 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 |
