The Best Corduroy Pants, According to People Whose Taste We Trust

Emma Chozick, founder of the creative consultancy Gr8 Collab, goes to Muji on missions (“typically it’s a new pen or a pair of socks”). But on the day she was there for bathroom-cabinet organizers — only to realize she was “completely unconfident” in her measurements — she went over to the women’s clothing section, “determined not to leave empty-handed.” A few minutes after perusing a rack of the kapok-blend corduroy wide pants, she was in a fitting room “with a mountain of them to try on.” She sized up so she could wear them lower on her hips and for extra length (she’s five-seven, for reference) and bought them in ivory. Then, after wearing them nearly every day, she returned the following week for the dark brown (they’re also available in black). That was back in mid-November. “I will say, they lost a bit of their softness after the first wash, even on delicate and hanging to dry, but I think that speaks a bit to the price and/or maybe my washing machine,” notes Chozick.

“What makes Lands’ End so good? The quality. That’s obvious,” writes our contributor Erika Veurink, adding that “it feels cool to wear something that’s impossible to identify.” The high-rise wide-leg corduroy pants are exactly that — and might be mistaken for vintage. They have just the right amount of stretch (there’s 2 percent spandex to 98 percent cotton in the fabric composition), and “the zipper, in place of a button fly, makes the pants easy to wear,” Veurink points out. They’re also one of the only pairs on this list that come in extended lengths (the “petite” inseam measures 29.5 inches, while “tall” is 34 inches, compared to the “regular” 32 inches) and plus sizes 16 to 26.

A pile “that was literally sprinkled with pistachio shells at a thrift store in Meeteetse, Wyoming,” is where editor Mallory Rice happened upon Gap corduroys that were “clearly from the ’90s.” Thankfully, you don’t have to go through that for yours. Gap has a run of corduroys based on its ’90s styles, in both low-rise and high-rise fits, which Rice says are a lot like her vintage ones. This new version is “a little bit slimmer than the original,” so she might size up when her pair “inevitably needs to be replaced.”

I can’t stop wearing this pair of corduroys from Banana Republic’s outlet store this winter. I wear them even more than another pair of corduroys I got from Banana Republic last winter. Admittedly, I can be slightly picky whether or not something’s hugging or plain tight, but they’re just right — a small feat in itself as I’m wide-hipped and short-legged.

Zoë Sessums, writer of the newsletter Archive of Everything, was “popping into J.Crews around the city for a period of time” while dating a man who shopped at the mall brand quite a bit. There, Sessums found corduroys she’s had for over eight years now. (In that time, she’s worn them through her first trip to Montreal — “looking somewhere between 1970s art director and beatnik” with a black turtleneck — and “several years of Maine springs, autumns, and winters.”) While her exact pair isn’t available, this similar pair is. “They have that slightly ’70s silhouette, and the amber hue makes them that much more vintage-inspired,” she says.

J.Crew’s Relaxed pant has gotten Oset Babür-Winter, founder of Prix Fixe, through the winter after having her baby. “They really helped me when I hit a wall with leggings and sweatpants,” she says. They run a bit big, so she sized down — J.Crew’s design team itself recommends sizing down if you’re between sizes — and their main appeal is the fabric. “The weave is so soft, and I would guess they’ll only get softer over time,” she says.

Raleigh Norris, a marketing consultant and the writer of The Second Hand newsletter, wears Levi’s Baggy Dad at least once every week from September until May. In the fall and spring, she’ll wear them with vintage graphic tees and button-downs; this winter, it’s chunky sweaters and a fur coat. A man at Whole Foods once stopped her to say she had “interesting, New England style” when she had them on with a mohair blazer and turtleneck. (“As a Massachusetts girl, that meant a lot,” Norris says.) She was even wearing them the day of her engagement on New Year’s Eve in Fort Greene Park last year. “It was so cold out. It was the holidays, and I wanted to be comfortable on a morning-coffee walk with my now fiancé,” she says. “I’m glad I chose them over sweatpants.” They can get a little loose at the waist after a few wears (they’re going on two years now), but that happens with Levi’s, she mentions.

