This applies to everyone who's normal workplace is in an office environment. We can wear jeans on Friday and when there is inclement weather. There are people, including the new Plant Manager, that sprinkle in "dressy" jeans at other times, but I try to abide by the dress code. If they would soften the dress code then I'd wear jeans more often for sure.
Click to expand...

About 7 years ago the firm I was with was doing some work for Google. My role was PM for some RnD stuff we were doing for them. Two of their guys from the plex came to visit us once. They showed up at our office in T-shirts and jeans. One guy wore sneakers and the other guy was wearing these:

vibram-five-fingers-review-12.jpg
 
artsandletters said:
The khakis I got from Bill were from his early days in Reading. They were great pants. I spoke to Bill on the phone and he told me his story. It was probably twenty years ago that I spoke to him and if I remember correctly, Bill was an adman before starting his khaki enterprise. I kind of recall that he was a Michie grad. I wouldn’t trust either of those memories.

Anyway, my frame of reference for Bills Khakis goes back to its earliest products. I haven’t paid attention since but I’m sure you’re right about the lower standards. Once you sell out, you sell out.
Click to expand...

Bill made great pants. The current owners just make money.

There are plenty of overseas mills that will weave quality fabric if that's what the customer specifies. But that would cut into NEJ's margins and we just can't have that. There's only one way to send folks like this a message.
 
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