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21 Best Corduroy Pants to Wear Absolutely Everywhere
Think of them as sweatpants' not-so distant cousins.
There's something decidedly adult about wearing corduroy, like after your parents reprimanded you for acting too childish you did, in fact, go upstairs and put on "your big-boy pants." In my mind, wearing corduroy should make you feel a long-tenured professor at some small liberal arts college who teaches a seminar or two on Cultural Anthropology but mostly spends his time puttering around an office stuffed with odd curios he's accumulated from a lifetime of traveling.
You know the type. He'd pair his corduroys with a sturdy cable-knit, a thick, tweed-y looking sport coat—no matter the temperature outside—and perhaps a good ol' Chelsea boot, or some brown Merrell hiking boots. (All of which, incidentally, would make for an absolutely huge fit today!) "Corduroys?" you might be saying incredulously to yourself. "In this economy?!" Oh, ye of little faith! Think of them as sweatpants' not-so-distant cousin, especially if the style you're eyeing comes with all the forgiving acceptance of your favorite elastic-waisted sweats, or hell, a full-on drawstring, too.
The best corduroy pants today are soft and durable and sit beautifully on top of a studier winter shoe when cut with a thicker cuff, but look downright elegant gracefully skimming the tip of a loafer when left slightly cropped. Traditionally, I'd tell you to stick to a thinner wale—the term used to refer to the number of ridges per inch on each pant—but there's something about the heftiness of a wider wale style, especially when paired with an outfit that offsets the silhouette's preppy origins, that looks so charmingly retro right now. In other words, you really can't go wrong.
And who knows? You might be a bit of burgeoning cultural anthropologist yourself.

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