Uniqlo Slim Fit Chino Review

The Uniqlo Slim Fit Chinos are pants for all occasions.

Travel pants are great, but they don’t always fit the bill. Sometimes you need something cleaner cut. The Uniqlo Slim Fit Chinos are suitable for slightly dressier occasions (not quite suit-and-tie formal) yet are comfortable enough to wear on a red-eye flights. (I’ve done it. MIA to UIO.)

I’ve had my Uniqlo chinos in navy for almost a year, and I’m really satisfied – so much so that I’ve since purchased two more pairs, one grey and one khaki.

I’ve worn these pants for everything, from light hikes to dinners in 5 star restaurants to long days of traveling and exploring new cities.

The pants have a flat front and a modern fit as well as a zipped french fly (zipper closure with two buttons). They’re made of cotton and a bit of cotton for stretch. Here are my thoughts on the Uniqlo Slim Fit Chinos:

Pros:

• Comfortable
• Versatile
• Modern fit
• Decent price, retail $39.90 (Occasionally you can find them for cheaper. I got two more pairs for $29.90 each during Uniqlo’s Arigato sale.)

The Uniqlo pants can be worn with a dress shirt or worn casually, even with just a t-shirt. These pants plus an OCBD (like the Uniqlo Oxford Shirt) make a great airport outfit, which is both presentable and comfortable. I usually wear these pants with a leather belt to match with my Vivobarefoot Gobi II desert boots.

These pants are lightweight, so are suitable to wear on those not-so-hot summer days. The chinos are quite thin. I’d be comfortable wearing them up to the mid 70ºs or even low 80ºs. If you are traveling in the winter and are planning to be outdoors, you could layer long johns under these pants.

Fit and Sizing:

I am 5’8″ and 130 lbs and the 29in waist fit me perfectly. These pants hug the thighs a bit and have a slim fit similar to Levi’s 511 jeans. The thigh area is a bit tight, but from the knee down, it’s a straight fit. It’s modern, but not too aggressive. The fit is perfect for my slim frame.

All Uniqlo pants come in 34″ inseams, however Uniqlo offers free alterations for pants over $20, and $5 alterations for pants under $20. The day I purchased the slim fit chinos, I didn’t have time to wait for the alteration, so wore the chinos cuffed. Honestly, I think the pants looked fine cuffed, but I’ve since altered mine.

Uniqlo’s alterations are free, but take time. Sometimes you have to wait a pretty long time. I live in NYC and for my first pair, I only had to wait 1 hour for the pants to be hemmed. For the 2 pairs I bought later, I was told in Uniqlo’s SoHo store that the hemming machine had issues and that I had to wait 5 hours. On that occasion, I couldn’t wait, so dropped the pants off then went home. I didn’t get the chance to pick my pants up until over a week later, because I’m usually not in the area.

The pants have a bit of stretch, making them very comfortable for wearing for long periods of time like during flights or when traveling. Although they have a slim fit, these pants aren’t restricting and I was able to jump over row of seats with ease.

One thing I’ve noticed is that these pants have stretched after a couple of wears. While the waist size was perfect when I first purchased the pants, it’s stretched about half an inch.

Cons:

• Not the most durable
• The darker pants (black and navy) fade after you wash them a few times
• You’ll have to get them hemmed

Material isn’t very robust, but as long as you aren’t doing any hardcore adventure travel you should be fine. The quality isn’t amazing, but I’d expect them to last up to 2 years of wear if you wear it very often. I’ve worn mine for around 1 year already.

After washing my navy chinos several times, they’ve started to fade. They aren’t as deep as when I purchased them, and I’m considering getting some navy dye off Amazon.com to darken them a bit.

The Verdict:

Overall, the Uniqlo slim fit chinos are comfortable, well fitting and presentable chinos at a reasonable price. The chinos cost retail $39.90 and come in 6 colors (3 of which I own): dark grey, beige, wine, dark green, black and navy.

Where to Get These Pants:

• You can find these slim fit chinos on Uniqlo.com

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.