Bills Khakis is one of my favorite appointments. The people are great, the product is always great, and the company feels like what you probably think it feels like: salt-of-the-Earth, proud of what they're doing, and doing well because they take care of their customers. The Limited Edition pants they come out with for Fall are always surprisingly new and innovative (for a company that prides itself on the traditional), and they create some new products that you'd never expect. True to form, then, Fall 2010 will be no different.

Most notably, it seems as though Bills is now buying a new fabric from the same mill that produced the fabric for the khakis worn during WWII. This is noteworthy because 20 years ago, Bill Thomas set out to replicate the WWII army khaki, and had done a pretty good job with it. Now, it may get even better. The fabric may replace the Bullard Field Cloth, which has been one of their best-selling pants for years now.

Some tried-and-true favorites will return, including Dixie Wale Cords, 11 Wale Cords in Fall colors, Cavalry Twills in several colors, the Cotton Gabardine, and the holiday party pants are a heavy wool Houndstooth in cream & camel. No Alternative Corduroys this year, which was a huge bummer for me personally, but they may have some piece goods lying around from years past, and maybe On The Fly will have an exclusive small-run Party-Pants cord for this Fall.

Of the entire line, my personal favorite was a Pima Cotton Corduroy that feels like it should be a cotton/cashmere blend. They're not cheap -- $295/pair -- but having owned some Incotex Cotton/Cashmere Cords at $500/pr, they may be the value of the season if you can believe it.

On the Jacket front, there are a few sportsmanesque-coats like the one in the photo that we'll be bringing in. Additionally, through a collaboration with Cockpit USA, Bills Khakis will be introducing a couple leather bomber jackets, which we couldn't resist.

So what are the products I didn't expect? We can start with Deerskin Gloves. Not dress gloves; work gloves. In pale yellow (the ones in the photo). Yet I have no doubt we'll sell every pair.

And last but not least, there will be Retro Tees, Baseball Tees, and a ton of "khaki-eating" sportshirts, including a couple warm, winter flannels.

First delivery should arrive on August 15th. 

Just about every clothing store on the planet tends to go on sale after Christmas, but only the really bold wait till the 7th of January to announce their sale (technically, many items did go on sale on December 26th, we just didn't announce it). Without much further adieu, our SALE is on!

There are a number of returning favorites to the sale: Bills Khakis Limited Edition pants, sportshirts, and outerwear, Agave Denimsmith knits, a few Martin Dingman shoes & belts, and some Ike Behar casual shirts.

Some newcomers include our entire assortment of Fairway & Greene golf apparel, Peter Millar outerwear and some sweaters & vests, some random cigar accessories and leather goods, and select Jan Leslie cufflinks.

If you've participated in our sale before, you know that the discounts will increase over time -- we're starting at 30% off -- but our inventory is very shallow so the availability of items disappears quickly. Wait at your own risk. 

For those in the Bay Area, the San Francisco store does have a number of items that just didn't make it to the website in time, including a dozen styles of Ike Behar shirts, a few Peter Millar sweaters & vests, and some other miscellaneous items worth contemplating. Stop on by. 

Happy Hunting!

Last Fall, Bills Khakis introduced their first casual jacket called the Colby Jacket. It was a Barracuda-style jacket done in their Driving Twill fabric in their British Khaki color, and while it seemed classic at the time - like everything they do - I was reminded how classic it was last week.

While watching the original Thomas Crown Affair from 1968, featuring Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway, there are a few scenes where McQueen is wearing a pair of plain front khakis and a blue Barracuda-style jacket. Forty-plus years later and the first thing I did after the movie ended was shoot Bills an email to see if they ever did the jacket in blue (they haven't, but I'm sure if some of you mention it, they will).

We didn't order the Colby Jacket this Fall, but if Bills Khakis has one in your size, we can get it for you. 

Later in the movie, while wearing the same jacket and smoking a cigar, Tommy Crown heads out his back door to a patio featuring a telescope on a tripod. At the time, we had not yet launched Authentic Models' products on our website, but I knew they made a similar piece. In fact, you can now buy one from us here.

Once we start selling three-piece suits, gliders, and dune-buggies...we'll have the whole movie covered.

Bonus: The funniest line in the movie? "What does a guy with four million bucks want with two million more?"

As with every Spring & Fall, Bills Khakis introduced some beautiful Limited Edition items: poplin pants in yellow, drawstring linen pants, gingham seersucker shirts, patchwork madras shorts, and yet another Vintage Denim shirt that they have done the last 3 seasons in a row. 

The item that has flown off the shelves in the store is the Cotton/Chambray Work Shirt. The success of the shirt has been a little surprising to me only because many men seem to fear linen. It's not easy to care for (requires dry cleaning) and of course it wrinkles easy. But this particular shirt has something going for it that causes customers to throw caution to the wind. Perhaps it's the unique pockets - both patch pockets, but one flapped, the other open. Whatever it is, the online sales have not kept pace with sales out of the store, making it this week's candidate for "Gotta See It".

For those of you in the Bay Area, the San Francisco store is hosting some folks from Bills Khakis for a Trunk Show on Friday, April 10th all day long. In addition to the year-round items and Spring 2009 Limited Edition, they will also be previewing Fall 2009 and taking pre-orders. And they even have some surprise goodies for attendees.

I feel bad blogging about this since 95% of our customer base lives outside of the Greater Bay Area, but it is worth announcing our first in-store Bills Khakis Trunk Show on Friday, April 10th. Several folks from Bills Khakis will be here to show off Spring 2009 and to preview Fall 2009 for pre-orders.

As always, nips of bourbon and shots of espresso are on hand to lubricate the shopping experience.You can also RSVP for the event on Facebook!

For those that won't have a chance to make it into the store, you are not forgotten. If you have yet to visit www.billskhakispub.com, you should do so, stat. If you are a hardcore Bills Khakis fan (as I am), there is one incredible feature of the site: pre-ordering Limited Edition products in the model, size, & color of your choice.

Why is that important? Well, every season, retailers like On The Fly have dozens of fabrics to choose from for our Limited Edition purchases, and waist sizes go from 30-46, and many pants or shorts come in models 1, 2, and 3, and then plain fronts and pleats. If money were no object, we'd buy everything, but until the Men's Retail lobby gets us some TARP money, we have to make choices. And sometimes, that means our loyal customers can't order their M1 Pleated Seersucker Pants in Pink & Cream because we didn't buy it at all, or we didn't buy it in M1, or we didn't buy it with pleats, or we sold out in their size. It's a crime, we know. At Bills Khakis Pub, those same loyal customers can choose On The Fly as their Preferred Retailer and pre-order pants from the upcoming season exactly the way they want them and they're guaranteed to get them. Brilliant!

In honor of the nation's 44th President, we have picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and increased the savings on seasonal Fall merchandise from 35% to 44%. That's a savings of almost 45%!

Save 44% on selected Fall items from Bills Khakis, Ike Behar, Martin Dingman, Agave Denimsmith, and much more. Great outerwear pieces, matte alligator small leathergoods, Supima cotton henleys, casual sportshirts, belts for denim, shoes, and lots of casual pants are all ready to ship.

Quantities are very limited, but in times like these, it's safe to say that if you find something in your size, the President would approve of your contribution to the engine of commerce.