4S Designs Mil Pant

Canvas is a plain weave made from thick, tightly packed yarns, and it is the cloth military clothing was built from for a very practical reason: it does not tear, it does not need to be babied, and it gets better as it is used, because the yarns bed into each other and the hand softens without the cloth getting thinner. This trouser is one hundred percent cotton canvas in a washed navy, which means some of that softening has been done in advance, so it arrives with the stiffness already taken out of it. The shape is military and the pockets are the giveaway: they are large and set at the front, which is a utility placement rather than a tailoring one, because a front pocket you can reach standing up is what a work trouser needs and a side pocket is what a suit trouser has. Washed navy rather than flat navy, so the color has some variation in it rather than sitting as a block.

Why we selected it

Military trousers are usually sold either as reproductions or as design versions of reproductions. This is neither: it is the shape, cut properly, in the cloth it should be in.

The house draws on military clothing constantly and here it does so without any of the subversion it usually applies, which makes this one of the most straightforward things it makes.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton canvas. Made in Italy. Large front pockets. Color: Washed navy.

Fit notes

Sized 46 and 48 on the Italian trouser scale. Canvas has no stretch, so what you size is what you get, and it will soften and give slightly at the knee and the seat with wearing rather than with washing. Loaded front pockets will change the line of any trouser and will change it more on a stiff cloth.

Styling

With the Utility Shirt or the Knit BD Shirt Western. Under the Leather Denim Utility Jacket or the Lined Buttondown Shirt/Jacket, which is the version where every layer is doing the same job. With the Raglan Osc Parka over the top.

Care

Wash cool and gently, and expect a washed canvas to keep giving up a little color for the first few washes. Dry away from direct heat, and press while slightly damp if you press at all, since a heavy cotton takes a crease reluctantly and holds it once it has. Our care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Utility Shirt is the cotton and virgin wool plaid to wear above it, and the Raglan Osc Parka is the light polyester layer over both. Everything we carry from 4S Designs is listed together.