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In praise of Bills Khakis

Just picked up the following Scully shirt from On The Fly (a place I haven't ordered from before):

http://www.billskhakis.com/limited_edition/ProductDetail.aspx?product=78

I got the brown one. Cotton/wool blend. Real thick. Big-time buttons like your grandfather's flannel. LINED sleeves (!). Tuff as nails and totally worth every dime.

Is there a thing this company does wrong? Every single product I've bought from them over the years is a staple in my wardrobe and I'm a sucker for more. Plus it's USA made which goes a long way in reducing the bad aftertaste from Filson's recent outsourced dishrags. (Another time another thread)

I also have a pair of the Bullard Field Pants that rock.

Highly recommended.
 
I haven't owned a pair in years but the finish work detail, especially on the inside that no one sees, was the best. They kind of made me feel melancholy and sad that pants just arent made like that anymore. This detail truly made the pants look and perform better than any other Khaki I have owned. I need to get another pair. Thanks for reminding me!
 
Just picked up the following Scully shirt from On The Fly (a place I haven't ordered from before):

http://www.billskhakis.com/limited_edition/ProductDetail.aspx?product=78

I got the brown one. Cotton/wool blend. Real thick. Big-time buttons like your grandfather's flannel. LINED sleeves (!). Tuff as nails and totally worth every dime.

Is there a thing this company does wrong? Every single product I've bought from them over the years is a staple in my wardrobe and I'm a sucker for more. Plus it's USA made which goes a long way in reducing the bad aftertaste from Filson's recent outsourced dishrags. (Another time another thread)

I also have a pair of the Bullard Field Pants that rock.

Highly recommended.

I know you allude to a different thread but please tell me Filson has not managed to screw up their line? It does not sound good. I will be royally p***ed if they've managed it.

Regards, Todd
 
I highly reccomend On The Fly - I have never been anything but impressed by their stock (even if a lot of it is way out of my budget) and especially their customer service.

I ordered a dopp kit from them a while ago made by Mullholland Brothers which they had run out of just the day before. I got an email from the owner about the problem and he offered to send me any color of the next step up for the same price (a sixty dollar difference).

The dopp kit is great - but be careful the last I heard they outsourced a lot of their production recently.

Anyway- I don't order from them often as I am lucky to have a great hat shop, fountain pen store, and clothier within walking distance and a wet shaving store between here and my parents house but if I can't find what I want there they are my go to online shop.
 
Have at least 4 pairs of Bill's Khakis. Got all of them as seconds on Ebay from someone who must work for them. My favorite are the Bullard Field pants, I am wearing them right now. I have one of their shirts that I love wearing on a dress business casual day. You will not go wrong with a pair of Bill's.
 
Here's what I know of Filson since 2003/4. Some of this may just be rumors but here goes.

Around 2004 they were bought out by the guy who owns Ralph Lauren. He tried to create a sportswear line which bombed horribly because the sportswear was outsourced and was of terrible quality. Filson dealers who were suckered into carrying it were dismayed at the quality and poor customer response. (One store I won't mention by name was a "Flagship" dealer of Filson and has since refused to carry their sportswear)

Around this time, they started carrying a small selection of these Filson sportswear products in Dillard's Department Stores - it was here in 2005 that I saw a Filson jacket with the label upside down on the jacket - I snapped a picture of it and sent it to their new CEO directly and attached a long letter asking "what's the problem?" I received a letter back admitting that they were trying to get the kinks in their new sportswear line "ironed out"

About six months later their sportswear line disappeared from their catalog

The following year I noticed many of their traditionally Made-In-USA items (sweaters, moleskin shirts, some jackets and fishing gear) were now listed as "imported" in their catalog, and sure enough I saw a "Made in Wherever" label on alot of their clothing

2008-ish they introduced "Filson For Women" and all hell broke loose, they reintroduced their sportswear line and it was all outsourced. The quality of the clothing is downright awful compared to others like Orvis (who they are obviously trying to emulate) and Bills

These days you'd be hard pressed to find anything by that company worth the price, I have returned items because the quality is poor. Moral of the story is stick with Bills for sportswear, or get used pre-2000's Filson stuff on Ebay if you're looking for quality
 
Have at least 4 pairs of Bill's Khakis. Got all of them as seconds on Ebay from someone who must work for them. My favorite are the Bullard Field pants, I am wearing them right now. I have one of their shirts that I love wearing on a dress business casual day. You will not go wrong with a pair of Bill's.


do you remember the seller's name?
 
Just picked up a pair of the light weight poplin ones for 13 on the bay!!!!!! So stoked, thanks for the heads up on these.
 
