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By Daniel Hakimi in pants —

Fatigues are Better than Jeans

The best pair of day-to-day-pants has cool pockets, and it comes in olive green.

Fatigues are Better than Jeans

As fall approaches, and my linens revert to the back of my closet, medium-weight cotton pants will once again be my default. And while jeans, chinos, and cords will always have a place in my closet, pole position belongs to the very best casual pants of all, fatigues.

Now, does the premise here make a lot of sense? No. Is there any reason to compare the two styles of pants when a decent wardrobe can just contain both? Yes, and that is that it's fun. Also, it's true, Fatigues are better than jeans.

Specifically, fatigue pants with those squared-off pockets. The kind originally made in reverse sateen, Olive Green #107 (the color and fabric from which they get the name ("OG-107"), but also often rendered in an olive herringbone twill instead ("HBT").

This article will deal with those classic fatigues, but also p-43 fatigues, monkey pants, and fatigue jackets, all defined below.

Matt

Fatigue Lingo

  • A lot of this lingo is non-standard. Some of these terms are just defined to the best of my ability. Some have a clearer history. Some just make no sense. Don't feel stupid. You're not stupid. Everybody else is stupid.
  • "Fatigues," broadly speaking, just refers to a casual military uniform used for combat or training (they make you run, you get tired, hence, fatigues). It can be any color, any fabric, whatever that military happens to use. This definition is useful in a military context, but less so if you want to talk about style.
    • More narrowly, it's used to refer to a few common military styles the fabrics are mostly olive green reverse sateen or olive green herringbone twill, with certain pocket layouts.
      • Even more narrowly, it's used to refer to fatigue pants with squared off patch pockets. This definition is useful because they're the most common style, and every other style has a more specific name.
  • "OG-107" originally referred to a particular shade of Olive Green (hence "OG") on a list of fabrics being tested for military use. And it was a reverse sateen.
    • "Reverse" in this context means inside-out. Satin weaves are normally used with the other side out. Fatigues use the "reverse" side on the outside.
    • Nowadays, when people talk about "OG-107s," they usually mean standard fatigues in cotton sateen. But it wasn't originally about the style of pant, just about the color and fabric.
  • "HBT" stands for "herringbone twill." A herringbone is the most common type of "broken twill," but I think there are other types? But in milsurp contexts, they usually call it "HBT."
  • Certain styles will be referred to as p-43s or p-44s. As you might guess from the numbers, those are associated with certain years of World War II.
    • I think there is some inconsistency in how these terms are used. I could be totally wrong here, and it might just be that p-43 and p-44 are totally interchangable, but my general understanding is:
    • "P-43" refers to fatigues with cargo pockets at the side instead of the rectangular pockets. When you think of cargo pockets, you think of cargo pockets in addition to regular pockets, lower down the leg, don't you? Nope. These are just the cargo pockets.
    • "P-44" refers to a variant of a p-43 pant that additionally has one large cargo pocket on the back, often referred to as a "monkey pocket." Sometimes, they're called "monkey pants."
    • "P-41" refers to fatigues with these front patches.
    • These styles are usually made in HBT, since reverse sateen was developed after World War II.
  • Fatigue shirts / overshirts / jackets / whatever are soemtimes called p-44 shirts or p-44 jackets.
    • A lot of these would come with some sort of military crest, or with the soldier's name on them somewhere. Note: if the soldier's name is "R. Lauren," that's not real milsurp.
    • For the platonic ideal in my head: two bellows pockets, similar to p-43 pants. The front seam of the cargo pocket is sometimes sewn down, whereas the bottom and rear side bellow out to create room. Sometimes the pockets have a double inverted pleat.
    • "Fatigue Jacket" might sometimes refer to something like an M65 field jacket or an olive jungle jacket (kind of like a cross between an M65 and a safari jacket: four pockets, but these are angled with no visible buttons, and a waist cinch). But again, those have better, more specific names.
      • And I'm going to try not to spend too much time on them, the M65 could get its own article and is really beyond the scope of this one.
    • And there are other styles of fatigue shirt / fatigue jacket / field jacket that I'm less clear on, specifically. Some have one pocket. IDK, there are a lot of styles.
    • Some of these would come with a "gas flap." Essentially, there's extra fabric on the inside that you can fold over to block gas from reaching through the jacket. It's still cotton, though, so it's still kinda breathable... I wonder how effective these were.

