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New York Times
11-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
12 Kitchen Tools That Make Wirecutter Staffers More Confident Cooks
There's a common kitchen adage that a dull knife is a dangerous knife. Using a dull knife can contribute not only to careless accidents but also to poor, sloppy knife cuts. Yet you don't need to shell out big bucks to score a quality chef's knife, as Wirecutter writer Alexander Aciman can attest. He has been the proud owner of a Victorinox Chef's Knife, the budget pick in our guide to the best chef's knife, for nearly a decade. This great knife is durable, comfortable to use, and pretty sharp. And it costs less than $75. 'It can glide effortlessly through meat and vegetables,' Alexander wrote in an ode to the Victorinox knife. 'The blade feels far more nimble than anything in this price range should.' In fact, he said he occasionally finds himself chopping twice as many potatoes and onions, simply because he enjoys the task so much. We love this knife because the grippy handle helps you get a good grasp, and the strong blade holds a sharp edge for a long time. Mise en place — a French culinary term that roughly translates to putting everything in its place — is the process of prepping ingredients and your workstation so everything is ready to go before you start cooking. Mise en place spares me from having to make last-minute, mid-recipe grocery runs (no more forgotten ingredients) or from chopping a clove of garlic while the food in the pan burns. I rely on Libbey Small Glass Prep Bowls with Lids to keep everything neatly separated until I'm ready to toss it all into the pan or incorporate it into the recipe. These small, durable bowls come in a pack of eight and are dishwasher-safe, so cleanup is easy. They're big enough to hold about ¾ cup of prepped ingredients (think eight plump cherries or a handful of shredded cheese). And they come with lids, so you can stash any leftover ingredients (if you miscalculate how much you need). Before I worked in the restaurant industry, I was a much messier cook. Then I discovered a bench scraper, which I've been known to call a 'chef's best-kept secret.' And ever since, this tool has helped me navigate cooking tasks much more efficiently, nimbly, and tidily. This multipurpose bench scraper has a wide, flat stainless steel surface with a sharp edge that's ideal for a number of kitchen tasks, from slicing to scooping. A bench scraper is a flat, sturdy multipurpose tool that's helpful for scooping, slicing, and portioning ingredients. The OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Scraper & Chopper — my prized possession for over eight years — has a flat, stainless steel surface (about the size of a large index card) and a nonslip handle for extra stability. When I'm preparing my mise en place, this tool helps me efficiently move piles of chopped ingredients from my cutting board to a bowl without making a mess. Its sharp edges are strong enough to pierce through soft ingredients, including when I portion out pizza dough or bake biscuits. I can also use the flat surface to smooth out any streaks or bubbles when I'm frosting a birthday cake. No other tool offers such an array of skills. If you don't have the right peeler, removing the skin of a potato can be a tedious task. Yet with a lightweight, sharp Y-peeler, you can swiftly work through a sack without breaking a sweat (or accidentally nicking a knuckle). Before editor Tracy Vence discovered her now-beloved Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler — a super-sharp, lightweight Y-shaped peeler — she believed there was no worse kitchen task than peeling raw beets, preparing potatoes, and removing the skin of an uncooked squash. Now she can't live without this tool, and she even wrote about how it makes her look forward to a meal-prep step she once vehemently dreaded. A Wirecutter top pick for 12 years and counting, the Kuhn Rikon peeler is a superior tool for easily stripping the outer layers of every type of fruit or vegetable, including eggplant, carrots, and celery root. This tool's unique Y shape makes it easier to rotate around an object when you're peeling, versus using a straight swivel peeler, which might feel limited in range. Although this tool is incredibly inexpensive, it's highly durable and beloved by most professional chefs. Wirecutter staffers say it can retain its sharp edge for several years, even with consistent use. While a Kunz spoon bears an uncanny resemblance to any ordinary spoon, it was specifically designed with cooks in mind by internationally renowned chef Gray Kunz. Its unique dimensions make it the perfect tool for drizzling sauces, serving creamy dips, and basting a juicy steak with hot butter. And the spoon's slightly pointed tip helps to guide runny sauces with precision