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Looking for your best men’s pants/trousers recommendations!
I am a huge fan of Prana pants, they are made of synthetic materials, stretchy and comfortable, light and dry quickly, and I have found them perfect for travel, hiking, lounging, etc.
Unfortunately they have discontinued my favorite models that looked more “professional” like chinos and thus could double for work, travel, date nights, etc. Their current models, while comfortable, all sort of look like hiking pants and don’t have an aesthetic I appreciate.
With that in mind, I was curious if anyone could provide me with recommendations for professional looking pants with similar attributes as those above that you’ve found to be comfortable and multi purpose. Thank you!
I love Lululemon ABC Slim Warpstreme pants. I wear them “up” or “down”. They are durable like jeans, look like chinos, and super comfortable. Also benefit of coming in 28” inseams (if bought online).
Huh, I honestly didn't know that Lululemon even sold men's clothes. I also thought they were a fast fashion brand so I'm surprised about the durability comment, too.
They are kind of fast fashion-ish, it depends on what you consider fast fashion. But then again I think most major brands are. T
hat being said, LuLu Lemon makes very high quality feeling clothes. I say "feeling" because all of their clothing feels nice to wear, to touch, to use etc. As for durability? I can't really speak, I only own the camera bag, but my SO has a lot of their pants and tops that she has had for ages. I have other friends who swear their boxer/briefs are the best out there.
So I will say that although I love my Lulu pants, the drawstring was damaged in its first wash cycle. Other than that though, they’re as good as new. Not suuuper durable, but decent, I’d say.
Lululemon shirts have lasted me a long time, think the oldest ones I have are 9 years old now and they’re still really vibrant and fit well. I’d assume their pants are just as long lasting.
My thighs eat through jeans like no one’s business. I get holes near the crotch because of my thighs rubbing together or whatever.
Their fabric they use doesn’t have this issue for me.
A bit pricier than prana but Outlier is a brand with a cult following that has some options you might be interested in. They're known for experimenting with technical fabrics. I'd take a look at the Futureslimworks or the slim dungarees.
They're both suitable for the office and have some water repellency by way of DWR. The slimworks have decent stretch as well as a gusseted construction that helps with range of motion. The dungarees are a bit heavier with less stretch but still incorporate a gusset for movement. I own a pair of each (though they're from a few years ago before they changed them a bit) that I still use and am happy with.
Oh these look very interesting! Absolutely what I was looking for: synthetic stretchy material with a clean/professional cut/styling. Thanks for sharing!
Even more expensive, but stillvery nice, are the Mission Workshop Divison chinos. They have an “LT” version as well that uses a lighter weight fabric that can stay cooler in hotter weather.
Outlier used to make some pants they called “Climbers” (now called “OG Climbers) which were chinos made of Schoeller Dryskin. Unfortunately they don’t make them any more and finding Dryskin pants these days is very difficult (and they are very pricey when you do find them).
I would have mentioned the climbers if they still sold them because out of all of the outlier pants I've owned, the climbers definitely get the most use. @philosorfer I forgot to mention that there's a pretty active secondhand market for outlier stuff that's worth a look. All my stuff was actually bought secondhand (other than a pair of shorts).
A few years ago I found Duluth Trading Company's "Foreman Pants", and this is exclusively what I wear to the office. Desert Khaki is quite light in color, like a pair of Chinos. They stretch, are pretty lightweight, and wear well. They have a nice in-the-middle look, and I wear them with my standard "winter uniform" (I mix and match long-sleeve button downs with sweater vests) and "summer uniform" (short-sleeve button downs and polos). I also wear them around the house, out running errands, out on dates too as you mentioned, honestly everything but yard or other dirty work. IMO they look good in all occasions that precede the need to wear a blazer; from then on, it's a pair of Dockers or better.
A note on the "Fire Hose" branding: back when I first found Duluth back in the mid 2010s, they used to make their pants with duck cotton that was at least equivalently heavy duty to real fire hose external casing material. They were heavy, stiff, hot as hell, 100% cotton, and took a great deal of punishment. These foreman's pants are not those original FireHose pants - they're much lighter weight, and the 3% spandex doesn't sound like a lot, but it makes a world of difference. I think they just kind of kept that as branding more than anything else.
[EDIT] Protip: while I'm thinking about it, these will shrink if you want them to, and I find they run a bit long. I fit best in a 35/32, so I'll buy a size up in 36/32 (which is really like a 33 and some change inseam, I think so you can bend your knees comfortably without them riding up) and wash them hot and dry them hot the first cycle or two when I get them. They'll drop an inch in both dimensions, then I wash tap cold / tumble dry at my dryer's lowest setting from there on out. They're stable after that.
Lulu ABC Joggers as others have mentioned + Uniqlo Wide Fit Pleated Pants (if you're slim enough you can also pull off the women's version of these).
Anything else is too tight around my thighs and hamstrings because pants in general aren't made for people who train their legs. 😅
Was looking at the Outliers page recommended above and noped outta there when I saw most of their models were around my height but anywhere from 40-70 lbs lighter. Also the price...
Are the Uniqlo pants lightweight/wearable in super hot weather?
