I Tried All the Bottoms at Buck Mason
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I first encountered Buck Mason in 2016, a few years after the brand launched, during a meeting with the founders to check out their new collection in a room at the Ace Hotel. I was a menswear writer atGQback then, and Buck Mason was a plucky men’s clothing brand making T-shirts and jeans out of a garage in Venice, California.
Since then, Buck Mason has transformed into a brand known just as much for its limited color palette of easygoing vintage-inspired menswear as it is for its women’s slub T-shirts,our perennial favorite;cropped half-zip sweatshirts; and quietlysexy dressesand skirts. It also makes a growing slate of excellent pants for men and women. I still wear a pair of the first women’s jeans Buck Mason made, theRider, as well as the first jean shorts, also called the Rider, which are loose and beachy(but no longer available). But those two pairs are a fraction of the brand’s current offering, which is now a range of loungewear, very legit denim, tailoring, and linenpull-on pants. I’ve been curious about this evolution and what it might mean for my wardrobe for a long time. So along with fellow Strategist senior writer (and fellow fan of the brand) Michael Zhao, I visited the recently opened women’s flagship in Soho to try on as many pairs of pants as we could in a few hours.
I planned to try on a mix of women’s and men’s bottoms and was most curious about the women’sOff Duty shortsand a pair of teddy-bear-browncorduroy shortsfor men. Michael was excited to try on theFull Saddle JeansthatDerek Guy of Die Workwearis always talking about. He ended up trying on 18 pairs of pants and shorts from the men’s collection. I tried on around 14 pairs. To make it easier to compare and chat throughout the process, we climbed the store’s curved wooden staircase to the men’s floor and each took a dressing room.
The vibe was much more scene-y than I expected, with a crew of young men drinking their coffee and lounging on the big cushy chairs a few feet away the entire time I was trying on clothes (it was 4 p.m. on a Tuesday). I requested apointelle polo shirtto try on with all of the pants, as my own shirt that day was a bigvintage dinosaur teethat would have been distracting. And I liked the new shirt so much, I ended up taking it home as a bonus.
Our favorite Buck Mason bottoms
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“I love that the white isn’t too bright white and isn’t too creamy yellow either.”
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“They fit me better than any of the other jeans, and they’re the right length with a single cuff.”
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“I like that they hit me above the knee and don’t flare out too much.”
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We both appreciated the elegance of these light and airy pleated pull-on pants.
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We both looked like fancy camp counselors in these soft and breathable shorts.
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“These felt just right in the waist with a bit of ease through the seat and leg.”
Liza
After trying everything on, my biggest takeaway is that Buck Mason men’s pants fit me pretty well. I’m five-seven, about 145 pounds, and pear shaped. In several cases, they even looked a lot nicer on me than the women’s pants or shorts, which is not always the case.
Buck Mason is one of the few brands that make pants for women that look like pants for men. I was nervous, however, that the women’s pants wouldn’t fit my butt and hips, because a lot of the models are thin and not so curvy. But while nearly everything I tried on had some waist gap, it was not as much as I feared and I actually had to size down from my regular size 29 to 28 in most of the women’s bottoms.
The ones I’d skip
I didn’t have high hopes for these pants as nearly every pair of pleated trousers I have tried in the past has made me look like an awkwardly unfolding tent. They are well made and probably look nice on a taller person with straighter hips. But on me they were an immediate “no.” In general, Buck Mason’s women’s pants run long. But you can get any of them hemmed free of charge in the store.
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There is a heavy military surplus inspiration to these shorts that I found intriguing, and the cotton-linen fabric feels expensive and soft. The pleats are also better placed compared to the ones on the Hutton trousers, with a wide waistband that helps streamline the fit. But two details ruined them for me: a single snap pocket placed low on one hip and the overall length. The Scout is shorter than I would like for a pair of pleated shorts, and when I sized up, the waist was too big. The hip pocket looks like it got cut off at the bottom, making it feel out of proportion with its own flap, and adds unwanted bulk.
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The ones I liked but not enough
While these sailor pants fit me well, I could tell that I wouldn’t wear them much in my everyday life. Again, most of the pants I tried on, including these, were too long and can be hemmed. But I think another issue I was having is the width of the legs. I just felt a bit swallowed up by fabric.
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I had the same issue with this pair of white jeans — too long and too wide at the bottom. According to the product description, they have a 32-inch inseam, but it seemed longer to me. That said, other than a small amount of waist gap and the length, they fit me very well.
