DutyPro Uniform Trousers
Until someone sees fit to design a proper pair of dress pants that can accommodate a mobile phone, I found an acceptable solution in the pages of Galls, my favorite law-enforcement catalog. Beat cops wear dress-style slacks as a basic part of their uniforms, and some of those slacks come with a "sap pocket" -- a small pocket built into the rear of the leg that's used to hold billy clubs, blackjacks, or flashlights. For civilians, however, a sap pocket is also great for holding cellphones.
Every day I carry a wallet, a chunky set of keys, and a mobile phone. I also spend a lot of time sitting at a desk, so I keep my rear pockets empty to avoid discomfort. That leaves me with two pockets in the front, and three things to carry. The alternatives (belt clips and carpenter’s pants) just don’t cut it for me. Personally, I think belt clips are conspicuous and a little bit tacky. Carpenter's pants have a slim pocket on the side that's ideal for carrying a phone. Trouble is, it's inappropriate to dress like a contractor when working in a professional office environment.
Galls DutyPro trousers pants aren't as nice as the dress clothes you'll find at Barney's or Saks. On the other hand, they're uniform tough, they're permanent-press for easy care, and they're cheap — less than $25 per pair with free hemming included. The rear leg pocket is perfectly sized for an iPhone, and my mobile slides in without creating a bulge or altering the basic fit. Alternatively, if I ever need to carry a billy club into a business meeting, well, I expect these pants will be good for that too.
Favorite (15)
TJ
Have you seen or heard of hidden cargo pants by Scottvest. I often have the same problem of far too many things to carry for the pockets of standard pants, these pants are comfortable, and have an unbelievable amount of pockets.
http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/hidden_cargo_pants.shtml
Owen
How wide is the SAP pocket? I've got a BlackBerry Curve and it often is too wide to fit in"cell" pockets in other clothing.
CT Reader
Dockers made pants back in the early 00's that had hidden zippers in the thighs for phones. Sadly these were discontinued and I still believe they were ahead of their time. Called "Dockers Mobile." Try a google search for more info.
Mark V. McDonnell
Many a meeting I've left thinking "If only I'd had a billy club,..."
Marco
Has anyone tried getting a tailor to run a pair up with a pocket? I'm sure it depends on the tailor's skill, but I'm interested to see if anyone has any experience with this. Thanks
Grant Johnson
Dickies also makes nice khaki, black and blue business casual pants with a cell phone pocket.
Steven Leckart
@Owen, from the review:
>The rear leg pocket is perfectly sized for an iPhone
An iPhone's dimensions are: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches
The BlackBerry Curve's dimensions are: 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6
Should be fine for your device.
Best,
Steven Leckart
Steven Leckart
@TJ, these look really promising. Please let us know if you wind up trying them out!
Best,
Steven Leckart
SK
Have you ever thought about a purse (or man-bag if you're insecure)? I've used one since the mid 80's. All shapes and sizes are available. Quite flexible.
christopher
Gall's is a great catalog in general. The only dress shoe I can wear that will not kill my feet is a pair of service shoes. Bonus: they take a really good shine. And for some reason, I really want a legitimate turnout coat...
gerard pawling
own your pants and keep them always stuffed
justin
carhartt makes the "hamilton pant" which I like. different sizing than their regular dungarees.
Frank
These are onn clearance at Gall's: http://www.galls.com/style.html?assort=clearance&style=TR491#
Marco: It can easily be done by any seamstress or tailor - I used to have a flashlight pocket added to all my uniform pants for $2 back in the day.
Noah Ramon
The ScottEVest Ultimate Cargo pants are nice, albeit sized a little large (I got what I thought was my usual measurements and NEED suspenders for them). I haven't tried the other versions, so I don't know about them - they looked a little too sweat-pants-ish for me to wear, so I gave them a pass.
That said, KK needs to cover the ScottEVest itself sometime. THAT'S a fine piece of utility wear that deserves some mention.
Fin
Ever gone to www.duluthtrading.com? They have the best work clothes I've ever seen. Otherwise, great post.
Doug Barnard
These people don't really have their sizing down- I took the advice of posters and bought my pants 2 sizes larger in the waist. And they were too big in the waist! Also, I had them hem the pants, but they made them too long. When I tried to return them, they were shipped back to me with a note saying that since they had been custom tailored (!), they couldn't be returned.
I'll never buy from them again! Not a Cool Tool!