The Revolution...

...will not be televised, but will feature cheap as hell cropped chinos - or at least thats what Dockers and Urban Outfitters wants us to believe.  Reports from the recent Dockers launch party in NYC focused on how the brand was moving forward in an attempt to appeal to more style minded folks.  Their new Ankle Chino sits at the heart of this push.  Dockers slimmest pant yet is a flat front cotton chino that comes pre-tapered with a 30" inseam for an off the rack Mashburn effect.  Not only that, but they come in a variety of colors (including the coveted Nantucket red) enabling you to literally get a pair for every day of the week if you saw fit and at $49 a pop that's not too much of a stretch.  UO's styling shows the pants both rolled and unrolled and while rolling a 30 inch inseam is bordering on manpri status letting the pants rest naturally right at the ankle is something I can get down with (aka the aforementioned Mashburn effect) - straight lines are an easy route to a handsome and flattering look.  Even if this is a sartorial maneuver you are unsure of the pants are cheap enough that you could conceivably cop a pair for a "test drive". The strangest thing  for me is that the inseams don't increase with waist size, even a little, according to the product information virtually eliminating taller guys from copping these - if you're any taller than, say, 6'2" I would be wary of sniping.  Surely this is a bold move for such a traditional brand, but a move that will definitely help Dockers appeal to a younger, much more style oriented demographic.

[Picture courtesy of The GQ Eye.]

-L.A.S