and accuracy when you're plating food. This sturdy stainless steel spoon is much larger than a standard one, and it makes kitchen tasks, like basting and plating, more efficient. I first discovered Kunz spoons during an early gig as a line cook, eight years ago. And since then, I have found that this spoon's versatility readily supersedes the capabilities of any other spoon in my kitchen — and, frankly, of almost any other tool. I often use a Kunz spoon in place of a tasting spoon, a measuring spoon, a plating spoon, a ladle (for small amounts of sauces or liquids), and a spatula. But it's clear I'm not the only Kunz spoon–obsessed cook: Step foot in a professional kitchen and you're bound to encounter at least one of these spoons hard at work. A fish turner (or fish spatula) is a spatula designed with a thin, long surface for easily scooting underneath food and nimbly tossing and turning it. But as editor Katie Okamoto points out in an ode she wrote to her beloved fish spatula (our top-pick, all-purpose spatula), you shouldn't let the name fool you — a flexible fish spatula can do much more than flip fish. Its long, stable, flat surface is big enough to transfer piles of roasted veggies and oversize cookies from a sheet pan, and it can ferry skillet-size pancakes without causing rifts. This affordable, lightweight spatula can be used for a multitude of tasks, including turning delicate fried eggs, fish fillets, crepes, and pancakes. Katie also uses the Victorinox Swiss Army Slotted Fish Turner's stainless steel edge to scrape the fond from the bottom of a cast iron pan, so she can incorporate it into a pan sauce or gravy. And the spatula's slotted design allows grease to fall through and steam to escape when seared foods are being transported from pan to plate. Chopping is an essential skill but a time-consuming task. Fortunately, with the help of a mini food processor, you can cut corners on a busy weeknight. And for practical, daily cooking needs, appliance writer Rachel Wharton swears by the Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper. In her story on the Cuisinart chopper, Rachel details how it helps her quickly dice an onion for a marinara or puree four garlic cloves for a curry. Its small size has even motivated her to make more from-scratch dinners on weeknights, rather than ordering in, because cooking is quicker and less messy, and cleanup much easier than if she were using a full-size processor. In the piece, Rachel also explains how this mini food processor handles smaller-scale tasks (like mincing a few jalapeños or shallots) faster and more easily than a full-size processor. In a full-size processor, small quantities of food often get wedged under the larger blade or pushed to the edges. And the Cuisinart chopper has a compact, lightweight footprint, so it's simple to clean and a boon for smaller-batch weeknight cooking. A digital scale helps take some of the guesswork out of cooking. Rather than portioning ingredients by volume using measuring cups (a less accurate form of measuring due to differences in ingredient densities), you could use a digital scale, which calculates weight down to the exact grams, ounces, or pounds. Professional bakers swear by digital scales, and that's understandable since a few extra grams of baking powder can completely throw off the ratios in a cake, causing the batter to potentially overflow while it's cooking. When she was working as a baker, editorial director Marguerite Preston quickly realized how much more efficient and reliable it is to use a kitchen scale for any measuring task. Now, the Escali Primo Digital Scale is one of the first items she recommends to any aspiring home cook. In a story she wrote about the scale, Marguerite puts it high on the list of the 'Tools I Don't Want to Live Without.' The Primo scale is inexpensive, durable, and accurate. And, as Marguerite wrote, it's 'dead simple to use.' Plus, it's been our top pick since 2017. When Marguerite isn't using her digital scale to weigh ingredients for baking, she uses it for everyday tasks, like measuring coffee beans, portioning dog food, or weighing shredded cheese. It's also a terrific time-saving tool, and by using the 'tare' function, you can easily weigh ingredients in the same bowl without having to scoop, level, or wash a ton of extra dishes. Using a meat thermometer to check doneness early and often helps to avoid overcooking food, and it could spare dinner guests from a bout of food poisoning. It's also small enough to stash in an apron pocket so it's easily accessible. Our top pick, the ThermoWorks ThermoPop 2, is wonderful because it offers a combination of speed, reach, and reliability, and its display is easy to read. While working in restaurants, kitchen writer Lesley Stockton once used other cues to determine doneness (like prodding the surface of a steak). But