Levi’s, but not the ones you buy at box stores like Walmart and Target. They make special shitty ones for those stores that don’t last a year. Get them from Macy’s, or the Levi’s website. I have 20 year old Levi’s that I still wear. I also have newer Levi’s, so I can say that you can still get the good ones. They need to have the model number on them, not a description. If it says something like “low rise, casual fit” or any other cut description instead of a number, don’t buy it. Those are the junk ones.
Eddie Bauer makes a pretty good pant. I liked my last pair so much that I wore them like 3-4 days per week for 3 years before the pocket started fraying. Not bad for a $15 pair of pants from Costco.
Kühl makes good pants, but they’re expensive. You can find them at REI.
I’m not sure about how it works in Europe, but in the U.S., military surplus clothing is an excellent budget friendly, durable option. I will say that the stitching can sometimes be spotty, but if you know how to sew, you can get a pair of pants that can stand toe to toe with brands like Carhartt and Dickies for 20-30 dollars less.
If you’re looking for some fair trade and organic stuff: I’m wearing torland for a few years now. I used to buy new jeans every year because they didn’t last so long (even branded ones). But the ones from torland didn’t disappoint me yet. Still got my first pair from 3-4 years
I really like Volcom shorts and pants. They tend to fit me a lot better (and with much greater consistency) than any other brand, even expensive ones. They’re pretty durable too. Nice that they’re not crazy expensive, but I also buy them from discount stores in the US for great prices. I never buy clothes at full price.
You could probably find Volcom clothes at skate shops in Europe. I have seen them on European online skateshops and stuff, if I’m remembering correctly.
My husband has been slowly replacing stuff with Myles Apparel. He’s a weightlifter, so finding clothes that fit his quads (and allows him to still, you know, move) is a tall order. No ripping, tearing, funky workout stink, or any other issues so far! Also looks like they can ship internationally.
I used to go through a pair of jeans in about 3 months with tears first showing within 7-10 days, I found Duluth Trading and Helly Hensen Workwear.
In 4 years I probably went through 20 pairs of Walmart jeans.
In 5 years I've destroyed 1 pair of Duluth and worn out 2 others, 1 worn HH Workwear and 1 barely broken in, in 3 months.
The fire hose pants from Duluth are awesome in winter and as long as it's not 95°F, the DuluthFlex Fire House pants are not as strong, I gave up on them but definitely more comfortable when in 90°F-110°F.
I have knee pad slips in the flex pants 99% of the time that I'm pretty sure didn't help with the longevity....I was not kind to them in the slightest.
As for the HellyHensen, I was originally looking for another general work pant and I think somewhere on reddit a couple years back I stumbled across an old request for recommendations and they were listed. I was not looking for the greatest pair of pants on the planet but I did. For me anyway.
The Oxford 4X Construction Pant has large pouches with more smaller outer pockets, easy zipper pocket for knee pads to slide in out as needed, very comfortable tons more pockets besides. I've abused them near as much as I ever did the Duluth pants and other than a handful of small stray threads pulled out, there's no holes or wear marks leading to one, material is a polyester mix that moves and may not breathe perfectly, but they soak sweat away pretty good giving a nice cooling effect with a good fan.
The Manchester Construction Pant is equally awesome but I don't think quite as tough, I've set the worn pair to the side until I fix the hole and swap them out occasionally with the Oxford.
Assuming you don't need the construction aspect of the pants, they have both and others in a plain workforce line without the pouches
I really love Duluth Trading Company pants, especially the ones with their flex firehose material. I wear them almost every day and think they are great.
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