School Supplies: Levi's 511 Trouser

-Slim khakis are an essential part of any wardrobe upgrade. I recently bought J. Crew's Ubran Slim-Fit chino, their slimmest cut khaki, and found that they were fuller than I'd hoped. Lawrence beat me to the punch espousing the merits of the Levi's 511 trouser, but I thought I'd throw up a hands on look at my new favorite non-denim pant. Since I 'graduated' from the 514 to the 511 about 2.5 years ago, I've acquired four pairs of the jeans and a pair of the corduroy version. A few weeks ago I came across the 511 trouser at Urban in Portland. I grabbed a pair (the khaki colored pair below) and didn't even bother to try them on because I knew that the 511 in a 32 would fit me perfectly.

-After about two weeks I realized that the 511 trouser was just the pant my wardrobe had been missing: A casual, slim and surprisingly solid feeling chino. I hit up the Levi's site and ordered the blue pair and I think I like them even better than the khaki joints. At $54, I really don't think there's a better go-to khaki out there right now.

-There seems to be a recurring debate between style-types about the cut of the 511 vs. the 514. I was pumped on 514s when I was in high school, but back then I was still wearing skate shoes regularly, so the larger 514 leg opening didn't really bother me. To me, upping your style game begins at the feet. When you slim down your shoes, the next thing you notice is the ratio of leg opening to shoe. As the Top-Sider became my go-to shoe, the awkward 514 leg opening didn't look or fall right, so I moved on to the 511 and have been satisfied ever since.

-One of the commenters over at Sart-Inc points out that the jean pocket makes these more of a chino-jean than a true trouser, which is definitely a valid point, they're not really office appropriate. But, as I rarely find myself  in the types of places where such distinction are important, I'm keeping my Hill-Side pocket square in the jean pocket and digging that these pants cant be dressed up (relatively) or down with ease. These pants have given my denim a much needed rest this spring. more