It’s design consultant Merie Subryan’s husband who’s a “true corduroy evangelist.” He’ll wear them with everything, and “seeing how hard-wearing and versatile they are made me realize my closet was missing that kind of pant,” she says. Subryan doesn’t have to be precious about these, either. “They’ve survived coffee spills, which feels like the real test, and come out of the wash looking brand new,” she says. “They do exactly what I want them to do.” Being wider through the leg (while fitting her perfectly at the waist), they’re “genuinely comfortable,” too. “As a millennial who lived in skinny jeans for the majority of my 20s, these feel perfect for my life now,” she adds.

Tanya Bush, a writer, baker, and Cake Zine co-editor, wears Meals’ Chef pant in the kitchen often. She had wanted a pant that was “easy to foist on my body at 5:45 a.m. without hating myself,” and that she could leave a restaurant shift in without feeling as if she was still dressed for work. (“I am not interested in low rises, buttons, zippers, or pants that require emotional fortitude before the sun comes up.”) Miraculously, “they’ve survived a truly impressive number of kitchen mishaps,” like having flour all over her. (And “they’ve got tons of pockets for losing my Sharpies in,” she says.) In the winter, she wears them with Uniqlo Heattech; in the summer, Hanes boys’ white tanks. “Always with a bandanna, and almost always with clogs or Crocs,” she adds. Her only complaint is that the crotch is a bit lower than she’d like, but “it’s a small price to pay for comfort.”

You can’t miss Alex Mill’s Camden pant on Instagram. But especially in pink. Earl Earl’s Laurel Pantin imagines having them on with a bright orange sweater from Babaà. “I’m big on wearing color with color,” she says. Creative brand consultant Anny Choi first noticed the pair on stylist Madeline Swanson. She likes to think of the pants as a “pick-me-up during your midweek slump.” And while the Dusty Rose color is now sold out, the Camden pants in Burgundy at Shopbop are a close alternative, and there’s Ecru at Bloomingdale’s — should you prefer a neutral.

It was in late 2024 that content creator Victoria Filippini got Toast’s Organic Cord pleat-front pants (hers come in a now sold-out color — Midnight, Slate, and Olive are what’s currently available — but they’re the exact same style otherwise). “They just felt like something I’d get a lot of use out of” — and she was right. Between the months of October and March, she wears them about three or four times a week. But the most she’s put them through was in the Scottish Highlands, which involved exploring the grounds of a cottage she was staying at. “It was super-wet being that it was November, and it was quite a grassy and shrubby landscape,” she explains. “They kept me nice and cozy in the cold.” These do run slightly bigger than her other Toast pants. But “they are truly the softest, comfiest pants I own that aren’t pajamas or sweatpants,” she says.

“I find no one does the comfy yet polished thing better than Leset,” says Babür-Winter. In fact, she has four pairs of Leset pants (including the Yoko, which are “100 percent worth the price tag in a way other pants at this price point aren’t”), and her newest are the Sam. They “successfully channel the Yoko’s casual, polished vibe for wintertime.” (“I obviously love the elastic, high-rise waist, but less obviously, I appreciate that they’re not wide-legged, so I find the hem still drapes nicely with bulkier boots in the wintertime, which isn’t always the case,” she says.) The blend of 98 percent cotton and 2 percent elastane is “the softest material imaginable.” In the shade of Dark Spruce, as the brand calls the green seen here, they’re “so different from the other brown or black or gray cords I tend to gravitate toward,” she adds.

Jeanerica comes from the former head of denim at Acne Studios. Sofia Corbo, the community manager at Jenny Bird (and Sofissimi on Substack), is loyal to its Kyoto style. Size-wise, they run a little bit big: “I go for a 26 (I can range from a 26 to 28 depending on the fit between brands),” she says. And while Corbo, a self-proclaimed “shorty,” wishes Jeanerica offered the pants in more length options — they’re available in 30-, 32-, and 34-inch inseams — she hasn’t minded getting them hemmed. “As someone on the petite side — I’m five-two — who has hips, when you find a holy-grail fit like this, you run with it,” she says, adding that the low-waisted, wide-legged silhouette works on “anyone short torso’d who detests a high waist.”

[Editor’s note: The pants are currently sold out, but you can sign up to receive an email when your size comes back in stock.]