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The winners
I have been thinking about these jeans ever since trying them on. The tag says they have a 33-inch inseam, but perhaps I was wearing them tighter (size 28) and higher than intended. Even so, they were still a little longer than I would like, but the rise and the quality of the fabric were perfect. I love that the white isn’t too bright white and isn’t too creamy yellow either. I felt cute in these pants, and though I didn’t get them, I can imagine a dozen different outfits and ways to style them throughout the year.
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I spent all of spring searching for a pair of Bermuda shorts that are subtly oversize but not huge. I found a nice faded blue pair duringa recent reporting trip to Loft, but didn’t end up buying them because they felt a little flimsy. But these Off-Duty shorts, not officially Bermudas, are made of substantial 13-ounce denim that makes them completely opaque and expensive-looking. I like that they hit me above the knee and don’t flare out too much.
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These are the same pair of men’s corduroy shorts that Michael tried on, in the same size. I liked them the most out of everything that I tried on during our visit. They make us both look like fancy camp counselors and are surprisingly breathable even in hot weather. I prefer the brownish olive color to the beige, but both are great.
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As I got to the end of my pile of pants to try on, I noticed that one of the sales associates helping me was wearing these navy-blue seersucker pants with a matching seersucker jacket, and I asked to try them on. He brought me a size small and a size medium. They were way too long — as expected — but when I cuffed them twice, they started to look like something. The fabric is airy but not swishy, and they have an inner drawstring that helped with the very minor waist gap. I thought long and hard about taking them home with me but ended up leaving them behind. I regret it, though, as the pants are now sold out in size small.
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These jeans are the most expensive pair of pants I tried on after the Hutton that I didn’t like. But for what they are — 100 percent cotton, 12-ounce loomstate Japanese selvedge indigo denim cut and sewn in Los Angeles — they are well worth the price. They fit me better than any of the other jeans I tried on, they look good, and they’re the right length with a single cuff.
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More Buck Mason pants I want to try
I was disappointed to find that all three of these styles were out of stock, especially the At Ease Chino that I had previously seen and liked at a press preview. When I mentioned this to Michael, he said it’s a common occurrence for the brand and unclear if it’s due to the pants being made in small batches or if the demand is actually so high that the normal amount sells out. At any rate, restocks are also common, and all three styles are back in stock now, so I’m planning on making another trip to the store soon.
Michael
Overall, the pants I tried during our visit were more hit-or-miss than I’d expected, given the high bar set by Buck Mason’sexcellent chinos. For example, most of the jeans I tested were labeled as having a 34-inch inseam on the tags (rounded up from 33.5 in the online listings), but only a few pairs were long enough to cuff on my leg, even though I typically take a 32-inch inseam.
The ones I’d skip
For nearly $200, I expected better from these linen fatigues, which were made from a thinner-feeling material than the similar but more affordableBanana Republic pantsI tried onearlier in the month. (Both pants are made in Southeast Asia.)
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I actually had a stock alert set for these made-in-USA jeans for some time, so I was excited to finally try them in person. However, in addition to having a shorter-than-advertised inseam, they weren’t as relaxed fitting as I was expecting based on the description — especially through the seat. I was surprised, because I love how this cut feels on Buck Mason’sPaperback twill chinos.
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The winners
These wide, pleated pull-ons are the perfect pants to pack for a beach vacation. The seersucker fabric is more breathable than some of the linen trousers I tried, and the pleated cut leaves plenty of room to layer over a swimsuit. I wouldn’t hesitate to wear them to a nice dinner with a buttonless polo andfisherman’s sandals.
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I really enjoyed the way these corduroy shorts felt: soft, breathable, and short, but not too short. It would have been nice to have belt loops for accessorizing, but the drawstring waist makes them easy to wear and didn’t dig into my hips. They looked great on Liza too.
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Of all the pants I tried on, this pair was the most exciting — which is why I included it inmy summer-denim roundup. This combination of a high-waisted cut and a buckleback strap was common prior to World War II but has rarely been seen since. Despite the name, the jeans are not actually that big. I’m a true 30x32, and these 30x34s felt just right in the waist with a bit of ease through the seat and leg, with room for a two-inch cuff at the hem. My only hang-up is the shiny rivet in the middle of the crotch, which feels like one archival detail that could’ve been left on the mood board.
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I’m not big on skinny fits these days, but the Maverick is a solid take on a slim jean. I could comfortably bend my knees while wearing them without feeling like I was inNormatec boots. The Japanese denim felt sturdy yet soft, with a touch of give — but not so much that it felt likestretch denim. And I could tell they were the correct length because I could cuff them by a couple of inches.
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