Do you wear sweats when you travel, or do they make you feel like a slob? Some claim that dressing up when you’re flying can often score you choice upgrades. Others prefer being comfortable on long-haul trips, and as long as they’re appropriately covered, who cares what they’re wearing?
I fall between the two camps. Unless I have to head straight to a meeting when my plane lands, I’m not about to dress up merely to fly. But I’m not about to laze about in baggy clothes for the extreme comfort factor, either. There’s something about looking slobby in public that doesn’t let me relax.
Icebreaker’s Crush Pants are among the great middle-ground pieces of clothing I’ve been wearing recently. Yes, they look just like sweatpants, with an internal elastic waistband with draw cord for adjustability, cuff bands at the ankles and side-seam pockets. But while they look comfortable, they don’t look schlubby.
The pants are made with a soft Merino wool/terry fabric with a little Lycra thrown in for stretch (86 percent Merino wool, 10 percent nylon, 4 percent Lycra). The fit is relaxed, but not baggy, and the back yoke allows a more flattering fit than your standard sweats.
If you can’t bring yourself to wear them on the plane, consider bringing them along for hotel-room lounging, running to the store, après ski, or really, after any outdoor adventure when you want to wind down before going out for the evening.
When it’s time to wash them, the Crush Pants can be easily washed in the machine, and they dry relatively quickly in the shade. Don’t toss them in the dryer, or you won’t be able to wear them for long.
Why Merino sweats? The wool naturally keeps you warm in cold weather and cool in warm weather, it absorbs and releases vapor to prevent overheating and clamminess, it gives you extra protection against the sun, and it’s naturally anti-bacterial—so you can wear a Merino clothing item a few times without washing.
Icebreaker Crush Pants come in black/charcoal or metro heather/charcoal and list for $140 on the Icebreaker site. They’re also available at Amazon and Moosejaw.