Since their acquisition by Vans parent company, VF Corp, Dickies have been offering more modern slim and skinny fits. Using the recent code stack, I snagged four different cuts, and in the spirit of this sub, I would like to present my findings.
For reference, I am 6'1" and 175lbs, somewhere between skinny-fat and athletic build (like...I played soccer up through college then got a desk job but I'm a vegetarian). My waist is exactly 34" at one inch below my belly button and from my gooch to my ankle I measure exactly 34".
I prefer the fit of Levi 510s in 33x34 and circa 2013 Dockers Alpha Khakis in 33x32. I consider both 510s and old Alphas to be the best-fitting, affordable, OTR pants I've ever come across, as they feature a med-high rise, some booty room, and fit very close to my body from thigh to shin but not skin-tight. Therefore, most of my comments will be speaking in reference to those.
Here is a little graphic to help place the Dickies slim fit pants. (here's the baggier fits for those interested)
I will present my out-of-the-box (OOTB) impressions and measurements, then I will shrink them and reassess/measure. To shrink, I used a 30min wash cycle at approx. 60° F water temp with A&H powder detergent and dried them at the highest heat setting until they were bone dry, approx. 40min.
Here is the table of measurements and results of shrinking.
https://i.redd.it/445j8ncue8y11.png
Some things to note here: the poly blends shrank less, there are several sizes of pants to compare, some are more vanity sized than others, i ordered several colors of each variety and measurements were +- 0.25"
Qualitatively:
WP801- OOTB these fit skinny straight, fabric is uninspiring, disproportionately tight on the calf, medium-high rise, vertical pockets with a 5th utility pocket
After shrinking - fabric is much more pleasant and pliable, tightness on calf no worse but less prevalent because overall fit is more snug, stretch not as noticable
Comments - seems it is a summer-weight pant, quite breathable and flexible, OOTB vs. post-shrink 33x34 felt too small 34x34 felt much better, looks to have a finer twill weave than the 803's below, poly content resulted in less shrinking than 803 and 810
WP803- OOTB these fit slim taper (feels similar to 510s), fabric is the signature Dickies work pants weight and feel, but with a bit of stretch (still feels like cardboard though), fit feels awkward but substantial
After shrinking - fabric is much less stiff, black pants lost some color, fit is more natural, stretch is more pronounced
Comments - I like these a lot, winter-weight, tight weave, small leg opening, basically a Levi 510 with vertical pockets, visually the twill weave quite coarse, shrank 0.5-1" in all measurements
XD810- OOTB fits very similar to the 803s, slim-taper, fabric is like twill denim, softer and more pliable, medium-weight
After shrinking - fits more natural, weave is more dense, stretch not very noticeable
Comments - I would choose a 510 variant over these if I was looking for denim, shrank 0.5-1" in all measurements
XD814- OOTB fits like a slim-straight, fabric is boring and pliable, noticeable flex, lowest rise of all
After shrinking - no shrinking to speak of, likely due to high (60%) polyester content, colorfast, fabric has relaxed
Comments - ordered 32 length in these because I plan to use them with boots, fabric is not a typical "duck" feel but the color is
Bonus - The work shirts looked tempting so I picked up white, navy, and heather grey for inspection
WS450- OOTB feels heavy and soft in the hand, boxy, large dimensions for a medium
After shrinking - lost an inch in nearly all directions, much trimmer fit now, but still boxy
Comments - heavy-weight for certain, good for winter base layer, poly-blend heathered colors shrink noticeably less, definitely a bargain for under $10, my new go-to for heavy t-shirts, slight loss of color in navy, white shirt became very dense and stiff once dried
So there's the results everyone, I hope you find this helpful as I think Dickies is totally slept on in this sub. I know the 803 are my new fav sub-$20 pants and the heavy tees will see lots of use. I was planning to post fit picks, but the website pics are very honest both in fit and color.
Submitted November 14, 2018 at 12:18AM by cbinvb https://ift.tt/2z7EjGG
