When I was a wee boy and had to dress up for a “nice” event, my parents always tossed me a pair of khaki-colored pants. They knew what they were doing: Khaki chinos are the MVPs (Most Valuable Pants) of wardrobes, perfect for fancy dinners, milestone celebrations, and wearing to any office that relaxed its dress policy after the pandemic, or never had one to start with. The versatility of chinos is simply unmatched—you can throw them on with a crisp, stain-free white tee, a cozy sweater, or that “goes-with-everything” blue shirt, and you’re golden for the day.
Over the course of my life, I’ve owned enough pairs to fill an entire closet, but the chinos I’ve been living in since spring are Buck Mason’s Full-Saddle pants. Part of Buck Mason’s wider “full saddle” line of pants with a more generous seat, the straight-legged and roomy fit makes them almost an exact replica of chinos from the 1940s and 50s, themselves designed for comfort and durability in military settings.
Take a closer look at that waistband. It’s called a “Hollywood” waistband, and that means it comes up a little higher—like, Gene Kelly in An American in Paris high—and is made from the same piece of fabric as the rest of the pants, without an obvious seam break, which just makes everything look a little more, well, seamless. It’s flattering, very rare these days, and totally rules.
And did I mention that these chinos are stoned? Or, sort of stoned. As part of the fabrication process, Buck Mason gives these puppies what’s called an “enzyme garment wash,” so that they have a more broken-in texture, right out of the gate. That wash, known also as “bio-stoning” (cool word) is a more modern, eco-friendly version of old-school stone washing, and gives these pants what Buck calls a “paperback” finish. It feels great to run your hands over, and even better on your legs.
After months of wear, including through my most active season of the year, I can confidently say I’ve put these chinos through the wringer, at one point even having to bust out the stain remover after a close-call strawberry incident while preparing a snack for my son. But they’ve held up beautifully, especially the corozo buttons—made from an Ecuadorian nut, no less—which appear to be indestructible.
You’ll typically find me pairing my Full Saddles with a Buck Mason T-shirt, sawtooth pearl snap denim shirt, Type II denim jacket, and black boots—a failsafe formula I don’t think I’ll ever need or want to tweak. And while Buck Mason also offers a slim version, personally I try to avoid boxer-brief outlines in my daily life.
Buck Mason’s Full Saddle Chinos retail for $158, but for pants this good, which Buck Mason will alter free of charge, I’d typically expect to pay double. (At Ralph Lauren, Blue In Green, and James Perse, you certainly can.) Personally, I can easily see myself spending three times that amount, but only to make sure I have this Buck Mason pair in all three colorways—Khaki, Black, and Fatigue Green—plus a beater backup pair to boot.
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