Crouch Gusset, Huh?
Same here. I used to be a fan of Carhartt, but Wrangler’s Riggs line has been my go-to for the past few years. The denim jeans have a nice heavy feel to the fabric and feel like they’ll last more than two years, and the Ranger cargo/carpenter pants are ripstop cotton that I haven’t managed to damage yet.
Another thing I like about the Rangers is that their side pockets are big enough to completely contain today’s tall phones - no problem holding something like an iPhone 6/7/8 Plus or an X in an Otterbox Defender case.
I’ve consciously bought my last pair of Levis too. I switched over to Lee, which so far seem to be the ticket.
mmm
Carhartt double front loggers are the only jeans anyone ever needs… Now if only I could convince my wife to let me wear them everyday.
Sierra Trading Post has some pretty awesome prices on “factory seconds” and “closeouts”
A lot of my hard-to-fit friends recommend Not Your Daughter’s Jeans. I’d never heard of them before. Apparently they specialize in both petite and plus size, but they also pay close attention to body shape vs. cut.
My go-to has always been Lees because they’re the one brand I’ve never had fit issues with except for the mid-rise-let-me-show-you-my-butt trend from a couple of years back.
I have been buying the Kirkland Signature jeans at Costco. They are $12.99, and I have yet to wear a pair out.
I’m not that tall and not that thin, but I have always had a heck of a time buying slacks. My 33" waist and 34" inseam was apparently right on the outside edge of what stores would normally carry – they only had odd numbered waists up to 32" inseam. So, jeans were what I wore to work out of necessity – they were the only pants I could find in my size.
I refuse to wear Levi’s for the same reasons that others have stated - overpriced low quality crap. You’re paying for the name, the “legend”, not a decent pair of jeans. Penney’s Arizona jeans were my go-to brand for years. If they were on sale I could get them for about $20 a pair and they would last me about a year (worn twice during the week and washed every weekend) before they would start to fray.
Then a few years ago Penney’s decided to cut way back on their store inventory. It was nearly impossible to find jeans at all, much less in my size. When I did find jeans in my size, they were the stressed, dirty-looking style that kids these days seem to be into. Definitely not the look I want to be wearing to the office. And of course now our local Penney’s store is closed, so I’ve got to go elsewhere to find pants. So thanks for the suggestions in this thread, now I have some other options to check out!
I have some of those as well and they seem just fine. Really, the only issue I ever have with jeans is that they tend to get a hole on the left knee, probably because I often cross my left leg over my right and put some extra stress on the fabric there. But even that’s not a “I only had these for three weeks” sort of issue. Even my Levis seem okay enough.
Ugh… I hate buying jeans. It’s not just the waist, but the rise. I bought a pair of jeans that can be pulled up to my rib cage… and others that barely go over my hips… and they’re usually labeled as “sits at waist.” WFT. Whose waist is a full foot from their crotch? But if I let the jeans sit at my actual waist, the crotch is midway down my thighs and I get serious rubbing as I walk. I’m plus sized and have few options in local stores, so I tend to buy online, but then I run the risk of crazy weird sizing.
Sometimes they’ll list the inseam or waist measurement for a woman’s jeans. But they almost never list the rise or the waist.
Whacky pants’ sizing isn’t just a women’s thing. (I’m a guy.) I have to wear a labcoat or uniform at work, so since fashion doesn’t really matter I like to buy in bulk. Bunch of long-sleeved tees varying only in color, etc.
When I found a pair of jeans that fit great, I tried ordering 4x of exactly the same size, style, cut, etc. None of them fit right. The waist variance seems to be ±2 inches. My waist size hasn’t changed for decades, so no need for “fat pants”, and no desire for ankle-huggers. Even the inseams were off. Ended up sending 'em all back.
I have this same problem. I wear a 33 or 34" waist with a 36" inseam - that size is very hard to find. Carhartt is about the only thing I can find with those sizes. So, for nicer work pants (can’t get away with the Carhartt’s), I’m usually stuck with the longest 34" Dockers or other brands I can find. And yes, I’m almost always prepared for a flood.
Check Eddie Bauer.
Don’t know about EB but Lands End or LLBean have the sizing that we need.
I just got a pair of work appropriate pants at Eddie Bauer and they were the proper length. They only had one pair in the store and that store is an hour away. I’m always hesitant to buy pants online (most clothing/shoes) since of the size variations but I might have to resort to it when I wear out my current batch of work pants.
I’ll have to check out those stores when we make our annual pilgrimage to the “city”. We have limited clothing shopping opportunities near us: Walmart and the hardware store. I buy most of my clothing from the hardware store 
BTW, when I first got to my current height, I had a 29" waist. Try to find 29 X 36 pants. I still complain but I have a much easier time than when I was a stick.
That’s nuts! I’d bolt from shopping there. 
Online you can order with ¼" increments on inseam length whereas I’ve only seen whole inches in a store. They’re almost always having a sale online, too. Even if it’s give them an email address for x% off; you can ask them to stop sending you emails; they will.
I’ve noticed very different levels of quality among Levi’s jeans. The Signature label (Wal-Mart) is pretty thin and wears out in a year, but overall the brand’s quality control is weak.
The best bet is to go to a store with a lot of turnover and check each individual pair for something done well – but let’s face it, that’s what Levi’s should be doing before slapping their label on something.
Well, the Duluth jeans arrived. They aren’t as comfortable as the Levi’s but so far haven’t ripped or otherwise failed. They certainly fit better than the Carhartt.
I’ll give them a few weeks and then maybe order another pair or two if they continue to perform as desired.
I guess I’m weird, and I’ll assume my experience is an absolute outlier, but I’ve never had a lick of fit or durability issues with my 501s. (Well, except a few seem to be a lot tighter than the number on the tag, but I may have been careless with the cuts–“skinny jean”, for instance. Or maybe their sizing and labeling can be inconsistent. Who knows?
Also, I consider these 501s “working pants” at least a few days out of the week, but “work” isn’t much work. My work day mostly consists of computer work, and the main stress my jeans get is being sat on, so I’m probably not challenging their durability much.