Hail, the rare budget pick with even greater designer chops! Given how straight-up sculptural the trousers from the French folks at Lemaire are, is it any wonder that these pants from the Lemaire designers’ ongoing collaboration with Uniqlo, Uniqlo U, are truly peerless? Inspired by climbing pants, designers Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran added a built-in belt with an easy adjustment system to the waistband of these charmingly wide cords, which have equally wide wales that hold their shape beautifully through the leg.
Best Corduroy Pants to Replace Your Jeans: Levi’s 568 Carpenter Corduroy Pants
Material: 100% cotton | Fit: Relaxed through the leg, with a tapered leg | Color: Black Coffee (brown), Python Green
Levi’s: synonymous with jeans, but also pretty good at everything else. For proof, peep the cut and colors of its corduroy carpenter pants. The 568 fit is, in the Levi’s vernacular, “loose, straight.” I’ve worn it, and can confirm it’s roomy through the leg, then slightly a bit more tailored from the calf down to your toes. It comes in both a shimmering emerald green and this somewhat mysterious purple-ish, brown-y, almost black, and both pairs could easily sub in for your favorite pair of Levi’s or other denim. One small qualm: I’m not certain these trousers can actually be considered “carpenter” pants. Dude, where’s my hammer loop?
Best Corduroy Pants for the Office: Todd Snyder Wide Wale Corduroy Gramercy Trousers
Material: 100% cotton | Fit: Straight fit | Color: Graystone, Desert Beige, Pumice
If there’s any potential knock against corduroy, it’s that the fabric can read a bit casual. And sure, in some highly formal settings, the average pair of corduroy pants might make you feel like a schoolboy in a room of Miss Trunchbulls. Not these Todd Snyder pants though, mainly thanks to their incredibly elegant sheen. It’s the type of detail that is the bread and butter of TS’s product line, which basically gives all the world’s most popular clothes touches (both visible and invisible) that help them read as more formal than ever, while feeling more comfortable than ever, too. These cords, for example, have a bit of elastic in the sides of the waist that puts them almost on a level with sweatpants.
Best Corduroy Pants for Fashion Guys: Eckhaus Latta Pleated Corduroy Pants
Material: 100% Viscose Fit: Relaxed | Color: Reishi, Obsidian