Yeah they are very light; I'm wearing them pretty much exclusively this summer on the west coast. There are a lot of really good YouTube Shorts videos on these pants; men's fashion is one of the areas where YT Shorts and TikTok really shine.
If you're still on the fence about these, this is how I wear and style them!
Yeah, next time I am somewhere developed I may see if Uniqlo has them.
I posted the outlier link and should say that I'm not proportioned like the models on their page as I'm short and have some chub. I am a tailor though so I tend to be more flexible on sizing than most haha.
Can you just clarify are you using "pants" in the American English sense or the British English sense please?
Pants/trousers so American English. Not underpants :). I should have been more clear!
I also clicked on this thinking you wanted trousers suitable to be worn by "best men" at weddings
I have a pair of joggers from Lululemon that I love that seem to check your boxes. They’re stretchy, comfortable, light, and dry quickly; and they are clean enough to dress up for settings like work or casual night out.
I apologize that I can’t quite figure out exactly what model they are, but maybe go try some stuff out at one of their stores if you can ?
I was super disappointed by my canvas pants from Kuhl. Thought the price, fabric, and advertised reinforcements around the inner thigh/crotch would help them last. I totally wore through the fabric in a few months wearing them casually once a week. Never worn out a pair of pants like that - North Face, Patagonia, Prana, Eddie Bauer, hell even American Eagle lasts longer than that.
It depends on what level of professional you're working with because depending on the job/situation jeans can be professional or not, but I can absolutely recommend the jeans by Varusteleka.
https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/sarma-common-jeans-blue/35573
No nonsense, well made in Estonia, old school jeans.
Check out Outdoor research. They tend to do stylish-technical, and a couple of their trousers may lean far enough into into the stylish / professional side for you.
Also, my SO likes the cut of both pranas and OR, so they may be a good fit.
https://bonobos.com/products/velvet-trousers
My go-tos for pants (usually jeans, but I also own some chinos for when jeans are too casual) is Liverpool. I used to wear mostly cheap department store brands like Levis, Lee, or Wrangler but you can't really buy those online since they vary so widely--two pairs of the same cut and size could be manufactured in different countries, fit entirely differently, have different thickness/quality of fabric, and vary in length by as much as a couple inches. I haven't had that problem with Liverpool; every year or two I replace a pair and the new one fits and feels identical to the one I'm retiring.
I've been sold by DUER jeans for the last few years. They have the right stretch that I like. They also gusset the crotch for a better fit and it helps with repairs.
They have sportier styles, and more professional styles. Love them.
Here is my favourite style . Works well for office and play.
Chinos are usually good, but it must be made of the right material as a lot go by that name these days. Same holds true of "Cargo Jeans" too, they also turn out to be rugged and good wear as long as you choose the right quality and material.
32 degrees cool is the brand name.
Decent prices, and all the clothes I buy from them are suuuuper comfortable.
I have 32 Degrees t-shirts that I've now owned for like 11 years. Can't believe how durable they are.
I live in Canada, so they’re hard to come by up here.
The most comfortable clothes I own, and my 10 year old tshirt I wear all the time used to annoy me because I didn’t buy more of them when it was available.
Luckily Amazon now sells them so I have a whole wardrobe now, and the quality still looks and feels as good as it was the years ago.
After a long search across most of the major athleisure brands, including lulu lemon (highly overrated/overpriced imo), I finally found my favorite pants. The brand is Public Rec, specifically the all day every day joggers. Link.
They are AWESOME. They are so much nicer than lulu lemon’s ABC joggers. I own both. The material is soft and stretchy. It’s a blend of nylon and spandex, so it’s also durable and won’t shrink. They pass as semi-professional easily due to their minimalist design, modern fit, and the fake fly at the crotch.
They also come in a more traditional pants cut if you don’t like the more narrow jogger style.
I don't have a pair but I've been drooling over the TAD chinos. They have a couple chino designs in a few fabrics
I wear Backcountry climb joggers. I originally got them for climbing when I started and was looking at climbing specific pants but now wear them also as my office/lab pants. I've got a black, olive, and three khaki colored pairs. They are nice and light seeing as they are supposed to be climbing pants but still look nice enough for an office/lab setting. Also I really dislike wearing jeans and a belt so them having an elastic waist with a tie is a nice bonus.
I had been searching for pants that I liked for literal years, and when I found the LuluLemon ABC Utilitech, I knew I had found them! They fit my legs like perfectly, they’re super comfortable, they look really nice. The “utilitech” is much more of a jeans material than the other ones, which are more like techy chinos. I just really can’t say enough good things about them. A little pricey at like $120 new, but you can find them for like half that on sites like poshmark.
As a shorter person, the only company whose pants fit me properly have always been banana republic. If anyone else has alternatives for them, I’d also be open to that. I usually wait until Black Friday sales, but I’ve owned most of my pants for 5-10yrs
Prana is awesome. Arcteryx does the Starke, Atlin Chino. Patagonia has the Transit traveler and Performance Twill Jeans.
I LOVE the Everlane performance chinos I got - I wear them all the time. Link