Holiday Gift Review: Dickies Skateboarding
Words and photography by Caleb Sugai.
For millions of years, Dickies have been the Swiss Army knife of pants.
Out skating? Throw on the dickies. Fixing your 2004 Nissan Altima? Throw on the dickies. Cousins wedding? Ah fuck it, throw on the dicks.
These ancient slacks have been on this planet before us and will supersede us once the meteor hits and or the super volcano erupts. However, like the greedy creatures we all are, we can’t just be satisfied with the bare god given necessities. Lucky for us, innovations have been made and such a product now exists. That's right! your favorite pants to wear two weeks in a row now comes in a new, baggy denim flavor, courtesy of none other than the ledge himself: Mike Anderson.
Now listen, before you write me off as some low life sell out prick, let’s get one thing straight. Just because these joints were sent my way and signed off by some good skater guy that I’ve never met in my life does not mean I’m ready to bow down and send praise. To keep it G, I had my doubts about these. Everyone and their mom are tryna reinvent the wheel right now and make a pair of baggy jeans. Some take the artisan approach and sell for mad high, while most, just get some paper thin blue fabric and throw an elastic waistband on the shit and call it a day. I was really hoping these weren’t the ladder.
When I first suited up with these bad boys my first impressions were that they had a good weight to them. Not heavy, but thick enough to not blow a hole in them on the first go. I also noticed the hammer loop on the left side pocket which I found hilarious. Another thing to note is that both pairs I was sent fit the same. Seasoned Dicktarians know this isn’t always the case for the originals. I’m also one of those guys who wash their jeans with their bedding on high and its safe to say after a couple washes these guys have little to no fade.
Although I was hyped to get two pairs of these guys, the lord only blessed me with one set of legs, so I enlisted seasoned pants wearer Kiitsu to take them for a spin. Now my friend is no poet, and when I asked him for his thoughts on the pair, he simply said “They fit good”. However, when I saw him a week or so later with the same pair on, I thought, maybe these dickies guys are on to something.
Personally, although they didn’t fit like a glove on me, they were far from restricting, Whatever denim they use is pretty mandible. Breathability is another thing though. Now I know jeans are known for their breathability, but damn I was feeling the heat in these guys. However with winter coming around the corner, they may just save my ass from freezing over.
I made sure to eat total shit in these too so I can really get a verdict on the durability. Although they're not indestructible, I will say, I have yet to rip them. Looks wise The silhouette is as simple as jeans get, no bells and whistles or massive logo decals on the back pocket. Color wise the black pair is an easy favorite as the stock blues were a little too “workin on the farm” for my taste.
My final verdict on Mr. Anderson's jeans is that they’ve done what Dickies has been doing for generations. Been there and been reliable. If you like the simple look, they will be around for ya. Personally, I'll wait until my pants literally explode off my legs to even consider buying another pair, but if you’re in dire need for a daily driver, why not try a pair on?