she discovered that a thermometer is a much more accurate form of measurement (and she's never looked back). In an ode she wrote, Lesley explains that she now reaches for her Thermapen to check the doneness of roasts, poultry, fish, steaks, chops, and meatloaf, or when making candy and jam, and it has yielded better results. Recently, while testing gas grills, Lesley and other kitchen staffers used the thermometer to examine doneness of more than 140 pounds of meat cooked over the course of two weeks. Baking sheets are a kitchen staple. They're ideal for evenly roasting vegetables, baking cookies, or preparing sheet-pan dinner recipes. They're also terrific for tasks like carrying ingredients from the kitchen to an outdoor grill or transporting dirty dishes from the table to the sink. A Wirecutter pick since 2013, the Nordic Ware Naturals Baker's Half Sheet is top-tier. We love it for many reasons. It's versatile and inexpensive. And It's made with bare, heavy-gauge aluminum: During testing, this sheet baked cookies more evenly than sheets that were twice the price, and it didn't warp at high heat. If your current baking sheets are banged-up, warped, or flaking nonstick coating from years of cooking, take that as your sign to invest in a new, dazzling (high-quality) set that'll last for many years to come. Stainless steel cookware offers superior durability and performance, and it can handle higher temperatures than nonstick cookware. Also, compared with cast iron cookware, it produces better searing and tends to heat food more evenly, ensuring that it's consistently cooked through. Kitchen writer Michael Sullivan, the author of our best cookware set guide, said stainless steel cookware is not only critical for getting a good sear on meats, but it can go from the stovetop directly into the oven. Though stainless steel cookware requires a bit of extra care and maintenance — like hand-washing and an occasional scrubbing to remove some tougher stains — Michael said it can last a lifetime if it's properly cared for. These pans continue to impress us with their even heat distribution. Each piece is extremely durable and an ideal weight to hold. All-Clad's D3 Tri-Ply Stainless Steel 10-Piece Set is a pricey, buy-it-for-life essential that we think is worth the investment. All-Clad's 10-piece set includes a variety of pieces, including skillets, saucepans, a sauté pan, and a stockpot. This set covers a wide range of cooking needs and offers superior durability and heat distribution (since aluminum is a good conductor of heat and stainless steel maintains it). Editorial director Lauren Sullivan has been using her set for over a decade. If you're not ready to take the leap on the All-Clad set, writer Abigail Bailey said the Tramontina Gourmet 12-Piece Tri-Ply Clad Cookware Set — our top-pick cookware set — is a more affordable alternative. And it performed just as well as the All-Clad set during testing. Nonstick skillets tend to have a short life expectancy — about three to five years — but well-maintained cast iron cookware can last generations. When these pans are properly cared for, they tend to get better with age as the seasoning builds up and makes them naturally more nonstick. Cast iron skillets are equipped to handle high heat. Unlike other nonstick-coated pans, they're safe to use past 500 °F or under the broiler (ideal for optimal searing and browning for deeper caramelization and flavor). They can also be used outdoors over a campfire or when grilling — a surefire way to level up your alfresco dinner plans. You don't need to spend a fortune to score a quality cast iron pan. The high-quality Lodge Chef Collection 12-Inch Cast Iron Skillet — our top pick — is affordable and made to last. Editor Ben Keough has written about how this pan can be used for a lifetime if it's properly cared for. We put 16 cast iron skillets through six tests to find the best one, and the Lodge skillet fried bacon, baked cornbread, and seared steaks most effectively. You can use it to make anything from eggs to pizza and stir-fry dishes. Plus, it's lightweight and has a comfortable handle, so it's easier to maneuver around the kitchen — especially when you're removing it from a piping-hot oven. You're only a few tools away from finding the professional chef within you. With these 12 reliable and efficiency-promoting items, you'll start cooking more like an expert in no time. This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder. These buy-it-for-life Wirecutter picks will pass the test of time thanks to durable materials, solid construction, and generous warranties. We've gathered a list of essential gear to get cooking in a new kitchen, all for around $200 total. They have one job, and they get it done! From our favorite cherry pitter to a leak-stopping peanut butter stirrer, here are the one-trick ponies we recommend.
