Recently, over dinner at a dive bar, I noticed my ever-stylish pal Bill was wearing possibly the sharpest pair of men’s jeans I’d ever seen. I assumed they were vintage, and being nosy, I peppered him with questions about the pants. With a casual shrug, he said they were from Amazon.
At the risk of fortifying tired gender stereotypes, it can be hard to find useful information on men’s jeans. When I asked the men in my life about their beloved denim, I got answers like “Amazon,” “I wear whatever’s clean,” or my personal favorite, “I do like a little spandex, but please keep me anonymous.”
When looking for intel about men’s jeans on the web, you’ll likely find either short answers like the ones above or multi-page essays in illegible “fashion” language about raw denim that costs more than your monthly car payment.
To quell my own curiosity and in the hope of putting some helpful, accessible info on men’s denim into the wild, I asked, berated, arm-twisted, clarified and begged some of my favorite people to share with me their favorite brands and styles of men’s denim.
There are budget-friendly picks from Walmart and Amazon as well as some pricy options from small designers. Yet, rest assured every option has been vetted and worn by a real-life human — and is now recommend to you to wear on your own.
My longtime friend and style icon Nate Stern, current associate menswear designer at Lucky Brand, also loves Wrangler jeans. "Besides being a western wear staple, I think Wrangler makes some of the best and more durable denim," he said. "One of my fave details I’ve seen on their jeans is they put the felled seam on the out seam as opposed to the inseam, so you get that thick, washed-down chunky seam on the outside. Typically most jean makers choose to put this on the inside of the leg and bust open the outer seam, but I like the heavier-duty look of a felled seam on the outside.”
"It’s very difficult to find a black wash jean that doesn’t pick up every single dust particle on the planet and then you’re forced to carry a lint roller every time you put them on. But these black wash jeans you don’t have to worry about that! They’re a soft material that has some give to them without feeling like leggings."
These come up to a 52-inch waist and 36 inseam in a bunch of washes and colors. They give a little more room in the thigh but come in at the knee, so they're not baggy or bulky.
