Slim fit work trousers

Why slim fit work trousers make sense on site

Most work trousers are still cut like they were in the nineties: wide through the thigh, baggy below the knee, and finished with a hem you end up standing on by Wednesday. That cut was never about doing the job better. It was about fitting the most people with the fewest sizes.

Slim fit work trousers fix the bits that actually annoy you. Less loose fabric means less to catch on ladder rungs, scaffold clips, rebar and the edge of a joist. Nothing flapping round your boots when you're on a roof. Nothing dragging through wet plaster or mortar. And because the fabric sits closer, knee pads stay where they should when you kneel instead of sliding round to the side of your leg.

The catch is that slim only works if the trouser moves with you. A slim cut in a stiff, non-stretch fabric is miserable the first time you squat to a socket or climb into a loft hatch. That's why every Tauro trouser has stretch woven through the whole fabric, not just a panel sewn into the crotch.

What makes a slim fit work trouser worth buying

Plenty of slim fit work trousers look sharp in a photo and give up at the crotch seam by month four. The honest test is simple. After six months of daily wear, is the crotch seam intact, are the knees still there, do the pockets hold a tape measure without sagging, and does the fabric recover when you squat?

Three things decide that: the fabric, where the reinforcement sits, and the cut. Get those right and slim fit is more practical on site than baggy, not less. Get the fabric wrong and slim fit restricts you, which is exactly where its bad reputation comes from.

Stretch: woven through or stitched in?

There are three ways a work trouser gets its stretch, and they're not equal.

• Stretch panels. A rigid trouser with a stretchy gusset or knee panel sewn in. Cheap to make, and the seams around the panel are usually the first thing to go.
• Stretch woven through the fabric. A small amount of elastane in the base fabric, so the whole trouser gives a little everywhere. This is what all three Tauro trousers use, at 2% elastane.
• Full 4-way stretch. Very stretchy synthetic fabric. Comfortable, but it can bag out at the knee and generally wears faster against concrete and brick.

The Outlaw and Rampage use a 60% cotton, 38% polyester, 2% elastane blend that dries quicker and holds its shape wash after wash. The Ranger uses 98% cotton with 2% elastane for a softer, more breathable feel on long days in a hot loft.

Where the Cordura goes

Nearly every trouser over £40 says Cordura reinforced somewhere on the label. The question is where, and how much. Cordura is a registered family of high-tenacity polyamide fabrics with far better abrasion resistance than standard polyester, and it keeps most of its strength when wet.

It belongs where you actually wear through: knees, thighs, back pockets and anywhere a tool rubs. On Tauro trousers, 100% polyamide Cordura covers the knee pad pockets, thighs and back pockets. On the Ranger it extends to the holster attachment points too, because that's where a loaded holster pulls hardest. Read our guide to Cordura in work trousers.

Knee pad pockets: the honest version

All three trousers have knee pad pockets, reinforced with Cordura on the outside. They take standard knee pad inserts and hold them in the right place when you kneel.

What they are not is EN 14404 certified. That standard tests a specific trouser and pad together as a system, and ours haven't been through it. If your site or your knees need certified protection, buy EN 14404 certified pads or strap-on knee pads and use them with the trousers. We'd rather tell you that straight than print a badge we haven't earned.

Holsters: on, off, or none

Holster pockets are brilliant on first fix and a nuisance under a sink or on a client's sofa. That's why the Rampage and Ranger have holsters you can take off completely, and the Outlaw has none at all.

• Outlaw if you never want them: plasterers, decorators, and anyone working in occupied homes.
• Rampage if you want them some days: carpenters, bricklayers and groundworkers.
• Ranger if you carry the most kit and want the fullest pocket set: electricians, plumbers and roofers.

Holster pockets: do you actually need them?

Which trouser for your trade

Every trade wears trousers out differently, so here's where we'd start.

• Electricians: Ranger. Zipped and flapped pockets for small parts, ruler pocket with a phone slot, and the holsters come off for second fix. Best work trousers for electricians.
• Plumbers: Ranger for the kneeling and the pocket set. Best work trousers for plumbers.
• Carpenters and joiners: Rampage, with holsters on for first fix and off for kitchens and finishing. Best work trousers for carpenters.
• Bricklayers and groundworkers: Rampage. The cotton-poly blend copes with wet ground and repeated washing.
• Plasterers and decorators: Outlaw. No holsters to fill with plaster, clean lines in customers' homes.
• Roofers: Ranger. Slim through the leg so nothing catches on battens or ladder rungs.

Getting the size right

Tauro trousers come in 30 to 40 inch waists with a 32 inch regular leg, in black. They're cut slim through the thigh and leg, so measure rather than guess.

• Measure round your waist where your work trousers normally sit, not where your jeans sit.
• If you're between sizes, or switching from loose-fit workwear, size up on the waist.
• If you wear thermals underneath in winter, size up.

Not right? Exchanges and returns are free for 30 days, so you can wear them on site and decide properly. See the full size guide.

Looking after them

Wash at 40 degrees, inside out, with the holsters removed. Skip the fabric softener: it coats elastane and shortens the life of the stretch. Line dry where you can and keep them off a hot radiator. Do that and the stretch, colour and Cordura will last far longer. Full care guide.

How we compare with the big names

Snickers, Scruffs and DeWalt all make decent trousers. Snickers have outstanding fabrics and a certified knee protection system, and Scruffs are good value and stocked everywhere. If you need EN 14404 certified knee protection out of the box, or you want to try on in a trade counter, they're the right call.

Where Tauro is different is the cut and the route to you. Our trousers are designed in Redditch by a small team of ex-tradesmen, cut slim from the start rather than slimmed down from a baggy pattern, and sold direct. No trade counter margin, which is how a Cordura-reinforced stretch trouser lands at £55.99 to £69.99. Tauro vs Snickers, compared honestly or see our guide to UK workwear brands.