Has anyone seen my pants?

November 26, 2005 1:42 PM

Help me find the world's best men's pants. Something for all occasions, with style and functionality.

I've recently ruined a whole bunch of pants and need to replace them. However, I'm travelling and weight is an issue. Is there one type of pants I can buy that will cover me for all or most occasions? Something I can wear with a t-shirt or with a dress shirt and tie or polo shirt. Something with functional pockets that will hold my pda without horrible bulges. Is there something more formal than jeans but more study than kakis? Is there a type of cargo pants that can pass as buisness casual?

Basically I'm trying to avoid needing one pair for formal events, one for class/work days, one for the club, etc. Can you get away with jeans for everything? Or should I just bite the bullet and own a wide variety?

posted by tiamat to clothing, beauty, & fashion (18 comments total)

You can't normally wear jeans or cargo pants for business. The Italian company Mason's makes a simple plain-front twill trouser that I've found in one store in NYC (and nowhere online) for about $160. They look pretty hip under a tee-shirt but are refined enough to wear with a jacket.
posted by nicwolff at 1:58 PM on November 26, 2005

Bite the bullet.

And while you're shopping by use, don't forget about the weather. You don't want lightweight poplin in a Canadian winter, or heavy twill in the height of summer.
posted by I Love Tacos at 2:16 PM on November 26, 2005

for summer wear, and without the pda (get a bag or leave it at home!), i have a pair of black, loose fitting, linen trousers (rather like fancy pajama bottoms) that can cover quite a range. they're not particularly hard wearing and wouldn't go with a tie, but something along that line - flat front, uncreased, loose, not denim, seems to cover the widest spectrum of social situations. and black helps. but that's perhaps all a bit euro for an american geek with a pda...
posted by andrew cooke at 2:43 PM on November 26, 2005

There are no pants that fit every occasion. If there were, we would all be wearing them all the time and you'd know about it.

(/snark)

Jeans are rarely, if ever, an option at work (even most techies I know wear khakis). They are not an option at any decent night club (many clubs nowadays have stricter dress codes than some offices).

I would go with two pairs of tan khakis, you want to have an extra pair in case you spill something on one of them. These are your casual pants. As in casual dinner and casual business meeting. Also alternating between the two will allow both of them to last longer.

Two pairs of jeans, you just don't need a lot of them. These are your movies/card games/etc. "with-the-guys" pants. I normally wouldn't wear them to any social event with the chance to meet a woman I'd like to date. Showing up in a nice, adult pair of pants can be a big bonus when the other guys are wearing jeans and t-shirts. (When deciding what to wear, pretend you're single if you aren't.)

Two pairs of twill slacks these are sufficiently dressy that they will match any sport coat you care to wear (assuming you buy them in colors to match, of course). But these are only necessary if you were sport coats often. Most formal events call for suits, which of course come with matching pants.

I love linen pants, but they wrinkle a lot and are a bit care intensive. If you like them, go for it. They are fantastic warm weather pants and look great.

Finally, you should invest in a nice messenger style bag for social events and school. You can find relatively small bags, with a variety of pockets, that will allow you to comfortably carry your electronics. For business get yourself a soft breifcase. They are a good looking alternative to cargo pants and much less pretentious then the typical hard briefcase. For formal events I have a simple rule, anything that bulges and ruins the look of the suit gets left in the car or at home. Most of these things are stuff we don't really need anyway. (Often I only have with me: one credit card, $40 in twenties, $5-$10 in singles for tips, car keys (all other keys are in the car) and, less often, my phone. Phones are so small now that they can usually be worn without ruining the look of the suit.)

It is just a fact of life that looking good requires a bit of work (ask any woman). It really isn't a lot of trouble but it is harder than just throwing on a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt. Since you care about how you look (you wouldn't ask this question if you didn't) take the extra time to put together a nice wardrobe. You'll be glad you did. Feel free to e-mail me (check my profile) if you want more specific advice.

Just out of curiosity, how did you ruin a bunch of your pants at once?
posted by oddman at 2:57 PM on November 26, 2005 [3 favorites has favorites]

I've recently found some adult pants that I'm happy with at what used to be Structure back when I avoided it like the plague. They're called The Producer or some silly shit like that and if the company that owns Express, The Limited, et al had their shit together online, I'd link directly to them. Also, you can usually find decent stuff in a variety of sizes in J. Crew's permanent pants sale.

