 Our
“Blue Label” khakis are pre-washed and pre-shrunk.
We
will add ½” to the requested length when hemming
to allow for variations inherent to cotton during
continuous washing and drying.
HOME
Care: If you care for your khakis at home,
some shrinkage between 1% and 2% may result after
several launderings. To reverse the shrinkage
process, hang dry your khakis while still wet; you
may recover up to 1” in length.
PROFESSIONAL
Care: If you have your khakis professionally
laundered and starched, they will size slightly larger
than if cared for at home.
To
reduce wrinkles without ironing, flatten your khakis
while damp and lay out on a flat surface and let dry.
Enjoy
your Bills Khakis! … and thank you for shopping at
HANSEN'S.
View
Available Bills Khakis Models
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The
Thinking Behind Bills
The inherent
character of a hard to find pair of old style khakis
makes Bills as much fun to market as they are to own.
But it's why we make Bills the way we do that makes
them even more unique. Bills are made better just
for the sake of it... purely for the satisfaction
of making a great product. It's an approach to business
not found much anymore and the true source of our
product's integrity. Of course, it's the finished
product that our customers ask for by name.
What
Makes Bills Better
Consider
the time, the effort, and the money invested in replacing
your favorite old pair of Khakis. Usually, you end
up with something you don't like, don't wear, and
don't care about. The costly and frustrating result
is a personal stock pile of unwanted khakis. While
wearing Bills Khakis, you will feel comfortable, solid
and pleased. You will share this satisfaction with
others who value good things. And when you decide
it is time for a second pair, you'll know better.
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Reviews
GQ:
Pants of the Gods
GQ Magazine, October
1996- Given the insistent mantra of a certain ad campaign,
it would be reasonable to conclude that even Zeus
wore khakis. Which raises the theological question,
What khakis possibly could have satisfied the top
dog of Olympus? The timing is a couple of millennia
off, but surely the old thunder maker would have been
divinely happy with Bills Khakis. After all, these
pants, though relatively new on the scene, derive
their classic style from the trousers worn by such
American immortals as MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Patton.
Bills
are made from a parade ground-proper nine-ounce cotton
twill. They have drill-cloth pockets so deep you need
to dredge for change, plenty of room for comfort and
a style that evokes distant echoes of marching boots
and the manly stanzas of Sousa.
They
did not come by such a heritage accidentally. Bill
Thomas, the thirtyish former adman who is the creator
of these martial masterpieces, bought army-surplus
khakis as a college student until the supply dried
up. "What I liked about them," he says, "is that they
were so straightforward and so well made in their
own simple, dumb way." Dumb, maybe like some old sergeant
who thinks Catch-22 is a baseball stat but who can
definitely get your tail out of a jam. Endearing and
enduring. Not simply something to wear, but, says
Thomas, "more like a piece of equipment."
After
college Thomas went back to his hometown of Reading,
Pennsylvania, "on a mission," and in 1985 he started
a small company to make classic khakis. Today he turns
out a modest 25,000 pairs annually and sells them
for between $70 and $85 through mail order and a select
125 stores. "We take a microbrewer's approach," Thomas
says. "We're always just at the edge of being able
to handle the demand." Unlike the khakis themselves,
which can surely handle with ease any snafu Zeus throws
your way. - OWEN EDWARDS
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Men's Journal: The Killer Khakis
MEN'S JOURNAL,
March 1997 - To Bill Thomas, a great pair of basic,
old-style khakis is more than just a pair of pants:
"Genuine khakis are a true American art form," he
says. Which makes him pretty much the Winslow Homer
of trousers. Thomas started selling a few pairs 10
years ago; now he's shipping 25,000 a year. Slipping
into a well-washed pair of Bills Khakis feels like
donning a piece of history. Each pair matches the
rigorous standards set more than half a century ago
for military khakis, including indestructible twill
seams, heavy brass zippers, and an overall durability
that would have made General MacArthur stand at attention.
Corncob pipe not included.
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Cigar
Aficionado: The Khakis
May/June
1997 - Khakis and jeans have been the great levelers
of the American wardrobe, the most democratizing items
of clothing ever worn. Everyone, from film star and
computer tycoon to dockworker, has a pair of jeans,
and knows that Levi's 501's have never been bettered.
But What about Khakis?
For
GIs returning from the Second World War, khakis were
the all-purpose trouser; worn with a tweed jacket
or a Shetland crewneck and button-down, they became
an essential part of the cicilian campus uniform.
In the turbulent 1960's and 70's khakis were often
replaced with jeans, but they held their own and,
in the past 20 years, have reemerged as a staple of
the wardrobe. Tese days every designer has his own
spin on the genre - so tarted up in some cases that
it would make an old Army-Navy store devotee shiver
- and no outfitter of sensible clothes would be without
a supply.
Genuine
old-style khakis are made by Bill Thomas in Reading,
Pennsylvania. Bills Khakis, as they are called with
genuine simplicity, are the real thing: substantial,
eight-and-a-half-ounce 100 percent twil cloth; full
cut in the legs, seat and rise, from Second World
War patterns; deep 14-inch drill-cloth pockets; eight
stout belt loops. Nothing fancy, just pure quality.
Bill does a pleated model with a heavy brass zipper,
but the pants that hiked across battlefields and athletic
fields are the plain-fronted, button-fly model. These
are the most comfortable and durable khakis you can
buy.
View
Available Bills Khakis Models |
