When you wear pants (trousers), what percent of the time are they hard pants (hard trousers)?

https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/hard-pants/

#EvanPoll #poll

I made the calculated decision to buy a handful of workwear pants that are simple but high quality and comfortable.

Mainly so that they will endure through daily use. I got jaded on too many “cheap and comfortable” pants wearing out after just a couple of years.

So those sturdy “hard pants” are what I wear every day, no matter if I'm interacting outside my home.

@evan

Thanks all for your responses and comments. I am below 25%. I wear shorts or sweats to bed, when I work at home, and when I go to the gym. Only when I am doing errands, going out to a restaurant or bar, or visiting friends do I switch into hard pants. It's a pretty comfortable life!

@evan guys somehow need to popularize wearing pocketed yoga pants. My entire wardrobe is now stealth soft pants, even the stretchy jeans.

@evan I often sleep in the jeans I was wearing that day.

I thought it was interesting how many commenters took the question to be what people wear out of the house. It is not mentioned in the question at all. I think the clause "When you wear pants" made people think of occasions when pants are warranted, like a court hearing, a swing dancing contest, or a television interview. So the question became "In situations where only certain kinds of pants are appropriate, how often do you wear the appropriate pants?" I think there is psychological priming.

@evan I was not sure whether you meant to include wearing shorts as “pants”. I live in a warm climate so I wear shorts much of the time. When I wear long pants, they are usually “hard”.

@evan Funny enough I've never heard the terms "hard" and "soft" pants. And I missed the poll. But I'm strange in my clothing preferences and I have not worn soft pants in probably 30 years other than pajama pants I wear to bed very rarely if it is cold.

I also never go barefoot, and generally don't like shorts except to exercise. Diagnose me.

@evan god damned ball jail

@evan not sure I own any hard pants anymore

@evan

I answered "76% to 100%" because I wear dress pants or (just recently) jeans when I'm out doing stuff, like work (when I'm not wearing shorts in the summer). But for decades I've worn T-shirts and sweatpants as sleeping apparel, which stay on well into the weekend. So that's soft pants for well over 50% of the time.

When I last ran in an election my campaign manager said "You'll never win with those baggy pants" and made me get new tailored trousers. Most uncomfortable pants I ever wore.

@evan @mariellequinton Someone had the idea to make already uncomfortable pants even *more* uncomfortable? What's wrong with people?

@evan Ok, so 76-100% at this point in my life, with the caveat that my jeans are the stretchy kind. They're not jeggings, which I would classify as soft pants, and they have to be buttoned and everything. But they're like, part spandex or something while still looking and basically feeling like jeans, if that makes sense?

@evan Of course I wear hard pants! My pants are deeply rooted in science

@evan you and your silly but fun :-) polls. I have worn hard "trousers" less than 10 times since March 2020. Instead I wear shorts over custom leggings from Art of Where in Montréal ( artofwhere.com ) that I make with my flickr photos and ruby scripts e.g. my latest pair of tights http://rolandtanglao.com/2025/04/20/p2127-how-to-make-artofwheretights-vancouver-pink-flowery-photos-pana-gm1-25mmf4-flickrapi-magick/

@roland wowowowowow

@evan silly folks gotta wear silly clothes or something :-) #ItIsAllClownShoesToOur21YearOldSonLOL

@evan I choose the highest option because that is my "leave the house" wear, though I was all-soft-pants during most of Major COVID. However, I do sleep in soft pants (i.e. pajamas) so it would be more like 50/50 if I counted that.

@evan I embraced sweatpants about two years ago. And I don't regret it at all 😂

@evan my wife introduced me to premium jeans and there are some which are stretchy and soft almost to the point of feeling like sweatpants.

That being said I treat them specially because I'd wear them out so quickly...

@evan oh shit, leg jail? man thats a good term for a bad trouser

@evan I do not understand why ppl think that Jeans are hard pants. I wear them everyday and they are comfy as heck.

@evan 100% of the time when I leave the house. Near 0 when at home

@evan I work in an office, and I found these extremely comfortable dress pants that are very stretchy.

I used to work a physical job, I wore stretchy and soft running/hiking pants.

Hard pants are my enemy.

@evan soft snugly pajama bottoms were what got me back into the pants fandom.

I've since purchased several cargo pants that I like, but I've chosen to exclude them from the data for the purpose of this poll because they exist entirely outside the hard/soft pantchotomy. They're comfortable, but I feel 10000% more athletic (it's a low bar to clear) when I wear them. A pants paradox. Paradox pants.

Do shorts, since they are "short pants", count for this question?

Also, where is the distinction between hard and soft? Cargo pants, for example, are softer than jeans but harder than loungewear.

@[email protected]

@danjones000 I count shorts. You can count what you want!

For soft vs. hard, I'd say the boundary is would you wear them to bed. Pajamas, sweats, basketball shorts all work. Cargo shorts don't.

@danjones000 eh, I'm not sure about that rule of thumb. I'd call tights and nylon athletic pants soft pants, but I wouldn't wear them to bed.

@evan I feel like my legs are insufficiently armored if I'm wearing pants (trousers) that aren't jeans.

@floatybirb because what if a komodo dragon

@evan
I have a pair of iron workers jeans that I wear for yard work and when I take out my motorcycle outside of this it's all comfy pants or short for me.

@evan ok, by the definition, every trouser I own is 'hard', but in reality, none of them are 'hard', and indeed, very comfortable. People need to step up their garment game if they're buying uncomfortable jeans and chinos.

@evan
Had to look up "hard pants", but 100%

@tlariv WHAT

@evan
"What" to which part?

@tlariv 100% hard pants

@evan
True story.

@danjones000 @tlariv I added a link.

@evan @tlariv also 100% hard. I don't wear pyjama bottoms and I hate sweatpants.

@evan @tlariv Have you watched Arrested Development? @tlariv just has some jean shorts for the shower, not judging.

If you never wear pants, divide by zero error.

I am aware that "pants" means different things in different places, but please tell me again anyways if it will make you happy.

@evan Also wondering what "hard" means in this context.

@timbray https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/hard-pants/

@evan @timbray https://youtu.be/K8fuBiOwNmk