What’s Weird About Taylor Stitch’s Après Pants: 2 Years in 2 Pairs

Would you believe that the all-time bestselling product from Taylor Stitch, known for its rugged workwear, hardy waxed canvas, and burly selvedge denim, is… a pair of lounge pants?

The “Après Pants” surprising dominance suggests a curious consumer preference for this product’s unusual mixture of workwear and loungewear. It’s especially ironic given, from what I can tell, those two categories are polar opposites.

And yet, here we are.

I even saw a dude in pair of the Black Cherry Sashiko Apres Pants on the New York subway this weekend, all of which leads me to ask: where are you meant to wear the Apres Pants?

I’ve picked up three pairs over the last two years and I’ve got thoughts.

Taylor Stitch’s Apres Pants: The Pros and Cons

Here’s a little summary of this review, because it’s pretty meandering!

Pros

• They’re better looking loungewear: you look smart when hanging out in the couch in Apres Pants.
• Made of 100% organic cotton for sustainability points.
• Very durable fabrics that age well and develop patina, something unheard of for sweatpants.

Cons

• Not really for outdoor wear, despite what they tell you.
• Not very stretchy due to lack of synthetic materials.
• Some fabrics can bleed dye when they’re new.
• They feel rough when they’re new, but they soften with wear.

Is Taylor Stitch a Good Brand?

Sure! This company is firmly built on a category of menswear that’s usually called heritage: clothes that recreate or are inspired by workwear from the early to mid 20th century.

The short summary is that heritage stuff is casual, durable, and relatively simple: no branding or frills or whistles. If you like classic, uncomplicated looks like jeans, boots, flannel, and a leather jacket, you probably like Taylor Stitch.

The brand became popular by solving two sticking points with heritage menswear: it’s usually very expensive and the fits are usually very roomy and boxy.

So they make clothes that take a lot of cues from the sustainable and tough fabrics and timeless and fashionproof designs of heritage stuff, but they lowered the cost by making them in China and modernized the fits by leaning into slightly longer and slimmer looks than you usually find in, say, high-waist, wide-leg vintage chinos.

So where do the Apres Pants fit into all this?

Men’s Loungewear: What Is the Apres Pant?

Throughout its history, the Apres pant has been released in dozens of materials, with the common thread of being 100 percent cotton and unusually hardwearing for indoor apparel.

Après, meaning after, is a nod towards the context for which loungewear is made: at home, after your day’s activities are finished.

Loungewear is a category that’s vastly better known by women, since guys tend to lie around the house in sweatpants, workout clothes, athleisure, or pyjamas.

For a casual night in or simply doing stuff around the house, the Après pants are the perfect way to broadcast to family members or houseguests, “I’m not a schlub in sweatpants, but maybe a part of me wants to be.”

Not sweats, not pyjamas. Loungewear! Clothes specifically for hanging out. I’ve worn mine for years and always get compliments when friends see me in them — inside, that is. You don’t wear loungewear outside. Right?

Recently, Taylor Stitch has been trying to expand the definition of the Après pant. They’ve been sending emails to me and a lot of other content creators along the lines of “hey, wouldn’t it be cool if you wore these, like…outside?”

And what happened? One thing was this post on r/taylorstitch full of users wearing their Apres Pants… inside.

As much as I love the pants, I can’t help but feel Taylor Stitch is getting a bit greedy with this widening of the scope. It makes sense that they’d want their bestselling product to sell even better, but do we really want this to turn into another 2018 situation where guys get too confident with glorified joggers?

Taylor Stitch Apres Pants: The Fabric

Then again, the apres pants are very unusual for loungewear: they’re made with workwear fabrics and no spandex to be found.

I’ve been testing a pair made of what was once their bestselling fabric: indigo waffle. Waffle knits are cool because they give a lot of texture and if they tear, it won’t run with the bias of the fabric. It’s a little like ripstop in that regard.

The Indigo Waffle isn’t sold anymore, and other limited release fabrics have included seersucker, donegal-like double cloth, slubby twill, and more. These fabrics are interesting in that they’ve all got the common quality of being developed for outdoor work and now reappropriated for lounging, carving out an interesting niche.

But now, after years of experimentation, which fabric have they decided to comprise 80% of the line?

Sashiko

As time passed, I’ve observed the evolution of the product line towards sashiko fabric, a durable cotton material with origins in Japanese workwear.

Sashiko, also called “rice grain” fabric and translated as “little stabs,” started off as a way to mend or reinforce garments using embroidery, where interlocking threads create texture. This fabric, like denim, is celebrated for how it ages, softens, and develops character with wear.

Unlike most loungewear, which is imbued with plenty of synthetic stretch for comfort, the Apres Pants are made with 100% organic cotton. And like I said, they’re using very tough cotton at that.

In many ways, sashiko is like denim: it’s 100 percent cotton, super durable, has origins in workwear, it softens with wear, and people love the way it fades.

It also bleeds indigo all over your stuff if you’re not careful with it, which is an unusual feature for pants that are intended for lying around your house on your couch and bedsheets.

What to Consider Before Buying Sashiko Loungewear

Let’s make this more of a review. These are the common complaints about the Apres pants.

Rough Texture

Many complain that the burly, 100% cotton fabric can be a bit rough when you first get it. To that, I say you should be patient: with wear and washes, it’ll soften right up..

Lack Of Stretch

Similarly, you might be disappointed that they’re not as gym shorts or sweatpants made with elastane or nylon. But again, as you wear them in, they stretch in the right places and it’s easy to sit in a squat.

Dye Transfer

This seems to mostly be true of the “Rinsed Indigo Sashiko” colorway, but since that one’s the most popular, you should know that if you rub a wet tissue on new Apres Pants, the tissue comes away blue. That means you need to be extra careful when around water and when sitting on light colored surfaces.

Still, again: after a couple of washes, this won’t be an issue. Just like with new raw denim.

Natural Fibers Dry Slower Than Synthetics

Lastly, there are practical concerns related to cleaning and maintaining the pants.

One thing about sweatpants is that they’re something you wipe your hands on after washing them, or they get wet when you’re doing the dishes, or you spill stuff on them when you’re eating.

You might not realize that an element you value in your usual “loungewear” is that synthetic fabrics that they’re usually comprised of dry very quickly and wash very easily. It took a year of wearing cotton sweats to realize this was something bothersome about them.

Are Taylor Stitch’s Apres Pants Worth It?

Taylor Stitch has spun quite the yarn, suggesting these pants could take you from your sofa to the summit and back to a supper date.

But let’s face it: these pants excel in comfort, not mountaineering.

They’ve started a new conversation about what men’s loungewear can be, and it’s cool that they’re more durable and interesting than anything else designed for the couch.

People compliment me when they see me in my Apres Pants. Men, after all, seldom hang out inside in anything but sweats or gym shorts. They really are a nice way to feel dressy, but still suited for the indoors.

I just think that’s where they should stay!