Once I was a wee boy and needed to gown up for a “good” occasion, my mother and father at all times tossed me a pair of khaki-colored pants. They knew what they had been doing: Khaki chinos are the MVPs (Most Precious Pants) of wardrobes, excellent for fancy dinners, milestone celebrations, and sporting to any workplace that relaxed its gown coverage after the pandemic, or by no means had one to begin with. The flexibility of chinos is just unmatched—you may throw them on with a crisp, stain-free white tee, a comfortable sweater, or that “goes-with-everything” blue shirt, and also you’re golden for the day.
Over the course of my life, I’ve owned sufficient pairs to fill a complete closet, however the chinos I’ve been dwelling in since spring are Buck Mason’s Full-Saddle pants. A part of Buck Mason’s wider “full saddle” line of pants with a extra beneficiant seat, the straight-legged and roomy match makes them virtually a precise duplicate of chinos from the Nineteen Forties and 50s, themselves designed for consolation and sturdiness in army settings.
Take a more in-depth have a look at that waistband. It’s referred to as a “Hollywood” waistband, and meaning it comes up slightly increased—like, Gene Kelly in An American in Paris excessive—and is made out of the identical piece of material as the remainder of the pants, with out an apparent seam break, which simply makes all the pieces look slightly extra, effectively, seamless. It’s flattering, very uncommon today, and completely guidelines.
And did I point out that these chinos are stoned? Or, form of stoned. As a part of the fabrication course of, Buck Mason offers these puppies what’s referred to as an “enzyme garment wash,” in order that they’ve a extra broken-in texture, proper out of the gate. That wash, identified additionally as “bio-stoning” (cool phrase) is a extra trendy, eco-friendly model of old-school stone washing, and provides these pants what Buck calls a “paperback” end. It feels nice to run your fingers over, and even higher in your legs.
After months of damage, together with via my most lively season of the yr, I can confidently say I’ve put these chinos via the wringer, at one level even having to bust out the stain remover after a close-call strawberry incident whereas getting ready a snack for my son. However they’ve held up superbly, particularly the corozo buttons—made out of an Ecuadorian nut, no much less—which look like indestructible.
You’ll usually discover me pairing my Full Saddles with a Buck Mason T-shirt, sawtooth pearl snap denim shirt, Sort II denim jacket, and black boots—a failsafe components I don’t assume I’ll ever want or wish to tweak. And whereas Buck Mason additionally presents a slim model, personally I attempt to keep away from boxer-brief outlines in my day by day life.
Buck Mason’s Full Saddle Chinos retail for $158, however for pants this good, which Buck Mason will alter freed from cost, I’d usually count on to pay double. (At Ralph Lauren, Blue In Inexperienced, and James Perse, you actually can.) Personally, I can simply see myself spending thrice that quantity, however solely to ensure I’ve this Buck Mason pair in all three colorways—Khaki, Black, and Fatigue Inexperienced—plus a beater backup pair besides.