Daiki

Why Fatigues are Better Casual Everyday Pants than Jeans

Compared to jeans, classic fatigue pants have several benefits:

  • Better pockets
    • Larger. Big pockets good.
    • Easier to rest your hands in because they're not stupid five pocket pants. I hate five pocket pants.
    • Still as secure as five pockets or as slant pockets regardless of the position.
    • High-rise five-pocket pants are annoying because my phone sits right where I want my pants to bend.
  • Better fabric
    • The Iron Snail discusses the durability of reverse sateen here.
    • Herringbone twill has several advantages over left-hand and right-hand twill. It's generally stronger and it shouldn't twist. It's also usually softer, in my experience. Much more pleasant than denim.
    • There's no weird obsession with fabric that feels just as bad as it did in the 50s, fatigues are actually allowed to have fabrics that feel nice and are comfortable.
  • High rises, straight legs.
    • Denim tends to look most natural at a lower rise. High rise denim is fine, but unusual, and harder to find.
    • Fatigues are almost always high rise, which I generally prefer,and almost never slim, because why would they be, they're made to serve a function.
      • This high rise might make fatigues look more natural when dressed up... But at the same time, you see jeans with tailoring all the time, so fatigues are a more fun, more interesting choice. They show off your intentionality, and they work.
  • Equal recognizability as casual, everyday pants.
  • Equal if not greater versatility (they may pair better with navy jackets).
  • Both age beautifully, nicely faded fatigues are more rare and therefore more special.
  • They both often use metal buttons, but Fatigues use these military buttons with a few stars on them, and I just like that detail. The rear pocket flaps also button shit with these same buttons. Some fatigues use thick plastic buttons in a matching shade of olive; military clothing needs to be mass-manufactured. Buuuut the metal buttons are cooler.
  • Daiki Suzuki loves them.

Fatigue Inspo

Fatigues are easy to wear. You can dress them up, dress them down. You can pair them with crazy colors, you can wear them with a plain white tee shirt.

Or you can just go for the safest, simplest fit combination that's still almost always good: fatigues and a chambray or denim shirt. Really trivial combination. If I ever put out a "capsule wardrobe" guide (I think capsule wardrobes are dumb but I'm sure people would appreciate it...), it'll be centered around using that combo as your bread and butter.

Henrik
Rem

Will

Matt, again

John. Note that John is making fatigues for his own brand, but they're not out yet.

Oh... yeah, he's making a full fatigue suit.

Jon
Elias

John in poplin field utility trousers. I don't really think of these as fatigues any more than khakis are fatigues (they come from military uniforms), but whatever, it's an inspo album, not academia, chill.

Haran

Spencer

Kohyo

Fatigue Jacket Inspo

The classic fatigue shirt / jacket / overshirt / whatever you want to call it is another piece worth appreciating. Two bellows pockets on the front, with the inner side of each pocket stitched down so they accordion on the outside to create plenty of room, but still look clean closer to the placket. They generally use the same metal buttons as a pair of fatigues.

Sometimes you'll see a jungle jacket or an M-65 field jacket listed as a "fatigue jacket." I might include a couple of them here.

Just as fatigues work great with chambray and denim shirts, fatigue shirts work great with jeans. That said, green outerwear is pretty great in general.

Finally, these are usually cut like overshirts, but... tuck in your overshirts.

Westley

Jon, again

Alan
Kohyo, again

My HBT Fatigue Shirt from Buck Mason.

Where to Get Fatigues

some affiliate links below

Under $100

Mid-Market

Unique Fatigue-Inspired Stuff

Secondhand Fatigues and Fatigue Jackets

There are 34 pieces listed below. There may be more on my discord in the near future, which is one of the many perks that come with your Jerry- or Elaine-tier membership. You'd also get a free matching subscription to Morning Mist, the companion substack with much more frequent posts (but The Second Button is better). Remember, George-tier membership comes with zero benefits.

These prices are as shipped to me, for the most part. I stuck to eBay here, but I might go look through other sites if I find the energy to list things on discord any time soon. Here's a link to the discord, if you are missing the link. DM me if you have any trouble.

Proper vintage fatigue pants

Be warned that this section is weirdly expensive. You might expect this to be the cheap section, but... not really.

Modern-ish fatigue pants

More Unique fatigue pants

Fatigue Shirts, and maybe some jungle jackets and shit too? idk.

Even More Stuff

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