Looking for lightweight mens dress/casual chino/cotton pants that fit.

June 11, 2021 10:09 AM

Having trouble finding pants that fit: Tall, no slim/skinny fit, lightweight cotton, neat but not formal, and also not gratuitously rugged.

For comparison, I have a bunch of BR Gavin (quality leaves a lot to be desired) and J Crew 1040 Athletic fit (which were much better, but getting old and this fit has changed). Size 34W36L, though sometimes 34L has been ok. Those two are fine as far as fit goes. I particularly like the JCrew pants I have (lightweight or summerweight chinos or so) because they are very smooth and look/feel a bit like synthetic hot weather pants, they are not at all thick and not at all fuzzy. They have some stretch molecules :) in there, that might be relevant.

Finally, I'm in Europe, which makes it harder to get some brands or to get them in tall sizes (I find almost everything in stores here too small/slim in the waist/hips/thighs or otherwise really poorly styled, usually both).

All that I have found that I might order is from Lands End (Knockabout unhemmed), though I haven't had good experience with LE in the past, and one of Amazon's house brands, which I hope to avoid for the obvious reasons, and also b/c it is a 34L.

Hoping for specific recommendations.

Thanks!

posted by melamakarona to Shopping (12 answers total)

Hey! I'm in the USA, but as a tall boy, I can't get enough of H&M. They have weird naming conventions, but a lot of their straight leg jeans are exactly what you want. All H&M is designed for tall skinny people, and it's so cheap! I highly recommend giving them a try. I ordered 8 pairs a few months ago in different sizes and they were pretty true to size. (But also I realized I don't wear jeans because of wfh so now idk what to do with my 5 new pairs of jeans...)

Oh, you said Chinos. I don't buy Chinos. but I guess Id still try H&M first for them.
posted by bbqturtle at 10:11 AM on June 11, 2021

Banana Republic has mostly been it for me, so you may have a problem if you've found their quality lacking. Eddie Bauer used to be a goto brand because they carry a lot of tall sizes, but I haven't tried any pants from them lately so I can't recommend them. I gave up on Lands End because their styles didn't work for me, but they are at least good about size ranges.

Good news: almost everything you'll find nowadays will have lycra or polyurethane for stretch and recovery, so if you like that you'll be well served. Bad news: high water pants are currently trendy for some mystifying reason, and as a person who lived through years of growing too fast for my parents to keep me in pants that fit, I refuse to let my ankles hang out. Sorry, Uniqlo.

If you can stomach the price, Lululemon has several chino-looking things in technical fabrics. For actual technical pants I prefer the ones I've bought from Prana (which I bought again after losing weight), but they may not look too technical for what you want.
posted by fedward at 11:10 AM on June 11, 2021

@bbqturtle - I took your advice about H&M, but I can't seem to find a darned thing with a 36" inseam. Is there a trick or am I just a bit too tall?
posted by wotsac at 11:36 AM on June 11, 2021

I run extremely hot, and consequently I usually wear the lightest clothing I can find, even in winter. My favorite chinos are from Old Navy. They’re nice enough that, if I still had an office, I could wear them with a button-down shirt, but not so formal that I can’t wear them with t-shirts. If you’re concerned about BR quality, Old Navy might not be what you’re looking for, and I don’t know if they’re available in Europe, but they work well for me.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:05 PM on June 11, 2021

Have you tried Dockers (if they're available in Europe)? I have no personal experience with them but my brother used to be a 30x36 in jeans, and the 34" inseam fit him in Dockers. I just peeped their website and it looks like they have 34x36 chinos available. Not sure of the quality.
posted by jabes at 12:20 PM on June 11, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks for these suggestions. To clarify, I probably shouldn't have said Chino, which seems to be (usually) thicker that what I am after. I really want something lightweight, crisp even, for the summer. Thanks!
posted by melamakarona at 12:43 PM on June 11, 2021

Response by poster: And: Gap/Br/Jcrew are available here, but they have fewer tall sizes here. Old navy / Jcrew factory are not, afaik. hesitant about hm given that my kids hm clothes get worn out real fast, but will give it a try (thanks!). dockers available here (weirdly expensive) but i don't see anything (on the eu site) that is lightweight.
posted by melamakarona at 12:53 PM on June 11, 2021

I found these on the Dockers Germany site, 360 Lite, not sure if any of those look decent (but yeah, expensive... the US site has a 40% offer or something going).
posted by jabes at 1:35 PM on June 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Boden might also be worth a look but they're expensive as well...
posted by jabes at 1:38 PM on June 11, 2021

Response by poster: jabes> thank you, not sure why i didn't see those!
posted by melamakarona at 1:44 PM on June 11, 2021

Asos is often dodgy quality fast fashion but they ship to many places and with sales/clearance can be relatively inexpensive.
/r/tallfashionadvice might be helpful.
posted by enfa at 2:08 PM on June 11, 2021

Response by poster: If anyone is still there, I think this is the very same fabric that I have and like, but in a different cut: https://www.jcrew.com/de/p/mens_category/pants/slim/484-slimfit-lightweight-garmentdyed-stretch-chino/G1186
Don't know if the photos are enough to tell what it is like, but definitely much lighter than most pants especially chinos.
posted by melamakarona at 11:48 AM on June 12, 2021