Here is a small secret of the fabric trade: denim is twill. Twill is a weave, the one that produces a faint diagonal line across the cloth, and denim is simply the variety in which blue threads run one way and white threads the other. That is why jeans are lighter on the inside, and why they fade.
When a pant is described only as "twill," the threads are the same color in both directions and the fabric is dyed solid. Black stays black instead of fading toward gray at the knees. The surface is smoother and a little dressier. And you keep what makes denim good for work, because the diagonal weave is dense, resists tearing and hides wear.
Where twill beats denim
Anywhere with a dress code that says "no jeans." A solid twill five-pocket pant passes as a trouser. Restaurant kitchens and front-of-house, security, facilities, delivery, retail floors: all the jobs that want you in black or khaki pants, on your feet, for ten hours.
Anywhere you need a crease. Twill takes an iron and holds a line. Denim does not.
Anywhere color matters. Uniform programs need navy that matches navy. Solid-dyed twill is consistent from one pair to the next in a way washed denim, by design, is not.
Where denim still wins
Character. Denim fades and molds to you, and a lot of people love it for that. If that is what you are after, read our piece on raw versus washed denim.
Ours
The CA999 Twill is cut on the same block as our CA999 jeans, in 14.5 oz cotton twill. That is a good deal heavier than typical uniform pants and closer to what you would expect from a serious work jean, with the same brass hardware and bar-tacked stress points. It comes in eight solid colors: black, dark gray, light gray, navy, khaki, olive, dark brown and white. Waists run 28 to 54.
If you want a slimmer leg with some give, the CA4511 comes in six twill solids in a cotton-spandex blend. And for the trades, the CA8929 carpenter pant is offered in five twill colors, including painter's white.
All of them are in Pants.