How Your Pants Should Fit Now

There's never been a better time to be a pants-wearing human being. From a sheer selection standpoint, the current era is without rival. Whatever you're pulling on, a cornucopia of fits and finishes awaits you. Options truly abound.

But abundance is a double-edged sword. The other day, I was talking to the head of men's fashion at a major American department store, and he let me in on a secret: Men aren't buying pants. They buy knits and jackets and sneakers—but nothing for their legs. The reason, I suppose, is that the volume of choices can leave some folks feeling confused. Paralyzed, even. Call it the tyranny of choice. You'd have to be some kind of borderline-obsessive pants enthusiast to come close to exploring all the stuff on the market. Luckily for you, the Esquire office is full of borderline-obsessive pants enthusiasts.

View in Browser  SHOP EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBE How Your Pants Should Fit Now There's never been a better time to be a pants-wearing human being. From a sheer selection standpoint, the current era is without rival. Whatever you're pulling on, a cornucopia of fits and finishes awaits you. Options truly abound. But abundance is a double-edged sword. The other day, I was talking to the head of men's fashion at a major American department store, and he let me in on a secret: Men aren't buying pants. They buy knits and jackets and sneakers—but nothing for their legs. The reason, I suppose, is that the volume of choices can leave some folks feeling confused. Paralyzed, even. Call it the tyranny of choice. You'd have to be some kind of borderline-obsessive pants enthusiast to come close to exploring all the stuff on the market. Luckily for you, the Esquire office is full of borderline-obsessive pants enthusiasts. Read More I Found the Touch-Screen OLED Laptop of the Future Copilot+PC and Intel's Lunar Lake processor are a combo to be reckoned with. Read More The 25 TV Shows That Will Matter in 2025 Brace yourself—between Severance, The Bear, White Lotus, Andor, and much more—the upcoming year on the small screen is unbelievably stacked. Read More Is It Time to Quit Coffee for Good? There is perhaps no mind-altering substance as tightly woven into the fabric of daily life than caffeine. Nearly 80 percent of adults in the U.S. consume caffeine, in some form, every day. Coffee is the primary caffeine-delivery mechanism for many people—two thirds of American adults drink it every day—and many consider it an indispensable part of daily life. T-shirts and, naturally, coffee mugs exclaim, "Not before I've had my coffee" or "But first, coffee," as if the travails of everyday living are impossible without a morning cup of joe. For some, coffee even serves as a handy substitute for having a personality. Whether it's new mothers who think they should have a priority line at Starbucks; snobs who traffic exclusively in organic, sustainably grown fair-trade beans; or Zoomers sharing their insane coffee concoctions on TikTok, conspicuous coffee consumption is a cultural signifier. Entire human interactions—the coffee date, the coffee break at work, the post-dinner mug—revolve around its ingestion. Read More 10 Timeless Leather Sofas That Offer Both Comfort and Class Invest now and you're set for the next decade or two. Read More Build a Home Gym for Cheap With Amazon's Workout Deals Get that 2025 resolution done at home. Read More Takashi Murakami Talks Shōgun, Stress, and His Re-Edition Louis Vuitton Collection Takashi Murakami likes my Salehe Bembury Crocs. He likes them a lot. "Wow!" says the world-renowned Japanese artist, pointing at the fungi-like midsoles of my sneaker. His intense inspection began just after he—quite unnecessarily—introduced himself with both a bow and a handshake. "How much do they cost?" he asks, as if the price is something he must consider. Remember: This is the man responsible for the album artwork of Kanye West's Graduation and Billie Eilish's "you should see me in a crown" music video. His vibrant art is displayed in galleries and private collection spaces across the globe. In the early 2000s, he launched his very own collection with Louis Vuitton, which he and the brand have revived for relaunch in January 2025. In short: These shoes of mine are very much within his budget. I tell him that they cost £135 and they're called the Junipers. The name makes him laugh. It makes his translator laugh, too. They laugh a lot. It echoes across the lecture theatre of the V&A museum in South Kensington, where the boyish yet sagacious 62-year-old is set to give a talk as part of the Japan Cultural Expo. I ask him about the event, and that's where our conversation begins to bloom. Read More Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779