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Sure, we all know what basics professional women are supposed to have in their closets, but if you're buying one for the first time or replacing one you've worn into the ground, it can be a pain to find exactly the right incarnation in stores. In “The Hunt,” we search the stores for a basic item that every woman should have.
We haven't talked about washable pants for work in far too long, so let's round up some of our latest favorites — which are your favorite machine washable dress pants, readers?
(If having machine-washable garments is important to you, check out our Washable Wednesday feature over on CorporetteMoms, or our roundup of the best brands of washable workwear.)
Our Latest Favorite Washable Work Pants
Some of our favorite washable pants for work in 2024 include Nic & Zoe, M.M.LaFleur, Uniqlo, Everlane, Eileen Fisher, J.Crew, Ann Taylor, Old Navy, and more. Note that our roundups of pull-on pants for the office and summer work pants also include a ton of washable pants!)
Where to Find Washable Work Outfits In General
Some of our favorite brands of washable workwear as of 2024 — where many of the pieces are machine washable — include NYDJ, Vince Camuto, Halogen, Quince, Everlane, Summersalt, Banana Republic, Banana Republic Factory, Lands' End, and Karen Kane. On the fancier side, check out M.M.LaFleur, Hobbs, Ming Wang, Boden and Eileen Fisher.
Washable Blazers for Women
As of 2024, these are some of the reader favorites that are also machine washable blazers…
Washable Women's Suits
How to Wash Your Machine Washable Dress Pants
These are my best tips for how to wash your washable pants:
Look for stretch if you’re shopping online. If you want to narrow your search to pants that are machine washable, look for ones with stretch in them — they almost always are washable. (But most online descriptions will tell you what the recommended care is.)
Get machine washable dress pants tailored — but only after you’ve washed them first. After the first wash there may be a little bit of shrinkage — wait to get them hemmed until then. (But, note that there are a ton of brands that offer shorter inseams for “regular” pants, so you may not need them hemmed.)
Wash them in cold water at home — and don’t put them in the dryer. At least, not for very long. You can sometimes just throw machine washable dress pants into the dryer, but they almost always come out better if you hang them dry after 15 minutes. This gets the wrinkles out, and just a bit of time with the dryer sheet makes them softer. I always wash my pants on cold, and I usually do use Woolite and the delicate cycle for my pants.
Hang them upside down to dry. The weight of the waistband will pull the pants taut, effectively smoothing them out. (I almost never iron ‘em!) When you put them on the hanger, do your best to keep the crease the pants came with — if there was no crease, just put the inseams together neatly. I like this kind of pants hanger the best.
“Dry clean” on the label usually means you can wash them (but proceed at your own risk). The big thing to know here is that “dry clean only” means, well, DRY CLEAN ONLY. If it just says “dry clean,” though, you usually can either dry clean them or wash them.
Your mileage may vary here, but: unless I really loved the pair of pants, I would give “dry clean” pants a whirl in the washer, as well — particularly if the pants are made up entirely of natural fibers (one of the benefits to unlined pants). You may want to do a spot test first.
Some of the reader favorite products for dry cleaning at home include these options:
The Best Washable Pants for Women in 2024
Betabrand
Betabrand pants have been in our most-bought roundups for many months — they come in regular, petite, tall, and plus sizes (including plus size petites, which can be tough to find!) for $68.
They come in three main styles — bootcut, straight, and skinny, as well as a few wide-leg and cropped options. And they come in many neutrals as well as fun saturated colors.
Old Navy
If you're hunting for other plus-size machine washable dress pants, check out Nic & Zoe, Eileen Fisher, Liverpool, Old Navy, Of Mercer (up to 20W), Lands' End, and Betabrand (up to 3X).
Krazy Larry
We're always on the hunt for pull-on pants in a wide range of sizes, colors, and prints, so we were psyched to find Krazy Larry pants. They really do come in a ton of colors and prints, with two inseams (28 and 30) and all for $108-$134 (in general). Here's Elizabeth's review comparing them to Nic & Zoe.
Hunting for more washable pants in fun colors and prints? Also check out Old Navy, Boden, Hobbs, Eloquii (12-28), Of Mercer (a few), and Betabrand.
J.Crew Four Season Stretch
J.Crew pants: they're a classic for a reason! Pants in their four-season stretch fabric are washable, and they come in regular, petite, plus, and tall sizes — huzzah!
If you're hunting for other washable pants in tall sizes, check out Eloquii (12-28), Old Navy, Lands' End, and Betabrand.
Nic & Zoe Wonderstretch
Readers love Nic & Zoe pants — they're pull-on pants so they're extra comfortable. They're available in regular, petite, and plus sizes at Nordstrom and a bunch of other retailers for $76-$128.
