The Best Linen Pants for Men Make Shorts Look Goofy

Good-quality linen pants can run you a pretty penny. And when you’ll spend the next four months living in them, it makes sense to invest in a decent pair. But Gap’s relaxed pants remind us that there are always exceptions to the rule. The fabric is 53% linen and 47% cotton so you can get the benefits of both materials minus the excessive wrinkling. The silhouette is an easy, loose fit, and they come in a slew of classic colors as well, which is great news because right now, you can get two pairs for under $100.

Best Dressy Linen Pants: Todd Snyder Italian Linen Tab Chino

Materials: 100% linen | Fit: Straight | Waist: 28-38 Length: 32-34 | Colors: Black, Blue, Khaki, Olive, Light Brown

Todd Snyder’s pedigree for tailored clothing is so good that you’d have to really put some effort into making his impeccable trousers look bad. These impossibly elegant trousers pay homage to a classic full silhouette, with a crease to keep things extra clean. Pair these with your favorite button-up linen shirt to tap into your inner rakishly relaxed Italian guy or take things down a notch with a beat-up denim jacket and retro sneakers. But of course, these dressy slacks sync up well with its matching suit jacket, or could take to a contrasting blazer just as well. So whether you’re getting dressed for a regular ol’ Tuesday or polishing up for a spring wedding, consider yourself sorted.

Best Jeans-Like Linen Pants: Alex Crane Cham Pants

Materials: 100% European linen | Fit: Mid-rise, straight-leg | Sizes: 28-36 Length: 32-34 | Colors: Varies

If you identify as a jeans guy but can’t stand to wear your denim dungarees above 78 degrees, don’t worry. Alex Crane’s all about linen. Seriously, nearly every part of the brand’s catalog has linen in it so of course they’ve basically mastered the medium. The brand’s Cham pants feature jeans-style details like the hand pockets and metal top button but are made from a super soft, breezy 100% European linen. They’ve got a classic straight-leg silhouette that’ll sync up seamlessly with a pair of Vans or some classy loafers and they come in a gang of colorways and patterns, each of which use all-natural dyes.

Best Linen Pants for Vacation: CDLP Semi-Tailored Trousers

Materials: 58% Tencel Lyocell, 42% linen | Fit: Relaxed | Sizes: IT44-54 | Colors: Beige

Finally, pants that feel like pajamas but look a million ways away. CDLP’s pants would make anyone feel like royalty in their own home, which makes them the perfect pants for taking a “Me Day”. But when they look this good, why wouldn’t you show them off? The fabric blends linen with with a healthy helping of lyocell, a silk-alternative fiber that feels impossibly smooth with a gorgeous sheen. The result is a pant that you don’t really wear so much as luxuriate in. Even then, the crisp center crease gives it a dressed-up feel that totally disguises the fact that you stumbled out of bed.

More Linen Pants We Love

What We Looked For

If months of hardcore testing taught us anything, it’s that the best linen pants for men are still largely subjective. The GQ office is just as varied in body type, stylistic preference, and budget as the rest of the world; if you polled our colleagues, you’d be hard-pressed to land on a single winning pair in any category. By and large, though, we gauged the merits of each pant we tested across three key metrics: quality, fit, and price.