Summer pants should be lightweight, breathable, and ideally moisture-wicking for when you’re breaking a sweat—in warm, heated weather, it’s the performance that matters the most, not the design. What defines performance in summer pants is the material and fabric.
Linen: Perhaps the most famous summer pants style is the linen pants. As a material, linen is lightweight and loosen woven, rendering the fabric incredibly breathable because the long fibers allow air to circulate. Otherwise, it’s also highly durable and absorbs moisture—and therefore, sweat—while drying quickly, all in all keeping you cool and dry on dog days.
Seersucker: Seersucker is a type of cloth weaved to be lightweight, thin, and breathable. The fabric has a puckered or crinkled texture that creates space between the fabric and the skin, thus allowing for more ventilation. While the material’s sweat-wicking property is up to debate, we do know for sure from testing is that the uneven texture decreases the fabric’s contact with the skin, thus lessening any “clammy” feeling, even though you might be perspiring.
Nylon: The activewear material is a beast at beating the heat. It’s breathable and durable enough to be used in workout clothes and often has a tad of natural stretch. As a synthetic fabric, it’s hydrophobic, meaning it can wick away sweat and dry fast in a heartbeat. Nylon can be found in hiking pants, chinos, or any sort of travel pants.
Hemp: Another hot-climate favorite is hemp whose breathability is way above cotton’s league. The lightweight hemp fabric naturally wicks away sweat by absorbing moisture from the skin and passing it to the outside air—i.e., hemp is hard to get wet and won’t hold moisture for long, so you’ll never feel clammy.
Cotton: Cotton is naturally breathable, though less so than hemp or linen or seersucker. While its moisture-wicking feat varies and often depends on whom you ask, it does absorb and retain sweat to keep you from feeling too damp. We also love how cotton can be easily made with elastane or spandex to produce four-way stretch fabric.
Polyester: Unfortunately, this plastic synthetic fiber often found in swim trunks isn’t breathable at all. But a poly-blend made with a substantial amount of breathable materials (see Bonobos seersucker golf pants and Lululemon’s ABC pants, for instance) can easily change it up to make the fabric breezy. Moreover, polyester is a monster at wicking moisture and drying fast, so no sweat with this one.
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