New York Times
03-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
The Most Affordable Packing Tool Is Also the Best
Although even the most haphazard fill-'em-and-squish-'em technique will help you save space, there is an art to making each parcel as small as possible. Roughly three days' worth of clothes. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter While it might not be advisable to squish down some of these items, such as the denim shirt, here are those same three days' worth of clothes in a small, backpack-ready parcel. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter While it might not be advisable to squish down some of these items, such as the denim shirt, here are those same three days' worth of clothes in a small, backpack-ready parcel. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter Roughly three days' worth of clothes. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter After a few trips, I've learned that these bags work best when I haven't egregiously overstuffed them. For example, you can save more space in your suitcase by splitting up 10 T-shirts into two bags with five shirts each rather than putting all 10 into one bag. Overstuffing can make it hard to get all the air out, which defeats the purpose. I've also learned that it's easier to compress these bags when I don't mix categories of clothes — socks, for instance, compress into tighter parcels with other socks than when packed with underwear and T-shirts. I've come to rely on the various sizes for different tasks, too. After an airline lost my suitcase in 2019, I became somewhat paranoid about being stuck in any one place without a change of clothes in my carry-on. I now use the very smallest size of compression bag (about as big as a gallon-size freezer bag) to pack an extra day's worth of clothes into my backpack. Compressed, this parcel comes out to the size of a banana. I like to use one of the extra-large bags as my dirty-laundry bag on longer trips. Finding ways to pack dirty clothes at the end of a trip can be a hassle, but compression bags make easy work of it. I neatly fold every dirty item of clothing flat into a single bag, which I then compress at the end of my trip. The mega bag of laundry fits perfectly into my suitcase and also quarantines the dirty from the still-clean. (Having extra bags also makes it easy for me to pack clothes I might have purchased while on vacation.) And if you, like me, are paranoid about bedbugs, having vacuum-sealed dirty laundry allows you to dump your clothes straight into the dryer when you get home, minimizing the risk of letting critters loose in your home. Thanks to these compression bags, eight days' worth of clothes fit neatly into one half of my smaller Away Carry-On. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter These bags have one major downside: wrinkles. Fabrics such as thick cotton knits, polyester, and merino are fairly good at shedding creases on their own, so they weather the bags well, but I definitely wouldn't recommend using these bags for thinner, finer fabrics or any formal clothes you might want looking crisp ahead of an event, especially if you won't have time to iron. A dress shirt or dress would most definitely come out of compression looking rumpled. The other, smaller inconvenience is that unlike packing cubes, which have a defined shape, compression bags can often shrink into irregularly shaped parcels. As a result, they don't necessarily fit neatly into a suitcase, and it may take some Tetris-ing to figure out the right layout. However, they are pliable, and you can fold them or lay them flat depending on which way they'll fit better into your suitcase. These compression bags have not solved all of Vacation Alex's afflictions. I am still generally (though less) afraid of bedbugs. I still become overly maudlin upon departure from basically anywhere. I still completely fail to track my spending when using foreign currencies, even (or especially) those with unfavorable exchange rates. I still manage to catch zero hours of sleep on any red-eye, and I still cannot keep myself from bringing home half a dozen books. Most notably, I still end up filling my suitcase with stacks of clothes I will probably never work up the nerve to wear, even half a world away from my usual routines. But that is okay. It is the dream of wearing them that matters most — the act of packing visions of a different self into my suitcase with the hope that it will blossom far from home. Usually, the place for dreams in my suitcase is superseded almost entirely by essentials, such as sunscreen and underwear. That is no longer the case. Now, my vacation dreams are bigger and more unfettered than ever before. And so is my bag. This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder. The simple, well-built Eagle Creek Pack-It Reveal Cube Set is our choice to keep your luggage organized for either a week or a weekend. If a free carry-on isn't included in your ticket, don't pay extra for it. Here's how you can pack a personal item for a weekend trip. Struggling to pack for your weekend away? The Cotopaxi Allpa 35L fits so much more than you'd expect.