M.M.LaFleur
The Foster Pant is another reader favorite — it comes in EIGHT neutral colors, in sizes 0P-18. (They used to have plus sizes but have drastically limited the options lately.) The pants are $245.
Which are YOUR favorite pairs of washable pants for work, ladies? What do you look for when you're hunting for machine washable dress pants for your business casual or corporate office?
Like this feature? Check out other recent installments!
More Great Work Pants for Women
The Best Work Pants for Women Overall
As of 2024, we think the best work pants for women include longtime favorites such as Nic & Zoe, Theory, NYDJ, J.Crew, and M.M.LaFleur — as well as trendy brands like Spanx, Favorite Daughter, and Everlane. For budget-friendly styles, check Quince, Old Navy, and Amazon seller Tapata.
Women's Dress Pants by Fit: Plus, Petite, Curvy, Tall, and Plus-Size Petites
The Best Plus-Size Pants for the Office
Hunting for the best plus-size pants for work? As of 2024, favorites include Eloquii, Nic & Zoe, NYDJ, Universal Standard, Eileen Fisher, Maree Pour Toi, Liverpool, J.Crew, and Lafayette 148 New York.
The Most Comfortable Dress Pants
There are a bunch of great pull-on pants for the office in 2024. Some of our longstanding favorites include those from Athleta*, Everlane, Eileen Fisher*, Betabrand*, and Uniqlo. If you're looking for something a bit more polished but still ultra comfy, check out Nic & Zoe* or NYDJ*. (Brands with plus sizes are marked with asterisks.)
Some particular styles we love are below:
The Best Work Pants for Curvy Girls
Hunting for work pants if you're curvy? As of 2024, you can find them at Ann Taylor (regular and petite sizes 00-18), Banana Republic Factory (00-20, 00P-14P, 00T-20T), Loft (regular, petite, and tall sizes 00-18), and White House Black Market (00-18, regular, short, and long). Talbots also offers some options in sizes regular, petite, plus, and plus-size petites, as does Lane Bryant. (Banana Republic seems to have temporarily stopped making them, unfortunately.)
The Best Pants in Tall Sizes
Hunting for tall cuts in extended sizes? As of 2023, we suggest you check out Aritzia (00T-16T) (known for being very small!), Banana Republic Factory (00T-20T), Betabrand (XSL-3XL), J.Crew (00T-20T), J.Crew Factory (00T-20T), Express (0L-18L), and White House Black Market (00L-18L). For larger sizes, check out Eloquii (14T-32T) and Ulla Popken (12L-34L).
The Best Petite Work Pants
There are a ton of petite work pants right now. Some reader-favorite stores and brands include Liverpool, Banana Republic Factory (00P-18P), J.Crew Factory (00P-12P), Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Boden, J.Crew (00P-12P), Spanx, Boss, Hobbs, Lafayette 148 New York (0P-16P), and Reiss; Nordstrom is always a great place to check. Quince also has both 30″ and 32″ lengths.
The Best Plus-Size Petite Work Pants
As of 2024, this is where you can find plus-size petites…
- Alfani (at Macy's)
- ASOS
- Avenue
- Dillards
- Eloquii
- eShakti (up to 6X/36W/custom)
- J.Jill (14P-20P)
- Lafayette 148 New York (up to size 16P)
- Lands' End (lots up to 18P, with select options for plus-petite sizes up to 26)
- Lane Bryant (up to 28)
- NYDJ (up to 18P)
- Spanx
- Sumissura (custom)
- Talbots
- Tapata (Amazon seller with options up to XXLP)
- Ulla Popken (short sizes 12S-38S)
Seasonal Work Pants
Summer Work Pants for Women
Some of our favorite summer work pants for women as of 2024 include options from Nic + Zoe, M.M.LaFleur, Ministry of Supply, Uniqlo — and Banana Republic Factory sometimes has pants in their AirStretch line, also!
White Dress Pants for Work
Some of our favorite white pants for work as of April 2024 include Nic + Zoe, Talbots, Spanx, Favorite Daughter, Everlane, Lafayette 148 New York, Vince, and Cinq à Sept! For budget-friendly options, try Old Navy or Tapata. If your office is OK with 5-pocket styles and/or denim, check out the highly rated Wit & Wisdom and NYDJ pants.