Bill's Khakis make excellent clothes. You can often find them heavily discounted at Sierra Trading. You can also buy them direct from Bill's online shop. Highly recommended!
 
I'm willing to pay more bucks for sturdy-as-hell pants that I'll be buried in, as opposed to Tangier Outlet crap that dies two years after I wash them. The Bills Bullard Field Pant can be washed at home and hung to dry and wear PERFECT for the rest of your cotton-pickin' life. Try doing that with a pair of Brooks Brothers offshore pants for what, $20 less?
 
I used to wear Dockers all the time. They weren't great, but they weren't terrible, either. About 18 months ago, I dropped a lot of weight, and carefully bought up a new collection of Dockers (mostly using the 4-hour 40% sale that they occasionally run on the Dockers site). After (in some cases) less than a year of wear, I had zippers fail on two different pairs, the olive turned grey, and several have worn extensively around the waist. When the zipper came off in my hand at work and I had to (carefully) run home to change my pants in the middle of the day, I decided that I was done with Dockers.

Then I see this thread, and Henry's recommendation:

Those and Orvis' are the only khakis I'll buy anymore.

Based on that, I traveled to the Orvis store in Sandestin, Florida, right after Christmas. I was able to try on their "Ultimate Khakis" and their "Wrinkle-Free Pure Cotton Chinos," and I happened to like them both. Unfortunately, they only had one pair in the store that was a 34x32, so I took what I could get--that pair. I figured I'd order others online. Unfortunately, the "Ultimate Khakis" are only available in one color right now, and it doesn't look like they will be getting any other colors in the 34 pleated option any time soon (will ship 8/9/2012? Really, Orvis?).

I feel like I've had some better luck with Bills Khakis. I first ordered a pair from Sierra Trading Post with a 34 waist, and determined that they were too small. STP has a very easy return policy, which I took advantage of--that should be a good option for anyone who has never tried Bills before, and can't walk into a local shop that sells them.

I ended up getting two pair from STP, Cotton Gab in Forest (that promptly turned brown on washing--which could explain why they were on STP) and Vintage Twill in Bark. I have to say, of the two, I like the Vintage Twill material a little better--it seems less prone to wrinkling.

I was also watching the Risk/Reward sale on On The Fly, and bit on the Fall 2011 LE Cotton Chamois in Chocolate. Oddly enough, my order was stuck at "processing" for an entire week. I sent them an email, and then called and left a message. I finally got a response to my email, indicating that the system was apparently off by one, and that they didn't have any more in that color. She indicated, however, that they would honor that price on any pair of Bills Khakis, so I opted for the Cotton Chamois in Navy. I am really impressed with that cloth! So much so that, soon after receiving it, I snagged the last Fall 2011 LE Cotton Chamois in Deep Forest ($56 and change with free shipping). Kudos to On The Fly, I feel certain that I will order other pairs from them down the road.

The only downside to all of this is that all of these came in unhemmed, and I have been suffering from a cold for nearly 10 days and haven't felt well enough to get them altered yet! Hopefully I will get that taken care of on Saturday.

The Orvis has held up well, as I have been wearing them weekly since I bought them. I am very impressed with the fit and finish of the Bills Khakis though, and I look forward to getting these into rotation. My thanks to everyone who posted their impressions of Bills Khakis in this thread! :thumbup1:
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
A pair of Bills is one of the very few things on my to-get clothing list.

I know you allude to a different thread but please tell me Filson has not managed to screw up their line? It does not sound good. I will be royally p***ed if they've managed it.

Regards, Todd

Here's what I know of Filson since 2003/4. Some of this may just be rumors but here goes.

...

These days you'd be hard pressed to find anything by that company worth the price, I have returned items because the quality is poor. Moral of the story is stick with Bills for sportswear, or get used pre-2000's Filson stuff on Ebay if you're looking for quality

Most "Filson" branded stuff is made overseas. By "overseas" I mean boots cobbled together in China, rather than Northampton, England. A few "flagship" items are made in the USA still ... most luggage, and a few clothing items (the core clothing made of tin cloth and some heavy wool)

You will hear the expected corporate line from Filson about offshore manufacture ... we want to find the best source for our garments no matter where in the world yada yada ... but really it's profit-margin-based decline.

I haven't heard complaints about the flagship US-made items declining in quality, but of course Filson charges an arm and a leg for this stuff so hopefully they are sensible enough to maintain the quality.
 
I'm in the market for quality khakis as well...Bills sound good,but no mention of stain retention? my big problem with merona,dockers,hagger etc. is the terrible stain retention.I've tried all kinds of stain pre -wash sprays,oxy powders,and pre soaking....those stains just won't come out...Is Bills any better ?
 
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