I Still Love These Stretchy Work Pants After Sitting At A Desk All Day

Once upon a time, pants could mainly be defined as one of two types: something you could wear to the office — hello, stiff silhouettes you can’t eat a full lunch in — and pieces, well, you decidedly could not. (Enter: sweats and baggy jeans.) But somewhere along the way, genius design, fabric innovation, and customer demand all collided to create an entirely new category of stretchy technical-knit trousers that nearly feel like loungewear, but look like sleekly tailored separates. Sans buttons, these chic work-friendly designs have saved me from more than a few professional wardrobe crises lately.

Say, for instance, I’m physically heading into my place of employment for the first time in, oh, over a month? It’s probably the first time in a long while I’ve thought about swathing my legs in anything that’s not slouchy denim or buttery soft leisurewear. This is when I’ll reach for my favorite streamlined and surprisingly structured High Sport kick flares, which feel just like the leggings I wear to the gym but give off power b*tch vibes in the best way with the right pair of heeled booties and a polo sweater. Then there’s my go-to Tory Sport pull on silhouette (so cute with loafers and blazer), which I most always lean on when I’m preoccupied with getting my kids ready in the morning but need to commute to a coffee meeting right after drop-off.

Ahead, shop my favorites and more easy and elegant options I’m looking to add to my arsenal.