The 8 Best Linen Pants for Men This Summer, Tested by Style Editors

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SUMMER IS USUALLY when we say cheerio to stuffy pants in our closet, but the magic of slacks isn’t entirely eclipsed by shorts just because the days are warmer, all thanks to a particular reigning summer style essential: linen pants for men.

Made of undoubtedly the VIP of summer fabrics, linen pants are lightweight and breathable due to the material's low thread count, as well as soft on the skin and serious about looking laid-back. These summer pants provide a breath of fresh air—quite literally—to your legs and wardrobe, keeping you cool in the scorching sun while allowing you to exude an unparalleled panache of nonchalant sophistication.

Best Linen Pants for Men

Really, who needs sweat shorts when you can be the lord of linen? The breezy charm of linen pants will make you feel like strolling through a tropical bliss this summer, whether you're at a beach wedding, casual soirée, rooftop party, or just heading out for whatever. Below, we’ve tested dozens of linen pants for men to bring you the crème de la crème. From casual drawstring options to tailored chino-lookalikes, these 15 best linen pants for men will let your legs breathe, and your summer style soar.

What to Consider

Material

Linen has pros and cons, so to balance out some of the undesirable features (like wrinkling, easy ripping, and ), the breezy textile is often blended with sturdier and stretchier fabrics. However, blends do detract from the key draw of linen pants: being lightweight and super breathable. That is why you should know which blends are best for certain uses, and when it is best to go pure.

• Cotton: Resists rumpling and wrinkling, holds an ironed look better. Increases weight and decreases breathability.

• Polyester, Rayon, and Viscose: Linen is expensive to manufacture, so blending these artificial fabrics makes the material more affordable without increasing weight. However, the blends can lead to more pilling and break down of the fabric over time.

• 100% Linen: The soft feel, feathery weight, and cool comfort are all maxed out. It is also important to keep in mind that not all linens are created equal. Just as with pricier cottons and wools, linen that comes from a better source, are milled at a higher proficiency, and assembled more carefully are more expensive, but look better and feel better.

Waistband

More often than not, linen pants have an elastic waistband with either a drawstring or a button closure. Drawstring linen pants are often more casual and paired with a low-rise waist; on the other hand, buttoned-closure linen pants are your office-friendly slacks for dressing up since they often look more elevated than the drawstring ones

Occasion

Thanks to the lightweight, breathable nature of linen, linen pants are foolproof for hot weather outfits in summer, or warmer days in the spring and fall. In addition, if you're attending a rooftop party, casual event, beach wedding, summer wedding, or going on vacation in the summer, linen pants are an excellent wardrobe sidekick. Lastly, while you can technically wear linen pants to the office, a pair with a high-rise waist and a button waistband (instead of a drawstring) is preferable.

How We Selected

To find the best linen pants for summer, our editors and writers have personally tried on a variety of lightweight, breathable linen slacks and put them to the test on different occasions, such as vacation and weekend outings, commuting and at the office, or to lounge about at home and run errands.

From there, our testing editors evaluated these linen pants by their price, performance (breathability, stretch, weight, and any anti-sweat and anti-odor qualities), style, and versatility to narrow down our selection to these 15 best linen pants for men. Specifically, we're looking for styles that are not trendy or trend-chasing (so no baggy fits or holes here and there); instead, our picks of the best linen pants all fit great even on buff guys, provide a ton of value at reasonable price points, and come in designs that will look great years from now.

Italian Linen Beach Pant

The Beach Pant topped the list because, out of all the options I tested, it looked and performed great under the most circumstances. From a day trip to the beach that turned into a long dinner with friends, to a “cocktail attire” wedding topped off with a blazer and open collar dress shirt, this tropical weight trouser killed it. Best of all, it makes a great every-day option because it is so easy to match.

As it turns out, the secret to this linen pant is in the fabric, which Todd Snyder picked from a renowned Italian mill that has been around since 1895. Compared to the other drawstring waisted pants I tested, it looks more like suiting slacks than pajamas. On the flip side, the elastic waistband makes it feel more like pajamas, so you get the best of both worlds. It took way longer to rumple than most other linen garments I’ve worn, and even held up to multiple wears between washes. That’s especially useful, because excessive laundering can deteriorate pure linen over time.