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
I Don't Golf. But I Love These Surprisingly Stylish Golf Shorts.
For most of my adult life, I've resisted the urge to wear shorts in the summer months. The thought of traipsing around New York in shorts — my bare skin rubbing against the sweat of a stranger on the subway, the accumulation of city dirt kicked up by the heat of mid-July clinging to my legs — seemed unbearable. And then there are the social implications of wearing shorts — as a man, you're told that bare legs are somehow unacceptable in almost any scenario except when you're working out or playing sports, or that shorts are not for men at all, but for children. That, along with the annual salvo of think pieces about the office-appropriateness of shorts, was enough to make me and many others shy away entirely. 'A don doesn't wear shorts,' you tell yourself as you put on black jeans in the middle of summer. But after I endured several consecutive summers of heat waves with the temperature piercing the 100-degree mark, something inside me broke. Something needed to change. It was, finally, time for shorts. What I wanted seemed impossible to find: a pair of shorts that I would feel as natural in as I did in denim. After an exhaustive search and a lot of disappointment, the only shorts I now reach for all summer are Puli Men's Golf Shorts. I am not a golfer, but these affordable 7-inch shorts allow me to feel the summer breeze on my legs while also looking good in just about any situation. When I've looked for shorts in the past, many of them have, well, fallen short. Cotton-twill chino shorts look good, but they can retain sweat and wear really hot, defeating the purpose of shorts. Linen shorts are great for days of high heat and humidity, but quality linen can be expensive, affordable linen can wear out quickly, and linen wrinkles in ways that can make it look sloppy on day two or three. Patagonia Baggies have been particularly popular as of late, but they swish loudly, have little stretch, and look more like swim trunks than shorts with the thoughtful, deliberate styling of something like jeans. Puli's golf shorts are made from a blend of polyester and elastane and combine the best qualities of each of those other options without any of their pitfalls: The Puli shorts have the appearance of cotton twill, the fast dry time of Baggies, and the airiness of linen shorts. Puli's golf shorts have a cotton-like appearance that makes them suitable for wear in a variety of settings. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter The great thing about golf shorts is that by design they are made to abide by golf-course dress codes while also providing mobility and moisture management. Unlike most other golf shorts, however, which are often made from knitted elastic fabric, Puli's golf shorts look deceptively like woven cotton. That's what drew me to these shorts to begin with; I was looking for lightweight, twill shorts that still retained some features of athletic shorts to get me through the hottest days of August. And Puli's shorts were some of the very few I found in this category that did not have any water-repellent finish (which usually contains PFAS). They're also some of the most affordable golf shorts available. At roughly $25 on Amazon, these shorts are from half to a quarter of the price of comparable shorts from Bonobos and Lululemon, few of which hide their athletic nature nearly as well. In the right light, Puli's shorts have a subtle sheen that can betray their polyester composition, but in most settings they look indistinguishable from cotton. Their fabric creases like cotton, rather than forming fine wrinkles as athletic shorts often do. However, unlike cotton, which provides suboptimal sun protection, Puli's shorts are rated UPF 50+. Puli's blend of polyester and elastane gives the shorts a subtle flex. They are pliant enough that you can sit in them comfortably for long periods of time without feeling like you're wearing spandex. This fabric, in addition to the elastic-lined waistband, makes them suitable for more strenuous physical activity — I've worn them while kayaking and playing tennis. The shorts have a hidden zip pocket that keeps things like keys from falling out if you're moving around. The quick-drying material also makes them decent swim trunks in a pinch (though they lack a liner, so proceed with caution). The discreet zip pocket is large enough to store my iPhone 13. