My Favorite Comfortable Pants: Summer

If you absolutely loathe wearing shorts in the summer, summer pants are a MUST. However, for a long time I didn’t enjoy summer pants. I still found them really hot and somewhat suffocating. Turns out it’s because I just didn’t have good summer pants.

So, if you still haven’t loved wearing pants in the summer and need some good recommendations, these are my favorites. The first two are SO BREATHABLE that I barely wore shorts last year because I found these more comfortable!

(Not to mention that if you wear pants, your legs don’t sweat and stick to your car seats!)

All right, let’s get to them!

1. Old Navy Playa Pants
I LIVED in these pants last summer. Thanks to these, I barely wore shorts all season! Thankfully they’re back in stock! They are VERY comfortable and lightweight, and SUPER breathable. They also have elastic in the back of the waistband for extra comfort. They’re currently available in 3 colors and 2 prints. Old Navy has offered them in different colors throughout the various seasons, and sometimes even in the same season. They come in straight, petite, plus, and tall sizes HERE. I wear size S.

2. Simply Vera Pants
This is the other pair of pants I lived in last summer that kept me from wearing shorts. These pants are so, SO comfortable! They’re silky, smooth, very lightweight, very breathable and have a fully elastic waistband! They’re currently available in both colors and prints HERE.

Between these pants and the Old Navy pants (above) or H&M pants (below), these pants can be dressed up more easily as they have sheen that elevates them. You can definitely dress them down though, as you can see above that I only wore them in casual outfits.

3. H&M Soft Wide Leg
If the Old Navy pants above don’t work for you, Courtney on team PMT really likes these pants, as do other PMTers who’ve gotten them upon Courtney’s recommendation. She says they are lightweight, comfy, and breathable! 🙌 They are available in 3 colors and 3 prints, HERE!

My Favorite Comfortable Pants: Year-Round

These are my favorite comfortable pants for the rest of the year, too! These include athleisure, casual, and work options.

4. Old Navy Wide Leg
These pants are comfortable and affordable pants for athleisure! Smooth and stretchy. Available in straight, petite, plus, and tall sizing, HERE.

5. Quince Wide Leg
VERY stretchy, soft, and comfortable, but totally polished for work. You can dress these pants down, too. For those of you who remember my Lauren Conrad pants from Kohl’s, these feel the same. You can dress them down with a T-shirt and lifestyle sneakers. They do run short, with the longest inseam at just 27”, which does look too short on me. (I’m 5’6” and for an ankle length pant, my ideal inseam is between 27.5-28”. This half inch does make a huge difference in these looking way too short.) Find them HERE.

6. Spanx Pants
I haven’t tried these pants, but they’re very popular and customers RAVE about them. From what I know of Spanx, I totally believe they’d be comfortable! Check them out HERE.

7. Liverpool Kelsey Pants
Of course we MUST talk about Liverpool Kelsey pants, which have been PMT readers’ holy grail of ridiculously comfortable pants for work for a VERY LONG time. They are super duper comfortable and soooo stretchy and smooth!

The classic cut was the most popular for a while, but there is now a flare cut and a wide leg version that should feel equally as heavenly! I wear size 4 in the classic cut. I haven’t tried the flare or wide leg cuts, but for what it’s worth I am often size 6 in Liverpool’s other pants, though those aren’t as stretchy as the ones from the Kelsey line!

My Favorite Comfortable Jeans

I recently wrote a post with my favorite stretchy wide leg jeans, but for the sake of my favorite comfortable pants being in the same place as my favorite comfortable jeans, I’ll quickly list them here as well. Additionally, a couple of people have asked about recommendations for straight leg jeans, so I’m sharing those, too.

8. Wit & Wisdom Wide Leg
SO COMFORTABLE! Not only are these stretchy wide leg jeans, these jeans are really SOFT and lightweight. Plus, they have an elastic strip in the waistband for a stretchy waistband that gives you ultimate comfort. I would honestly rather be in these than in athleisure bottoms because I feel way more stylish in them, and they’re just that comfortable. Find them HERE.

9. KUT Wide Leg Jeans
These jeans are also SOOOOO GOOD and SO COMFORTABLE! These feel BUTTERY soft! Fairly thick. And the waistband is very stretchy for comfortable all-day wear. Check them out HERE.

These jeans do have a slightly lower rise than the Wit & Wisdom Sky-Rise. They are also thicker than the Wit & Wisdom pair above. So, whereas the Wit & Wisdom pair is so thin that it can appear thin, this KUT From the Kloth pair is thick enough that it maintains the straight leg line better.

10. Draper James Wide Leg
These wide legs are thicker than the Wit & Wisdom jeans I own and hold their structure much better. That means the line of the leg will look more tailored and polished, which I love. These are also definitely ankle length, whereas the other two are closer to full length. They’re available in 3 colors HERE.

11. Quince Straight Leg Jeans
Now, these jeans aren’t anywhere close to feeling like butter like some of the wide leg jeans I mentioned above. I find you need more structure in straight leg jeans, or they will look wonky. This pair is comfortable but sturdy, with the right amount of stretch. They’re available in a medium wash and a dark wash in straight and plus sizing, and in 26”, 28”, or 30” inseams, HERE. I wear size 28.

You can see 14 ways I styled the medium wash straight leg jeans HERE.

12. J.Crew Factory Stovepipe Jeans
This is another pair of straight leg jeans that has the right combo of stretchy but sturdy. These jeans are veryyyyy stretchy. They’re available in 2 washes and in straight, petite, plus, and tall sizing HERE. I sized down to 27 in these as they run quite large.

These are my highlights for comfortable pants and jeans, but there are plenty more out there! I’ve rounded up a few of them, but there are seriously tons these days!

If you’re ever looking for more styles for any cut and don’t know where to start, I always check Wit & Wisdom at Nordstrom first. It’s still my favorite brand for comfortable pants and jeans, usually guaranteed to be very comfortable. Plus, they have the stretchy elastic waistband!

Style Help for Pants and Jeans

Want help making these comfortable pants and jeans look good? Here are some popular blog posts full of my best tips:

1. How to Pair Shoes With Different Cuts of Jeans
2. How to Look Good in Wide Leg Jeans
3. Which Shoes to Wear With Wide Leg Jeans

Shop More Comfortable Pants and Jeans