I Tried to Find the Perfect Pair of Wide-Leg Crops, and These Were My Favorites

I’ve written at length about my general disdain for shorts and overwhelming preference for pants. I’m thoroughly convinced that even during the summer, pants are the absolute best bottoms around. They’re easy to move around in, they keep your legs from sticking together and even when they ride up, they keep you covered.

That said, thick pants and humidity are a miserable combination. So in order to make the whole summer pants thing work, you really have to stock up on an array of different styles—all of which need to be as breezy, comfy and breathable as they are cute.

Thankfully, clothing stores are chock-full of pants that fit the bill. It’s just a matter of finding them.

MORE: 27 High-Waisted Summer Pants to Wear When You’re Tired of Shorts

This summer, stores have loaded up on wide-leg cropped pants made from linen, denim, corduroy and more. Accordingly, Pinterest users are saving wide-leg crops to their virtual vision boards 45 percent more frequently this year than they were last year. In other words, wide-leg culottes are having a moment.

And since I’ve designated myself a ride-or-die for Team Summer Pants, I decided to embark on a (brief) quest to find the best pairs of wide-leg crops around.

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Here’s the deal: I called in wide-leg cropped pants from a few different brands and spent a couple weeks trying them on. I enjoyed some of them so much I actually wore them around, but others remained in the confines of my apartment. I snapped gifs of most of the pants so you could get a sense of their fabric, how they move, etc., but some just translated better to photos.

Oh yeah, and I began by trying them all on with the same outfit: my trying-things-on uniform, if you will. (It’s a black tank and understated black heels—hard to go wrong.) A few of the pants were so wonderful (or bizarre) that I felt the need to assemble actual outfits, so you’ll see some styling sprinkled throughout.

At the end of each review, you’ll find a verdict—as well as a shoppable link to the pants. All in all, I tried on eight pairs and walked away with four favorites that I’m super excited to integrate into my summer wardrobe.