Hey guys! Welcome back to Products Worth Talking About — the show about disruptive physical products and the people who built them. Today, we’re going to ask a question that many people have asked, but few have found the answer to: Who makes the best men’s dress pants?
A good pair of dress pants need to be durable, comfortable, and stylish, all at once. It’s easy to find dress pants that have one of these features, but to find one with all three is a miracle.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different men’s apparel brands, but today, we’re going to review the three brands that we’ve been hearing the most about — Mizzen+Main, Lululemon, and Nantucket Whaler Apparel.
First, we’ll start with a product review and give our personal opinions about the quality of each product, as well as what we like and don’t like. We’ll be testing the dress pants on four different features, including:
We’ll also provide some information about each individual brand — what sets them apart, how they started, and their marketing strategies. As entrepreneurs of Vortic Watches and REBL Jane, we both find this information super fascinating, and we hope you do too! Let’s get into it.
First, let’s talk about the Nomad Stretch Slim-Fit pants from Nantucket Whaler. These pants come in six different colors — gray, navy, red, blue, white, khaki, and olive green — so you have a lot of style options. Made from 98% cotton and 2% spandex, these pants are both durable and stretchy, which can be a hard balance to achieve. Here’s how these Nantucket pants scored overall:
Scoring high in all categories, Nantucket’s stretch slim-fit pants are excellent. When putting on a pair of these pants, RT said he felt like cracking open a Corona on a yacht off the East Coast. However, we did have one concern — Tyler disliked their use of middle sizes and found that the pants didn’t fit him as well as his normal size pants would.
You can buy a pair of Nantucket’s Nomad Stretch Slim-Fit pants on their website for $78 with a flat $5 shipping fee.
Nantucket Whaler was founded in 2017, and the current President and CEO is J. Michael Prince. Nantucket Whaler was inspired by whaling in the mid-1800s but was reborn today as a conservation-supporting brand with a native startup strategy. The company is a joint venture between Toronto-based Grand National Apparel and the management of the US Polo Association Brand. Backed by these large entities, Nantucket is less of a startup and more of a spinoff. With their funding and direction, Nantucket has proven to be a solid brand with great marketing and great pants.
Now, let’s hop off our yacht to talk about Mizzen + Main — specifically, their Baron Performance Chino Pants. Made from 100% polyester, these pants come in four neutral colors, including navy, gray, khaki, and olive green.
Mizzen+Main’s Baron Performance Chino Pants scored well in ABC and SLS, but not so much in Care and EDC. These pants are more dressy, meaning that you can wear them in a corporate office or to a formal event and look sharp. However, if you are wanting something a little more informal, comfortable, and useful, these pants aren’t the best choice.
You can buy Mizzen+Main’s Baron Performance Chino Pants on their website for $98. For formal dress pants, this price isn’t too bad; however, it’s definitely not cheap. But we got your back. Use this link to receive $50 dollars off your pants purchase!
Founded in 2012 by Kevin Lavelle, Mizzen+Main is based out of Dallas, Texas. On LinkedIn, they have 78 listed employees. Interesting fact: Mizzen+Main has been endorsed by several top athletes, including Phil Mickelson and NFL player, David Vobora. They definitely have the authority and respect they need to keep making kick a** dress pants.
Even if you haven’t heard of Nantucket and Mizzen+Main, you’ve most likely heard of Lululemon — the behemoth of the apparel industry. We’re talking specifically about their ABC Pants. ABC stands for — you guessed it — “Anti-Ball Crusher.” Now made from 100% polyester, these pants come in eight neutral colors, including a classic black.
Overall, these Lululemon pants scored very high. Again, Tyler had an issue with the middle sizes, so if you have a Lululemon store near you, we recommend going into the store to try them on. There are also a LOT of different options and variations of these pants, so it’s easy to get confused. Not only that, but these pants are expensive…
Lululemon’s Classic ABC Men’s Pants are $128 each. However, with that purchase, you are getting a pair of dress pants that are not only comfortable and stylish but will also last you a long time.
In 1998, Lululemon was founded in Vancouver, BC, by Chip Wilson, a Canadian businessman and billionaire. They currently have about 14,000 employees on LinkedIn, and that number is steadily rising.
Lululemon is a publicly-traded company, meaning that shareholders have a partial claim to their profits. They went public in 2007, raising about $327 million in that year alone. Their market cap is currently $45 billion, and their current stock price is roughly $350 per share.
Fun fact: The brand once claimed that seaweed incorporated in clothing was performance-enhancing. Crazy, right?
Now, let’s look at their social media scorecards — we run through Instagram, Facebook, and so forth to check out each brand’s social media presence and advertising. Tons of people base their purchase decision based on a company’s Instagram — that’s why RT spends so much time on Vortic Watches’ Instagram and Tyler spends time curating REBL Jane’s Instagram. Social media is usually most people’s first impression of the company.
Lululemon’s ABC Men’s dress pants took the crown for this episode of Products Worth Talking About. Even though their pants are expensive, they are so comfortable, stylish, and will last you for several years. Not too far behind, Nantucket took second place in the competition, and we plan on reserving our Mizzen+Main pants for fancy occasions.
On Products Worth Talking About, our mission is to not only give you reliable information on disruptive products but also give you valuable insight into what makes great businesses successful. In this episode, we both had several takeaways that we plan to apply to our own businesses.
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to build a product-based business, check out our business plan that literally writes itself! Within no time, you’ll be ready to pitch to investors and start the company of your dreams.
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Thanks for reading! Until next time—
RT and Tyler