Winter Dress Pants for Women
Women's Dress Pants By Trendy Shapes
Wide-Leg Office Pants
Hunting for more wide-leg pants to wear to work? We just rounded some up, and general favorites include pleated pairs like Favorite Daughter, Everlane*, Reformation*, and Abercrombie*, with flat-front pairs from Good American,* M.M.LaFleur, and Ann Taylor. (* = plus sizes; see the post for notes on petites and talls). We've also shared our thoughts on what shoes to wear with wide-leg pants! Our latest favorite wide-leg pants include these (as of 2024):
Affordable Women's Office Pants
As of 2024, I think my top pick for affordable dress pants for women would be Uniqlo — they're under $50 and come in petite, regular, and tall sizes — and the inseam length is alterable for $0-$5 (anywhere between 16″-25.5″). I know readers have spoken highly of Old Navy's Pixie pants over the years, as well. If the pant comes in regular, petite, short, tall, long, or maternity sizes, we've marked that with R/P/S/T/L/M below. Another great option: people swear the Quince pants are dupes for Spanx.
Gail the Goldfish
LOFT custom stretch trouser leg pants. I just bought 3 new pairs in the Julie fit. I’m fairly certain they’re the same fabric as the LOFT pants I bought last fall, which wash well (wash cold, hang dry). Also the GAP perfect trouser pants.
D. Meagle
My big question about washing work pants — how do you maintain a crease? Do you have to iron the crease in? I usually dry clean all pants so they are pressed with a crease.
la vie en bleu
My big question about washing work pants — how do you maintain a crease? Do you have to iron the crease in? I usually dry clean all pants so they are pressed with a crease.
Lyssa
Same, and, TBH, I probably just let the crease go on a pretty regular basis. Creases are nice, but not necessarily worth the trouble. :)
HSAL
Mine hold the crease for a few washes, and I try to hang them correctly to maintain it as long as possible. I used to think I’d do a dry cleaning run after every few washing rounds, then I realized I like not going to/paying for the dry cleaner better than having creases in my pants. I don’t bother ironing.
2 Cents
For Talbots pants, you can get them (all sizes) at a deep discount at their clearance outlet stores — not their regular outlets. Unfortunately, the one by me closed recently, but my best buy was a pair of workhorse gray dress pants for $4. The selection can be erratic, based on season and stock, but it can be worth the hunt, especially during a sale.
Anonymous
I’ve never been able to find washable pants that don’t fade rather quickly. It seems the washable materials have a tendency to look kind of shabby and faded after a few wears and washes.
Ellen
I have to have the one pair of dress pant’s I own dry cleaned b/c otherwise it would get ruined. As it is, I can NOT get reimbursement for cleaning any clotheing that I could not get allowance on in the first place. So I onley wear my one pair of work pant’s in the worst day’s of winter. I do have 2 pair’s of fleece jegging’s but I can NOT wear these to work unless I know 1) the manageing partner is not there; 2) I do not have to run to court and 3) I let Frank ooogle my boobie’s and tuchus so that he won’t tell the manageing partner when he get’s back. FOOEY!
Must be Tuesday
I’ve never had any fading from my Express columnist and editor pants, and I’ve had some for 6+ years. I always wash them in cold water (never warm or hot) and I always hang them on drying racks (I never put them in the dryer).
Emily
Same. I’ve also taken to washing my black jeans and darker jeans just by soaking them in vinegar and water and it’s kept them from fading wonderfully. The vinegar smell goes away.
Zelda
So you just soak them in the sink, and then hang dry? How much vinegar to water?
Emily
i kind of just eyeball it which isn’t very helpful. Guess the internet says add 1 cup vinegar. I soak them in a tub that I use for soaking laundry but same idea. Hang dry. I wore my jeans the day after they dried and I thought they smelled like vinegar but my friends said they didn’t smell and not joking the smell went away right away it’s awesome I’m never washing my dark jeans again. I’m going to start doing this with my work pants. Vinegar is definitely a proven cleaner and our pants probably don’t need the agitation of the washer to get stains or anything like that out most likely..
la vie en bleu
The Halogen Taylors have been pretty good for me as an extreme pear, with my widest point at my upper thigh. They fit pretty well, and still need to be tailored to eliminate waist gap, but not completely resewn like some other pants. That said, the old design (they redesigned these the same season they redid The Skirt, harumph) was even better, had a wide waistband, and no belt loops, which made the tailoring even easier. But the new design still works okay. And they do wash and wear well, I haven’t taken any of them to the dry cleaners and they still look nice.
mbmm
I have a bunch of the Halogen Taylors that I wash every week, with no special care, and they look fine.
The new design does seem a little slimmer cut. My usual size is a tiny bit tight but the next size up is enormous. Motivation!
Lyssa
For washing things that might be delicate like this, I see Kat recommending Woolite, but I’ve heard a lot of people complain about Woolite causing fading, etc. I used to use it consistently, but for some reason, have been having a hard time finding it (or a similar delicate wash product) at my local grocery store, and have been just using my regular detergent, with the “handwash” cycle. I haven’t noticed a difference so far, but I’ve only been doing it for a couple of months. I do clean probably 90% of my clothes this way (everything except the very nice and the very not so nice).
