In Defense of Dockers, Which Are Cooler Than You Think and Currently Very Cheap

The brand should no longer be associated with style-less office drones

Dockers Khakis

Please note: If you buy through the links in this article, we may earn a small share of the profits.

At some point along the way, Dockers became the butt of pretty much every menswear joke geared toward the business casual set. They evoke images of sad-sack office workers who’ve resigned themselves to the least inspiring of vibes: ill-fitting button-downs haphazardly tucked into ill-fitting khakis, all of it covered in the horrifying sheen of whatever nasty shit they apply to keep everything from wrinkling because god forbid you have to take a few minutes to care for your clothes. 

But here’s the thing: there is nothing inherently bad about Dockers as a brand. In fact, they make khakis in such a wide range of fits and styles that we’d argue you have as good a chance, if not a better one, of finding a pair of Dockers that works for you than you would at a place like Brooks Brothers or L.L. Bean, or even at less dorky-seeming places like J. Crew or Bonobos or whatever.

As with all garments, when it comes to khakis, fit is king. So even if you’re willing to cough up nearly $400 for a pair of Incotex chinos from Mr. Porter, if they don’t work for your body, or for the particular look you’re going for at that given moment, you’ve just thrown a whole bunch of money in the trash. 

Which brings us back to Dockers, where they are currently hosting a sale that’ll get you 40% off everything with code WORKOUT through September 4.

They offer no fewer than eight different cuts, ranging from skinny to straight to relaxed, with stops in between for tapered and athletic and the admittedly very bad “classic,” among others. Their materials are equal to any you’ll find in the price range, and their color options are classic enough to be wholly unobjectionable and perfectly suitable for all sorts of different environments.

Just be sure to stay away from the “iron-free” options, or else you risk being exactly the dude described above.

Updated August 29, 2019 to reflect the new sale

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.