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Nov 22, 2023

The Best Sweatpants for Men Are the Furthest Thing From Sloppy

Remember when, during the groggy haze of lockdown, everyone suddenly started searching for the best sweatpants for men all at once? It must've been a strange sensation for the erstwhile lazy-day

Remember when, during the groggy haze of lockdown, everyone suddenly started searching for the best sweatpants for men all at once? It must've been a strange sensation for the erstwhile lazy-day staple; it wasn't that long ago that sweatpants were a punchline, the exclusive preserve of sleepy-eyed undergrads ambling into morning lecture or LA “fitness gurus” in too-big hats and too-small tees. Boy—*shakes fist at the wind*—how the times have changed. For close readers of the fashion zeitgeist, though, the writing had been plastered across the wall for ages.

The Best Sweatpants from the Sweats Specialists: Reigning Champ midweight terry relaxed sweatpant, $120

The Best Budget Sweatpants: Russell Athletic Cotton Rich 2.0 premium fleece sweatpants, $24

The Best Sweatpants for the Gym: Lululemon ABC jogger, $128

The Best Heavyweight Sweatpants: Camber Cross Knit sweatpants, $83

The Best Old-School Sweatpants: The Real McCoy's loopwheel sweatpants, $210

The Best Slim-But-Not-Skinny Sweatpants: Todd Snyder x Champion midweight slim jogger sweatpants, $118

The Best Sweatpants That Are More Like Pants Pants: Lady White Co. Band pant, $230

The Best Designer Sweatpants: John Elliott LA sweatpants, $198

Long before “corona" was anything other than a drink you enjoyed with lime, the sweatpant's stock was on the rise, buoyed by surging interest in streetwear and the mass casualization of office dress codes. The change didn't go unnoticed by the fashion industry, either—in just a few short years, you could find high-quality designer joggers in fancy boutiques in SoHo and on stage at Madison Square Garden. And then a global pandemic happened. We all hunkered down, abruptly realized that we needed new furniture, and that our daily uniforms would include a lot more fleece pants than we ever anticipated. Searching high and low for the best pair of sweatpants was no longer something you had to do in incognito mode.

Thankfully, we're well past the height of lockdown, but the idea of owning truly great sweatpants has stuck around for good. They’ve moved from loungewear to streetwear seamlessly, and with the right pair—i.e. sweatpants that are hyper-soft but still have some structure, that are tailored in a way that accentuates your legs instead of drowning them, with a decent number of pockets and a waistband that won’t stretch out—you’ll be able to cruise through the week, save for the occasional jaunt into the office, without ever changing your bottoms. If you’re looking to comfy up right, we did the hard work of lazing about in fleece and definitively determined the 35 best sweatpants for men—and everyone—in 2023.

Hold on a second, GQ, you might be thinking to yourself. What's the difference between sweatpants and joggers? Glad you asked! The main difference, dear reader, generally boils down to silhouette and fabric. Sweatpants are usually made of heavier-weight knit material like fleece or French terry, and tend to come in a baggy or relaxed fit. Warmer sweatpants will not only use thicker fleece, but will also have a brushed interior to add insulation and a soft hand. (We dig sweatpants made from 100% cotton, but a tiny bit of stretch will go a long way if comfort is a top priority.) Joggers, on the other hand, are more likely be made of thinner, lightweight materials with a slim fit and tapered leg. That said, many of today's sweatpants feature both a traditionally heavier fleece fabric with a tapered leg, making the distinction between the two increasingly hazy.

What should you look for when buying sweatpants? As with anything, really, it's important to consider the quality of the fabric, the construction involved, and, most importantly, your personal taste. Should sweatpants be slim or baggy? That's up to you, bud! Relaxed-fit sweatpants are certainly more classic, but some old-school sweats are designed without pockets—you might be wearing yours strictly for chilling, but having a pocket to hold your phone is probably a good idea. Regardless of how they fit, though, sweatpants are also distinguished by their elastic waistbands—and the best of the bunch should come with a drawstring, too. Eventually, the elasticity of the fabric inside the waistband will deteriorate and lose its stretch, so that drawstring will help extend the life of your sweats.

As a final rule of thumb, the more details a product's description has, the better. Luckily, every single one of the top-shelf sweats below comes with details in spades. So without further ado, let's get into straight into them.

$125.00, Reigning Champ

Materials: 100% cotton fleece Colors: Black, Green, Gray

The details help to separate Reigning Champ's sweats from the pack: reinforced seams, a subtle taper, and a wide waistband with a thick rope drawstring that sits right on your hips instead of below them. But it's the Canadian-made fleece itself—thick and tough on the outside, brushed and soft on the inside, with plenty of gorgeous texture—that really earns them a spot on this list.

$55.00, Amazon

$174.00, Sunspel

$110.00, Standard Issue

$88.00, Everybody.World

$30.00, Amazon

Materials: 66% Cotton, 34% Polyester Colors: Charcoal, Gray Black, Navy

At this stage, you might be thinking: OK, GQ, these fancy-pants sweats are all fine and dandy. But what about sweatpants for sweatpants' sake? The kind you spend next to nothing on, wear into the ground, and don't mind occasionally wiping off your Cheeto dust on? These are those sweats. Russell has been in the athleticwear game since the early 1900s, and its standard-fit, open-bottom sweatpants continue to deliver some of the absolute best value in the business. You won't find a better basic sweatpant for under $30.