What do you use for delicate/handwash machine washing (for pants and other things)? I really don’t want to fuss with having to order laundry detergent.
tesyaa
Same as you, I use my regular detergent for handwashing. I always buy scent-and-dye-free detergent. I used Woolite years ago, and I don’t see any difference using regular detergent.
Must be Tuesday
I use my regular detergent (used to use Tide, switched to something else I can’t remember the name of about a year ago) and fabric softener (Downy). I always wash cold and hang dry.
If I’m actually washing something by hand, rather than running it through the washing machine on the delicate or handwash cycle, I typically use hand soap or bath soap. The only things I really wash by hand are tights/hose and clothes with lots of sequins.
Rogue Banker
I use a powder soap called Lasting Care, recommended by my lingerie store (when the only bras that come in your size are $65+ each, you want them to LAST. :P) There’s a little bit of a old-lady-concept-of-fresh scent to it, I really can’t describe it, but it’s pretty light. I have a couple big mesh bags that I use for handwash/delicates. Bras go in one (hooks closed!) shirts and other things go in the other two. Handwash cycle, cold water, drip or flat dry depending on the item. It works pretty well and it’s a lot less hassle than washing them in the sink/tub.
anonomom
I have a washable black pair from Talbots that must be five years old. Trying to replace it with a similar workhorse, so this is good timing.
Meg Murry
Paging Emma from this morning’s thread –
If you don’t need to wear full suits at your new job and you like wearing pants as much or more than skirts, you should check out the pants here, try on a bunch to see which fit you the best and then sale stalk them from now until you get your new job. Most of the pants here can go from “one step below a suit” with a blazer all the way down to “one step above jeans” with a dressy tee, plus hit a nice middle spot with a nice blouse and cardigan.
If you don’t need to wear a full suit, you could probably get away with 3-5 pairs of these pants on rotation for your first few months to a year until you can slowly build up your business wardrobe – very few people will notice if you wear black, gray, navy or camel pants every day (or only 2 of those).
Wildkitten
Superfluous personal story. We had uniforms in middle school and could only wear four colors of polo shirts. I only liked one of the colors, so I wore that color every single day for two years and nobody noticed. It’s amazing how much people don’t care about what other people wear.
Emma
THANKS!!! That is great advice, which I will definitely be following. I don’t need a full suit every day. I’m not sure yet about whether cardigans or blazers will be better — I need to get a better feel from the office, as others suggested.
One issue is that I’ll mostly be working with men. If they’re wearing slacks with shirts and ties, but no jacket, does that seem like cardigans would be okay for me? I’m not sure how the dress code translates across genders, when you are a step below full suit.
Wildkitten
Yes – cardigans will be fine if the guys aren’t wearing jackets. But sometimes I like to wear a blazer anyway as a power outfit.
TO Lawyer
You could wear cardigans but I think especially when working with men, I would opt for a blazer because it has more of a professional aura.
Amy H.
What is the difference between the Columnist pant and the Editor pant at Limited? It looks like the Columnist is a slimmer leg, so as someone who usually wears wide-leg pants (when I can find them), I’m leery. Is it likely the Editor would fit my athletic thighs better?
Emily
From my experience yes. I like the Editor with a slim bootcut. For me its the best of both worlds but it is far from the wide leg look if you like that.
Sunshine
Yes, go with the Editor. The Columnists are more straight cut, with little room for hips. I love my Editors but would have to size up in the Columnist and then have the waist taken in.
Editors come in full-length flare or barely boot, ankle-length, or crop.
Amy H.
Thank you both!
D
Thank you for doing a washable article!
I personally love Petite BR Jackson trousers because I am a short (5″2, 5″4 with heels) pear. I’m kind of saddened by the fact everything is moving to skinnies even business pants because they make me look even more unbalanced.
I wished more decent clothes were machine washable but had good texture and drape. One day…One day..
Little Pants
I have several pairs of Dressbarn’s Secret Agent Pants, and they are excellent. They have a heavier weight, which helps with wrinkles,and the fabric is yarn dyed. I had two pairs that I wore practically every week for two years, and they did not fade. I had to give them away when I lost weight, and I bought a pair of Ann Taylor pants. I’ve had those for a few months, and they are starting to fade, so I went back to Dressbarn. I also have a pair of NY & Co. pants as well, and they too are excellent.
Anon
Can you PLEASE do a reboot of this article? I LOVED the exact stretch from the limited, but don’t know what to do now that they’ve gone bankrupt. Also, many of your links don’t work.