Read More: Best Linen Suits

Drawstring Linen Pants

Most linen pants on Amazon are unfortunately a horror of tearing after a few wears, looking like pajamas, inseam too long, or fabric too wrinkly. So I was glad to discover Sailwind's elevated performance take that is also durable and everyday-friendly.

These drawstring linen pants come with a straight fit to be easily worn under a button-down shirt like suit trousers. They're made mostly of linen, alongside rayon and viscose which I've tested to be also breathable and soft—and the fabric also comes with a bit of stretch for comfort on the go. The style is also very versatile: I've worn them with sandals to the beach, or just to grab a cup of joe at your local café.

Tailored Linen Trousers

Linen formalwear handles the heat better than any other fabric. Percival makes a wonderful summer weight dress pant that can be worn casually with a t-shirt or polo. We’ve also dressed it up with a button down and made a full suit with the matching jacket.

While wearing this linen pant a few times, two details really stood out. The perfectly balanced cut of the leg is just wide enough to feel modern, but slim enough to keep a sleek silhouette. I loved the design of the waistband, which is on the wider side, because it looks great when worn without a belt and shirt tucked in.

Classic-fit linen trouser

Modeled after J.Crew’s standard chino line, this 100% linen pant is ready for the office, or any semi-formal occasion. Just as with a good pair of chinos, it can also dress down with a t-shirt and sandals. In fact, when the summer heat really turns up, it will feel much nicer than cotton chinos or jeans.

This classic slack comes in four color options, with the blue and tan being a glen plaid pattern. When we took the blue pair for a spin to the office and a couple evening events, we found that the subtle texture of the plaid helps hide the rumpled look that inevitably comes with pure linen.

Linen Pants

OAS delivers the perfect “I just walked off the beach” vibe with this casual linen pant. The straight leg fit both adds to the overall comfort, and helps with air flow. A near 50/50 blend of linen and cotton creates a crisp finish that can handle extended wear without wrinkling. This is the ultimate weekend pant, for everything from a backyard BBQ, to knocking off your To-Do list.

The sturdier weight of this linen blend pant makes it more functional for a wider range of weather. Pure linen is bad news in the rain and can’t handle temperatures below 80º, but I had no trouble wearing this one through unpredictable spring weather.

Carter Linen Pants

Donning these yoga-pants-like linen slacks is the style equivalent of a cool cucumber lounging by the pool, unfazed by the red-hot heat. Not only is Ably's linen fabric extra light and breathable, it is also engineered to be odor-free, stain-resistant, and even quick-drying to really keep your legs cool and dry.

If you're concerned that these trousers look too much like pajamas, our testing of them by wearing them to the office or with button-down shirts shows that they still will look elevated under that laid-back, comfortable fit.

The Linen Easy Pant

Everlane's linen pants are selling out fast because they elevate your summer wardrobe to a new height of breezy brilliance at under $100. What we love most about them is the elasticated waistband which is made with a drawstring. So many drawstring linen pants we've tested have either waistband that is too tight or too loose, but Everlane's is practically perfect—it fits just right and requires little to no adjusting.

On the other hand, these linen pants are not wrinkly or look too easygoing for more formal occasions, so their versatility for dressing up or down is also surefire.

Cham Pants

Instead of looking flowy and all carefree, these 100% linen pants cinch it up with a slim fit to let you look elevated while feeling fresh and crisp, making them best for smart casual occasions like at a bar or a dinner party. They also come in plenty of striped or checked patterns that should easily spruce up your fits.

However, having worn them since the summer of 2022, I notice that these line pants are made without any stretch and will feel a bit tight on beefy thighs, so I wouldn’t recommend traveling too heavy or too far in them.

How Should I Wear Linen Pants?

Linen pants are all about casual and looking laidback, so naturally, styling with them should be just as such. Some of our editors' favorite ways to wear linen pants include sporting them with camp collar shirts or Hawaiian shirts and sandals, slides, or even flip-flops. I personally love to wear linen pants under an unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt and a tank top underneath. Of course, the ritual of casual t-shirts worn tucked into linen pants is a no-brainer.

Should you like to dress up in linen pants—and you in fact can—then topping them off with polo shirts is the best way to go about that. Dress shirts and button-downs will look equally elevated in linen pants if you have the right pair—just make sure to tuck them in. And for a full casual but still formal look, consider wearing linen pants with loafers or boat shoes.

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