The 12 best men's dress pants for work, weddings, and weekends

If you need multiple dress pants styles in any given week, it's best to shop a brand you can trust. A brand like Bonobos offers an almost dizzying array of options for the sharp-dressed man, including five fits (like Tailored and Athletic), waist sizes up to 54, and crisp colors like Charcoal and even a Light Navy Slub. And while the wool can sometimes feel stuffy, this fabric is light enough to be worn in all four seasons without overheating — taken all together, and they're the best overall dress pants we've found. Now through Cyber Monday, November 27, you can save up 30% sitewide at Bonobos. 

Read more in our full Bonobos chinos review here.

Don't overlook the best chinos for men when building out your rotation of dress pants. Uniqlo's version boasts side seam detailing, just like classic dress pants, plus a comfortable yet relatively tailored slim-straight cut. An array of timeless color options provides options for every day of the week, and that price tag makes it easy to buy multiple pairs at once. 

Dress pants remained essentially unchanged for years, often made of classic wool, until  Ministry of Supply came along and changed the game. They've quite literally engineered a new way to think about dress pants, using wrinkle-resistant, 4-way stretch fabric boasting next-level features like natural odor control. Yet, they still feature timeless dress pant details like front slash pockets and two clean, sharp fit options. They should prove comfortable enough for all-day wear and even business travel.

Read more about Ministry of Supply in our review of the best work clothes for men,

Some dress pants separate themselves from the pack with a super-crisp design — in fact, it's hard not to love sharp, dressy, creased-front pants. The BOSS brand and its subsets, like the Genius line, specialize in these. Wool fabric is elevated even further with a comfortable stretch, turning these into comfortable pants fit for day-to-night wear. 

Is it possible for a pair of the best dress pants to actually be, well — more casual? In the hands of Mugsy, the answer is a resounding yes. The brand's thin wale stretch corduroy boasts the eye-catching texture of corduroy, but the lightweight stretch fabric makes them a reliable option for chilly fall and winter days, too. Plus, the five-pocket design and washed-out colorway are both slightly more laidback if you prefer a pair of dress pants with a (slightly) more easygoing look.

Shopping for a new pair of dress pants is an opportunity to think outside your usual dressing habits. In the case of Swet Tailor, that means using an absurdly stretchy yet durable fabric blend of nylon and spandex, the kind you'd more commonly find on the links during a round of golf. But with a slim-straight cut and a tapered finish at the ankle, these are dressy enough to pull double-duty at the office, while a handy zipper pocket is ideal for your EDC on the road. 

Squeezing into suit pants or finding dress pants that fit was once a chore for guys with larger thighs and a more athletic build. And yet, State and Liberty was founded with a laser-sharp focus on solving that problem, from blazers to dress shirts and these expertly cut dress pants. The performance blend fabric moves with you and offers a tapered fit with plenty of room (but not too much), while these can easily be matched with a State and Liberty blazer for a cool, tailored look.

Wearing even the best dress pants can sometimes feel cumbersome in extreme heat, but Mizzen + Main seems to have the proper response figured out. The answer? Develop a four-way stretch blend of polyester and spandex that feels light as air and breathes easy, all the while retaining the polish of a five-pocket chino. They're also designed to resist wrinkles, and there are color options in classic colors like a cool Charcoal grey.

For as much as it provides warmth, wool can sometimes be famously uncomfortable. Huckberry's in-house brand Wills takes on that issue in a satisfying fashion, using a brushed Japanese wool-blend fabric for extreme softness. For added shape, these pants are lined through the knee and boast distinctive chambray pocketing. You can even pair them with a blazer in a matching color for a seriously cool, complete suit.

Some style scenarios call for dress pants with a touch more performance than average, and that's where KUHL comes onto the scene. For visiting job sites and stepping out of your office (or for heading from downtown to the trail to the pub), opt for a flexible pair of poly-blend pants with a comfortable elastic waistband. They're also built with UPF 50+ sun protection, and they feature a timeless straight-leg fit.

Y.Chroma Apparel is all about reimagining what you thought you knew about menswear. The brand is bold and vibrant, taking cues from surf and skate culture yet putting a refined spin on those typically youthful pursuits. That approach manifests itself in the visually appealing Skyline Pants, which are classic enough to wear with chunky leather loafers and edgy enough to wear with beat-up dress boots. They're stitched in Bulgaria from a blend of cotton and Italian elastane, and Y.Chroma's color selection is simply immaculate. 

You've got the world of premium tailored style at your fingertips, so to speak, with customizable options from Indochino. It's easier and more efficient than ever to add a little flair to your rotation of the best dress pants for men, with customizable fabric and lining options available. And seeing as these pants already come in Indochino's excellent cashmere blend, you're already starting at a proper jumping-off point.

Read our full Indochino chinos review.