Business Insider/Owen Burke
- Popular denim startup Mott & Bow has a new collection of Twill Denim that’s easy to wear in business-casual settings. There are five colors and three fits available, and pairs cost $108 each.
- Made with natural cotton and a little added stretch, the Mercer Twill Denim is lighter than traditional jeans and more comfortable than chinos.
- As someone who wears jeans year-round, I appreciate Mercer Twill Denim collection for its versatility in and out of the office.
- To give you ideas on how to style, I put together a few different outfits using the skinny and slim fits. Find pictures below.
If I could, I would probably wear jeans 365 days a year — and I’m sure plenty of other people feel the same way. They go with everything, they’re comfortable, and require very little maintenance (if you regularly iron your jeans, you’re doing it wrong).
Unfortunately, jeans aren’t always the best choice of pants in a professional setting. You don’t want to be that guy who shows up to important business meetings dressed for Saturday. To play it safe and adhere to corporate dress codes, most guys settle for chinos, a more formal, but slightly less comfortable style of pants.
That’s why Mott & Bow, the startup behind some of our favorite jeans for men, is making denim that’s formal enough to pull off business casual looks in the office without compromising comfort — the Mercer Twill Denim collection.
Designed to be soft and super-comfortable, the Mott & Bow Mercer Twill Denim is made with a subtle combination of cotton and elastane that feels stretchy without looking it. The jeans are available in five colors — blue, navy, khaki, light khaki, and olive, but the company takes an interesting approach to dying the material. Each pair starts out as a blank canvas in the off-white color of natural cotton, and only once the jeans have been fully assembled are they dyed. This allows the company to cut down on its fabric dye waste.
The cuts: skinny, slim, and straight
Mott & Bow/Amir Ismael/Business Insider
Choosing any of the five colors really comes down to your preference, or if you already have specific outfits in mind. With that said, you can’t go wrong with any of them. Fitting, however, is where most people do their decision making, and these pairs come in skinny, slim, and straight cuts. (Editor’s note: The landing page for the Twill Denim doesn’t show the skinny fit as an option, but you’ll see it once you click into your preferred color.)
In my past experience with Mott & Bow jeans, the skinny fit wasn’t too skinny, and the slim fit provided enough room for a relaxed fit. I haven’t worn jeans in the straight fit, but I’m almost certain they’d be too big for my body type (I’m a size 29 waist and sizes start at 30 for straight fit). I suspect most people will gravitate towards either the skinny or slim jeans, so I decided to try both fits in a few different colors.
My first impression of the Mercer Twill Denim was that the material is a lot lighter than the jeans I normally wear — including the Warren skinny jeans, which is my current favorite from Mott & Bow. I wear jeans even in the summer heat because I like the style too much to put them away for three months of the year, so it was refreshing to wear pants that weren’t so hot.
How to style them
What makes the Mercer Twill Denim so great is that you can wear them with all of the semi-formal pieces you’d normally pair with chinos or go completely casual with a T-shirt and cool sneakers.
Skinny fit:
Although I really like the way the skinny Mercer fits, I wish they came in more inseam lengths. You’ll only find them available with a 32-inch inseam, compared to the slim and straight fits that offer 30-, 32-, and 34-inch inseams. To show the visual differences between both fits I tried, I created a simple business casual look by pairing them with a Ministry of Supply Aero Short Sleeve Button-Up and Wolf & Shepherd Glider Sneakers.
For me, the skinny pair with a 32-inch inseam fit well with a small cuff. They fall right at my sneakers with minimal stacking in the pant legs. To keep your look clean, you’ll want shoes to be visible and not covered by draping pant legs.
To give you an idea of how you can wear the Mercer Twill Denim in a more casual (but still office-appropriate) way, I paired the skinny olive pants with a Public Rec Go-To Tee and a pair of "Hong Kong" Nike Air Force 1s.
Slim fit:
The slim fit, on the other hand, is great if you want an above-the-ankle fit because of the different inseam choices. I chose the 30-inch inseam to achieve that style. The legs are roomy — but not too wide — and they fall straight with no stacking since they’re two inches shorter.
This outfit is the same as the first one above (a Ministry of Supply Aero Short Sleeve Button-Up and Wolf & Shepherd Glider Sneakers) but I rolled the slim pants to show some ankle, which would work equally as well to show off a cool pair of socks.
The bottom line
While there are definitely cheaper denim and chino options on the market, Mott & Bow Mercer Twill Denim jeans are worth the $108 price tag. For reference, they’re one of the least expensive styles available at Mott & Bow, they’re lighter in weight than normal jeans, and more comfortable than chinos.
Although they’ve become a staple in my work wardrobe, I’ve also worn them plenty of times on the weekend. From semi-formal dinners to nights out, Mott & Bow’s Mercer Twill Denim collection is versatile enough to handle it all.
Mott & Bow Mercer Twill Denim, $108, available in 5 colors and three fits
See Also:
- This $549 cordless vacuum is powerful enough to handle shedding from two long-haired cats and the mess tracked in from my backyard horse stable — it’s not cheap, but it’s extremely powerful
- The Frywall made famous on ‘Shark Tank’ is a game changer that reduces the mess of cooking — here’s why I like using it
- This $32 eye cream is the closest thing to a miracle for getting rid of dark circles and depuffing
Source: Business Insider – aismael@businessinsider.com (Amir Ismael)