17 Best Work Pants for Men 2023: Hard-Wearing Trousers for the Daily Grind

In 2023, the best work pants for men are ready to put in long hours of service in the name of your fits. Heavy-duty pants have been cutting their teeth on tough conditions for over a century, and are still going strong as the de facto choice among fellas whose gigs require them to get down and dirty, day in and day out. But even if your tool belt is more of a laptop bag situation, a pair of reinforced, beefed-up trousers are a reliable option that’ll add some authentic workwear flavor to your get-ups.


The Best Work Pants Shopping Guide


Hop online after a long day on the grind and you’ll find that there’s a wide selection of reinforced knee, hammer loop-adorned trousers to choose from, while a quick scroll through the algorithm will make it clear that these pants—particularly beat-to-oblivion vintage versions—have become a status symbol among the matcha-sipping, tote bag-hauling masses.

For one, the extra pockets are nice when you need to haul around a phone charger or a pair of sunglasses. Their classic, relaxed fit is also right on-trend in the baggy pants era, which means they’re ready for some steel-toe boots, or as a tasteful counterpart to lug-sole loafers and chunky, retro-inflected sneakers. Most crucially, though, their inherent toughness means you’ve don’t have to baby ’em. They’re designed to get roughed-up, stained, splattered, and scuffed, and only look better the more you lean into their un-precious pedigree.

Work pants are still made in affordable, mass-market batches by big hitters like Carhartt and Dickies, but the genre also represents a blank canvas for some of the most artful designers in the game, who have only one real job in mind: helping you looking cool. No matter where, how, or when you clock in, the 17 pairs below—the very best work pants for men on the market—will help you it right.

The Best Ridiculously Tough, Ridiculously Cheap Work Pants

Dickies’ work pants are a lot more subtle in presentation, but that makes them even more reliable as some trousers you can wear day in and day out. Treat ’em like a particularly sturdy pair of chinos and wear them alongside campus-ready classics (oxford shirts, oversized sport coats, fancy two-tone loafers), or lean into their workwear roots with a beat-to-death denim jacket and boots. The best part? At under $50 a pop, you can afford to pick up a few different colors and never give any of ’em special treatment. Should you need an impromptu hem, skip the tailor and grab some scissors.

The Best Old-Meets-New Work Pants

Carhartt WIP

“Nash” Straight Leg Paneled Cotton-Canvas Trousers

Just like their world-famous work jackets, Carhartt’s double-knee pants are the signature version of the style that over the last few years has made the crossover from jobsite staple to moodboard must-have. Whether you wear ’em with their natural pairing in steel toe boots or juxtapose them against today’s dainty trainers, their industrial-strength canvas fabric and reinforced leg paneling are what have allowed vintage pairs to remain in circulation for decades at a time. Which, as it turns out, ensures a brand new pair is something you can wear with reckless abandon for years to come.

The Best Work Pants for Guys On the Move

Lululemon

Utilitech Carpenter Pants

If your modern day work schedule involves banging on emails more than hammers, then a work pant that’s a little more “light duty” is really all you need. Lululemon’s version has some of the hallmarks of the OGs—reinforced knees, pockets galore, etc—but is done up in the Vancouver-based athleisure giant’s signature Utilitech fabric to prioritize business casual-ready comfort. They’ve also got a sneaky drawstring closure to help handle the grind of, y’know, sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.

The Best Work Pants for Artful Denimheads

The only fabric that can hold a hammer to canvas’ workwear bona fides is denim, so it’s only right that one of the best pairs of work pants come dune up in indigo-dyed goodness. Stan Ray has been churning out these relaxed fit, belt-loop-adorned painter’s pants since the ’70s, and they’ve remained basically unchanged since they first popped up on Lynyrd Skynyrd-sountracked construction sites. They also come in raw denim if you want to earn your fades the hard way, but this mid-wash is ready right off the rack while you stroll down the street bopping to the new Drake.

The Best Werk Pants

Givenchy’s runway-ready work pants are still made of some serious sturdy stuff—said stuff just happens to be ultra-luxe leather instead of the typical canvas. If your idea of “underground” is more of a nightclub descriptor than a job location, these are for you. Ultimately, we can’t in good faith endorse intentionally thrashing a pair of trousers that cost more than a fully-loaded MacBook Pro, but leather pants will only get better with time should you need to justify this big ticket purchase as an “investment piece.”


Plus 13 More Work Pants We Love

Kapital

These double-knee joints play up their reinforced details via contrast stitching that emphasizes their heavy-duty bona fides. A cosign from the Japanese repro wizards at Kapital is just a perk.

TOMBOGO

Khaki Convertible Double Knee Trousers

Apologies in advance to the trinkets you lose to these pockets, but it’s worth it for the vibe alone.

Gramicci

Waffle Cord Double Knee Climber Pants

When after-hours life takes you off the grid, reach for these trail-ready pants courtesy of the mountaineering gurus at Gramicci.

Miles Leon

Work Straight Leg Cotton Twill Trousers

Clean, office-ready work pants you can rock with your freshest button-ups from Monday to Friday—and all weekend long when you clock out.

Pleasures

Washy Double Knee Work Pants

Bringing new meaning to the term “work trip.”

Todd Snyder

Todd Snyder’s riff plays up corduroy’s workwear origins while honoring the fabric’s Ivy League pedigree.

Tres Bien

Everywear Twisted 5-pocket Work Pants

Most work pants are done up in serious business colors like brown, black, and navy blue. Instead, Tres Bien’s purple 5-pocket style are here to show you that gearing up for the grind doesn’t have to be drab.

Ralph Lauren

Distressed Corduroy Field Pants

Ralph Lauren put in serious work to make these corduroy beauties look like they were really put through the wringer, and the results are definitely worth promoting.

Lemaire

Garment Dyed Cotton Canvas Trousers

Minimalist master Christophe Lemaire gives these pants a hyper-clean look you can easily dress up with a shirt and tie.

Royce Hill

At first glance, Brooklyn brand Royce Hill’s work pants skew pretty classic, but take a closer look and that subtle geometric pattern is designed to appeal to folks who sweat the details.

Randy’s Garments

Utility Straight Leg Cotton-Twill Trousers

Randy’s Garments’ formula for premium workwear is simple yet effective: start with a classic silhouette (in this case, hefty twill work pants), make it in New York City out of premium materials, and cut it in a spot-on fit that’ll never go out of style.

Alex Mill

A pair of crisp white painter pants are a choose-your-own-adventure trouser proposition. You can keep them pristine and wear them with button-ups to the office, or embrace their roots by wearing them ’round the clock, knowing their splattered fate will only make ’em look cooler.

Universal Works

Universal Works’ take on the style features true-to-form contrast stitching, but more importantly, as thier name implies, a forgiving fit everyone can love.

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