To learn more about PennBilt (not advertisers yet, but I am working on them) go here. They have created fantastic product.
In response to the comments, Bill wrote you and the site:
“Hey Fellas,
Bill Thomas here. Thanks for these comments! I thought I’d weigh in on a few overriding themes. First, the rise. Our measurement is made from below the waistband to the center joining seam under the zipper. When measured from the top of the waistband, our 100% Cotton “Authentic” measures roughly 11 ¾”, 12” with a little tension. I would call this a medium long rise for a size 36”.
As stated on our website, manufacturing in the USA is always our first alternative. USA made has only gotten harder to accomplish over the years, especially as a small brand. Fabric availability is extremely limited, and minimums are very high. Factories also continue to close and high labor costs have spiked over the past 12 to 24 months.
As for fabric content, 100% cotton was the standard for WWII and Korean War era khakis. Ths shift to a cotton poly blend happened in the 1960’s to my understanding.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. All the best,
Bill Thomas”
Haven’t felt the need to look elsewhere than Lands’ End and L.L. Bean khakis/chinos since the
mid-1960s and see no reason to do so now.
Kudos for your consistency, and for not noticing the slow and steady decline of both Lands’ End and LL Bean over the past 60 years.
Too tapered from the knee to the hem for me.
Thank you Bill Thomas for taking the time to come by and help us understand the business and the decisions you have to make.
And JB, an idea: A zoom (or whatever) roundtable with those who sell products to Ivy devotes. Suits, eyeglass frames, accessories, cologne, shoes, watches etc. They’d compare notes on the growth/decline of the trad market and strategies for reaching them. It might be interesting for them and us.
They look good. Any plans for shorter rise model,
say 10- 101/2 o n 36 waist?
The sizing advice appears to contradict itself. Given the measured waist is implied to be 1” larger than tagged size, I think you would want to size down rather than up. For instance, if your measured waist is 31“ (between sizes since they don’t offer that), sizing up would be a 32 tag, which would be 33” measured.
A size chart would be helpful because it leaves guesswork like this out of it:
SIZE (Waist)
Our waist sizes are cut an industry standard + 1” over the marked size.
If you are between sizes, we recommend sizing up not down.
Rise seems good. Thanks for the info.
Thank you Bill for resolving the contentious rise issue. 🙂
The Authentic looks like it would be the one for me. I’ll keep a bookmark on ’em for the next time I need chinos. They’re casual, but the details are pretty right-on.