And now, the personal opinion and editorializing: cargo pants are to 2005 what a pair of sweat pants were to 1985. You can wear them around town if you want, but don't.
posted by yerfatma at 3:35 PM on November 26, 2005

Additional opinionation: messenger bags go nicely with cargo pants.
posted by yerfatma at 3:36 PM on November 26, 2005

Prada Sport slacks fit for any occasion.
posted by geoff. at 3:39 PM on November 26, 2005

Roger on the messenger bag, I have a small MEC bag that serves that purpose quite well.

Twill slacks is something I'm going to have to look into.
posted by tiamat at 4:23 PM on November 26, 2005

Like andrew cooke, my sensibilities are 'euro', meaning that I have no place for khaki.

Is there something more formal than jeans but more study than k[h]akis?

Yes. Bedford cord. Needlecord. Or moleskin. All three are good at bridging the formal-informal divide. (I point to Boden because they're the British equivalent of 'preppy'. They make fantastic, but pricy, trousers.)
posted by holgate at 4:54 PM on November 26, 2005

does "springfield" exist in the usa? holgate's post reminded me that i have a pair of cord-ish thousers from them (not really cord and it runs diagonally) that are like the winter equivalent of the pair i described earlier (which, actually, are also from springfield). anyway, if they do exist, and "euro" is ok, you might try seeing what they've (if you fly to europe much, they have a shop in madrid airport too...!)
posted by andrew cooke at 5:03 PM on November 26, 2005

I extremely recommend the Producer pants at Express Men. They're comfortable, and you can dress them up or down. The only drawback is that you have to shop at express men.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 5:07 PM on November 26, 2005

Bespoke
posted by caddis at 5:24 PM on November 26, 2005

I prefer Carharrt toolpants. They're the toughest pants I've ever owned and they get more comfortable every year. But, they're heavy and not suitable for white-collar work.

Dockers® Never-Iron Flat Front Pant are a pretty solid and inexpensive choice. Some of their pants have a snug cellphone/ipod pocket.

Perry Ellis makes something more stylish and a little more inexpensive:
">Perry Ellis Tonal Windowpane Flat-Front Pant I've had really good luck with their clothes. They tend to fit better.

I vote for "charcoal" as the all-around best color. Black shows too much crud.

Macy's is a good place for casual Menswear. They have a tremendous selection there is always a "men's sale." Nordstrom is too expensive, for my tastes, and Men's Wearhouse seems to cater to car salesmen.
posted by laptop_lizard at 7:41 PM on November 26, 2005

Carhardts. Great pants.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 8:51 PM on November 26, 2005

Dockers with the stretching waistband are very comfortable, and work very well in casual and formal situations. Tons of colors available.

Info at Amazon
posted by frankie_stubbs at 11:51 PM on November 26, 2005

Gap has a pair of stretch slacks that I can wear anywhere. They are gray with a heathery bluish tint so they almost have a blue jeans color. Easily worn like jeans with a t-shirt or like slacks with a shirt and tie. Definitely the most versatile pants I've ever had.
posted by 5bux at 2:15 AM on November 27, 2005

Oh, man. Carhartts. I think I may have worn a pair of the double-knee dungarees for six or seven hundred days straight. Until I could no longer fasten them to myself. Besides being indestructable and windproof, they're UNION MADE in greater metropolitan Detroit, or were last time I checked. How many pants are union-made these days?
However, they also weigh like ten pounds, you can't wear them to the office, and after the first few months look more suitable for protesting the WTO than for mixed company.
If you work in a trade/work outside/are shiftlessly unemployed, there's nothing better.
posted by pullayup at 7:19 PM on November 27, 2005

I mostly wear these. I have large, muscular thighs; and as such, I tend to rip the crotch out of most "normal" pants. Not so much with Dickies. They're comfy, and have deep pockets (and a cell phone pocket that holds my phone or iPod), and you can wear them to work or casually. Not so much with the color choices; but I have three pairs of the black and two pairs of the charcoal. I e-mailed them about adding a dark green choice, haven't heard back.
posted by weirdoactor at 1:21 PM on November 28, 2005