$55.00, Gap

$60.00, Lands' End

$40.00, Uniqlo

$18.00, Amazon

$128.00, Lululemon

Materials: 100% recycled polyester, Colors: Varies

Lululemon's sweats ain't no slouch (though, they're clearly great for getting nothing done other than watching Netflix and consuming calories). They've got a healthy amount of four-way stretch for deep squats and advanced yoga poses, fast-drying, moisture-wicking properties to keep you cool through the most heart-pumping workouts, and a comfy and secure media pocket to keep your phone in place through every move.

$88.00, Outdoor Voices

$75.00, Nike

$98.00, Vuori

$78.00, Mack Weldon

$83.00, All Seasons Uniforms

Materials: 12oz. 90% cotton, 10% polyester, Colors: Black, Green, Gray

Camber's dedication to making the highest-quality, burliest hoodies and crewnecks thankfully extends to sweatpants, too. These are made from the same Cross Knit fabric that Camber uses for its legendary hoodies, so you can bet you'll be wearing 'em well into the next decade. But don't expect these to be baby-soft right out of the package: That burly reputation means it'll take several washes and wears to get them to Saturday lounge-ready.

$185.00, 3sixteen

$158.00, Noah

$220.00, Lady White Co.

$46.00, Bronson

$210.00, Standard & Strange

Materials: 10oz. 100% cotton loopwheel fleece Colors: Black, Navy, Gray

The truth is…they don't really make ‘em like they used to. That’s why vintage obsessives rove from estate sale to defunct general store to Goodwill and back again, in search of that decades-old piece of garment history. But thanks to a handful of even more obsessive artisanal brands, there are sweatpants on the market that look effectively identical to a deadstock pair of sweats from the mid-century. The foremost among the repro brands is The Real McCoy's, whose over-the-top meticulousness has earned them legions of fans in search of everything from WWII-era jeans to 1930s horsehide jackets. Their loopwheel sweatpants are knit on rare antique knitting machines which knit at a deliberately slow pace, using the natural force of gravity as the tension for the machine. The result is not only a sublime balance of density and softness, but a smooth, seamless outer leg, just like they used to make way back when.

$125.00, Ralph Lauren

$234.00,

$79.00, Good Wear

$200.00, SSENSE

$118.00, Todd Snyder

Materials: 18oz. 100% cotton French terry Colors: Varies

Todd Snyder's longstanding collaboration with Champion is responsible for our favorite crewneck sweatshirt, so it stands to reason that they also make a top-notch sweatpant. For once, an assumption won't make an ass out of you and me—but it will make your ass look mighty damn fine. (Sorry.) Because, of course, the Todd Snyder + Champion line's sweatpants are great, and for many of the same reasons as their upper body counterpart: the fit is tailored and on point, the details are handsome and vintage-inspired—plus the French terry fabric has just the right mix of structure and softness. If you're looking for a simple, classic pair of sweatpants executed flawlessly, these are the way to go.

$165.00, Mr Porter

$98.00, Buck Mason

$158.00, Outerknown

$120.00, Huckberry

$230.00, Mr Porter

Materials: High-gauge 2-ply 100% cotton grown in California Colors: Varies

Let's say you love the feel of sweatpants, but just can't bring yourself to wear them out in the open. where all the judgment can get you. There exists a kind of sweatpant for this exact debilitating conundrum, a pair of sweats that has one leg in the Lounge Land and the other in Upstanding Citizen-opolis. Manufacturers have gotten real good at making sweatpants that look a hell of a lot more like regular, everyday, out-of-the-house pants. And the best among them comes from Los Angeles-based brand Lady White Co., whose very particulary, very meticulous approach to clothes is focused solely on knitwear, specifically sweats and jersey. They aren't your average basement brand hawking screen-printed hoodies. From source to sewing, LWC's eagle-eyed design is so good, it's subconsciously obvious, though you may not be able to articulate exactly why.

$400.00, Nordstrom

$3250.00, Mr Porter

$280.00, Matches

$1550.00, Mr Porter

$198.00, John Elliott

Materials: 16oz. 100% cotton French terry Colors: Black, Green, Gray

When they launched in 2013, John Elliott's Escobar pants quickly came to define the athleisure movement, and paved the way for men getting away with wearing what was once workout gear in public without looking lazy. Times have…changed. Where the Escobar was aggressively tapered and overly engineered, the LA is cut roomy and relaxed, with an elastic cinch cord at the waist that doesn't bunch—giving the normally sloppy sweat a cleaner look. Crafted from a dense, proprietary French terry cotton, they'll actually get comfier the more you wear them, which is really saying something since they start out pretty darn cozy as it is.

$790.00, Mr Porter

$712.00, Matches

$1738.00, Matches

$90.00, SSENSE

Originally Appeared on GQ

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