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter This smaller zipped pocket in the back is great for keys or small items. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter The elastic waistband adds a subtle stretch that keeps everything comfortable even over long days. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter The discreet zip pocket is large enough to store my iPhone 13. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter By far my favorite thing about these shorts is the pockets. Rather than going with the typical, fabric-lined pockets, Puli uses only mesh for its pockets. That creates a ton of airflow, keeping these shorts breezy even on the hottest of days. The mesh pockets keep these shorts airy. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter Puli's shorts have a higher, 10.5-inch rise and a relatively short, 7-inch inseam, which together make them look a little more stylish than standard-issue cotton chinos and athletic shorts. All of those features make Puli's shorts an excellent one-short for summer trips. Save for formal occasions, I have been able to use these shorts to put together a week's worth of outfits, and they look crisp even at the tail end of that week. If they ever get dirty, I can wash them in the sink, and they'll be dry by the next morning. Perhaps not all of my discomfort with wearing shorts has vanished, but thanks to these, I am hardly ever reminded of it. These shorts work just as well with loafers as they do with sandals by the pool. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter The poly fabric is breathable but still suitable for wearing on cool nights with layers. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter These shorts go well with outfits that are half a step above athletic. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter These shorts work just as well with loafers as they do with sandals by the pool. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter There are a few things I'd change about these shorts. First, the stitching is a bit wonky in places, and the thread seems to have little flex. That, in combination with the somewhat stretchy fabric, means the fabric can stretch beyond the elastic limits of the threads holding the garment together, causing those threads to pop. That hasn't happened to me yet, but I would not be surprised if it did. Second, although these shorts come in about a dozen colors, they don't come in a true, dark olive or any fun, gaudy colors you might want for a tennis court, like teal. Those two colors, along with the black pair I already own, would probably be the end of all the shorts I need. These shorts are also a little less beefy than some of their counterparts. You won't find silky-smooth and robust YKK zippers or hefty buttons here. That isn't enough to put me off them, but those small things accumulate and detract from the overall feel, and I would happily pay slightly more for something just a touch more substantial. That said, something about their cheapness makes me feel like I can freely wear them without any care for what happens. The shorts have a cheap, small-toothed zipper and a lightweight plastic button, neither of which feels durable. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter Loose stitches that weren't trimmed are visible here and there. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter The shorts have a cheap, small-toothed zipper and a lightweight plastic button, neither of which feels durable. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter I am no longer fussy about wearing shorts when the weather begins to peak. It is an easy decision for me now, one that I can make in full confidence that I will be comfortable and look good and not feel less myself. After next season, my original black pair will likely be due for a replacement — something will rip or tear or fade, and I will hardly be bothered at the thought of parting with another $25 for the only shorts that have ever felt as effortless as jeans. This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder. The right running gear can help you make the most of your training. After extensive research and testing with passionate runners, here's what we recommend. How a magical, kind of ugly pair of undershorts forever cured my chub-rub woes. Here are all the apparel and accessories you need to get through spring, from rain boots to sneakers and from rain pants to hip denim.
Daily Mail
25-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Shoppers spot Lululemon item dupe at Costco for $108 off… they even have the same zipper
Shoppers can save $108 on a Lululemon pants dupe at Costco. The Lululemon ABC 5 Pocket Pants are a beloved product which come in various sizes and colors. However, customers have to shell out $128 per pair at the athletic apparel retailer. The next best thing in shoppers' eyes is Costco's Kirkland Signature Men's 5-Pocket Performance Pant. Like the Lululemon bottoms, they come in various sizes and colors and have also received positive reviews from shoppers. Customers can snag one of the Kirkland-brand pants right now for only $20. 'When I held these two pairs of pants and inspected their construction, they looked almost identical,' wrote Alexander Aciman of the New York Times. Aciman managed to find some significant similarities between both pants, including their zippers. A substantial similarity is that both bottoms have a gusseted crotch, a small diamond-shaped patch replacing a traditional one that makes pants more comfortable to wear. Aciman pointed out that it can also help improve range in motion, which is convenient for flights or standing for 12 hours. 'The crotch is a defining feature of Lululemon's pants (ABC stands for Anti–Ball Crushing),' he revealed. 'The previous-generation Kirkland performance pants lacked this feature, and its inclusion in the latest version brings these pants much more in line with the ABC pants.' The shopper found that the Kirkland pants had the same kind of YKK zippers, a reinforced button, and seams sewn with about 11 to 12 stitches per inch. 'On most pants, this flat felled seam results in a flap of fabric inside the leg of the garment,' Aciman explained. 'Lululemon stitches this flap down, presumably for comfort; Kirkland's pants have the same sewn-down flap.' Geometric pattern similarities include watch pockets and a zippered back pocket that's 'too shallow for a regular-size wallet or a passport...,' according to the expert. But Aciman managed to tell the difference between the pants through their fabric. 'Lululemon's Warpstreme fabric is made from 53 percent elastomultiester and 47 percent recycled polyester, and Kirkland's is made from 74 percent polyester and 26 percent elastomultiester,' he said. 'That might sound similar, but the fabric is where Lululemon really sets itself apart.' Aciman admitted that he preferred the Lululemon fabric and claimed his Kirkland pants 'swished like old-school gym shorts.' Kirkland Signature Men's 5-Pocket Performance Pant No need to shell out the big bucks for Lululemon pants when you can pick up a lookalike pair from Costco for a fraction of the price. Beautifully designed to fit like a dream while providing all-day comfort coupled with peak performance, these bottoms are available blue, black, and grey. $15.99 Shop He insisted the Costco bottoms had a great design aesthetic and were comfortable to wear, but they still made him 'feel more like a schlub.' 'As a man who loves Costco, loves a deal, and has made a hobby of hunting down the factories that white-label clothing for designers, every fiber of my being wanted the Kirkland pants to be as good as or better than the Lululemon pants,' he said. 'My inherent skepticism of athleisure brands with flashy reputations left me with a hunger that could be sated only by the thought that a $20 pair of pants was just as good as pants retailing for six times that.' After weighing out the pros and cons, Aciman concluded that the pants were similar but 'definitely not the same.' Customers have been debating which pants are better for months on Reddit. 'Honestly thought the Kirklands were the Lulus at first,' a user wrote on a thread dedicated to the subject. 'Might just be my opinion but one thing I've found with Kirkland is that the cut just doesn't fit as nice and I can see it here too,' another customer wrote. 'It just looks a lot tighter and uncomfortable in the crotch area.' 'Costco definitely an option but I'll stick with my lulu. 'The difference is in the details,' another fan chimed in.
New York Times
22-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
After 10 Years, My Favorite Chambray Shirt Got an Upgrade
I was wearing a light blue chambray shirt from on the night I first met my wife. It was 2016, and I'd just turned 25. And, having bought the shirt with my first substantial freelance paycheck, I wore it everywhere: to interviews, on road trips and airplanes, on assignments, and, evidently, to dinner parties on the Upper East Side. Amid the squall of untucked gingham shirts and Patagonia vests in style at the time, the textured ruggedness of chambray jumped out at me when I saw this shirt on the rack. It felt like something that belonged in the closet of Indiana Jones or Robert Redford rather than in my own. Something about the irregularity of its yarns and its not-quite-slim fit felt impossibly cool yet unpretentious, at ease without looking careless, elegant yet decidedly not fussy. It was, in short, everything I was not and everything I wanted to be. For nearly 10 years, I wore this shirt, almost to tatters. Over time, the cloth faded to a pale, whitish shade of blue, the fabric at the elbows became almost sheer, and the hems started to unfurl. But I refused to give up on my longtime staple. So I returned to to buy a replacement, and in its place I found something new: a chambray shirt full of small improvements yet still bearing all the charm of the one I had bought in my 20s. A refresh of a longtime staple, this latest version comes with a few thoughtful upgrades and can be worn almost anywhere. While the chambray button-down has been one of longtime staples, chambray itself predates the US as a country. It is one of two cotton fabrics that originated in France before being incorporated into American workwear and military clothing. The other fabric is chambray's doppelgänger, denim. Unlike denim, which is woven in a twill (a fabric defined by its dimensional, diagonal ridges), chambray is a plain weave, more akin to the flat fabric of cotton dress shirts. Although chambray can be any color, it is usually woven from a combination of blue and white yarns; this produces chambray's signature two-toned, subtly cross-hatched, denim-like appearance. Compared with those of dress shirts, these bicolor yarns are also typically chunkier, which can give the fabric a more textured, casual appearance. 'It was never meant to be a dress-shirt fabric,' Carl Goldberg, custom shirtmaker and founder of CEGO, told me in an interview. (Goldberg recently made Walton Goggins's iconic aloha shirt for the third season of HBO's The White Lotus .) 'It was meant for workwear and military usage, but similar to the blue French worker's jacket, it became chic.' After nearly a decade of heavy wear and tear, my shirt has faded significantly. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter The gridlike appearance of chambray (top) and the twill, diagonal weave of denim (bottom). Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter My 10-year-old chambray shirt beside its replacement. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter After nearly a decade of heavy wear and tear, my shirt has faded significantly. Alexander Aciman/NYT Wirecutter chambray shirt has a button-down collar and is made from a crisp, lightly peached fabric. Its charm stems from that counterintuitive chicness Goldberg describes. Along with the unpredictable nature of the shirt's fabric, this quality makes it neither an oxford, nor a dress shirt, nor a western shirt, but something in a category all its own. The button-down eludes simple categorization and is therefore one of the most versatile garments a person can own. This shirt can be worn tucked or untucked, in summer and in winter, under a tweed blazer, or as a layer over a T-shirt. It can be worn with blue denim jeans — without looking like a Canadian tuxedo. And it looks no less at home worn with shorts and sandals at the beach than it does under a sweater with olive trousers. Style writers have long expounded on the virtues of clothes that can be dressed up or dressed down. But a chambray shirt is one of the few items that is capable of both simultaneously: It can be, at the same time, both Brooks Brothers and Levi Strauss. Chambray's texture pairs well with chunky knitwear in fall outfits. Rebecca Hartje The shirt's muted indigo blue is neutral enough to fit in with a range of other colors. Rebecca Hartje I feel the need. The need for tweed. Rebecca Hartje Chambray's texture pairs well with chunky knitwear in fall outfits. Rebecca Hartje Due to its shapeshifting nature, this shirt immediately became a staple of my daily wardrobe. At times, every outfit I wanted to wear seemed to revolve around it — my chambray button-down was the foundation of how I wanted to see myself and how I wanted the world to see me. I searched for its limits — wearing it with everything from sport coats to black jeans to swim shorts — but I never quite found them. Above all else, the shirt is flourishing as part of my travel wardrobe. It comes with me on every trip I take. If I have enough room in my bag for only one collared shirt, there's no doubt which one it should be. shirt is casual enough to be worn around any city and durable enough to act as a layer on light hikes or on chilly days. I particularly like having it with me in the event that I might need to look presentable — I've never felt out of place in a nice restaurant while wearing this shirt. Because the shirt's fabric is made with thicker yarns than a standard flat-weave cotton shirt, it sheds wrinkles with ease; this allows me to wear it straight out of my bag, no need to iron. I've used it to put together a week of travel outfits without ever feeling like I'm wearing the same thing twice. And in a pinch, I've used it as a blanket or a pillow. Fuji Instax photos taken by my wife on our honeymoon, featuring my favorite chambray shirt. Rebecca Hartje Chambray makes an excellent summer layer, even when paired with swim trunks and Crocs. Rebecca Hartje Fuji Instax photos taken by my wife on our honeymoon, featuring my favorite chambray shirt. Rebecca Hartje Time and probably hundreds of trips through the wash have softened the fabric considerably, imparting a plush, almost flannel-like texture that I find comforting. It has all of the traits of lovingly worn-in vintage items that boutique thrift stores list at exorbitant prices. It has aged with me over the past decade, and it's now an old friend; I am most myself in this shirt, and it is strange to think back to a time when it represented something alien and excitingly aspirational.
