Ultimate Guide To Mens Jeans 2022
How Jeans Fit
Your favourite pair of jeans can be broken down into 6 sections. The waist, the seat, the thigh, the knee, the calf and the hem. The waist size is what you pick to get a comfortable fit. The seat covers your backside and is available in a low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise depending on the jean style. A high-rise jean has a waist that reaches near to your belly button. A low-rise jean has a waist that sits much lower and closer to the top of your buttocks. A mid-rise sits in-between.
From the thigh to the hem, is generally described as the leg. The leg length size is what you pick to suit how long your legs are. Depending on the fit of the jean, the leg can be tighter or looser on the thigh or knee, calf or hem.
Loose & Relaxed Fit Jeans For Mens
Two names for a similar fit. A loose or relaxed style jean fits loosely from the seat to the hem. This style is very comfortable, because it gives lots of room for motion. The generous style means this jean is as comfortable to move around in as it is to sit down, without the material feeling tight around the seat or leg.
Bootcut & Flare
The bootcut and flare are similar fits. They’re both generally quite roomy on the seat and thigh, narrowing on the knee and then widening again to the hem. The difference is the degree to which they widen. A flare has a wider hem than a bootcut jean. The bootcut jean hem will be wide enough to cover the top of your shoes. A flare jeans hem can be wide enough to almost cover your shoes entirely.
Straight & Regular Fit
Is this the original fit? It’s got to be the most iconic and successful style of jean. While skinny jeans have been incredibly popular since the early 2000s, straight jeans are making a come-back as a retro throw-back to the 90s. Straight and regular fit jeans are roomy in the seat and follow a straight line from the thigh to the ankle. Hence the name, straight fit.
Tapered, Carrot Fit
Tapered and carrot fit are used interchangeably to describe where the jean starts quite roomy on the seat and thigh and becomes progressively tighter to the hem. This style has the comfort of a straight fit with the style or slim of skinny fit. It’s a great option to have in your wardrobe and might be just the style you’re looking for if you find skinny or slim fits uncomfortable.
Slim Fit & Skinny Fit
The most fashionable fit for the past 20 years. Skinny and slim fit jeans burst back onto the scene in the early 2000s, popular with the rock and indie crowd. It has since become a mainstream staple and every man should have a pair of skinny or slim fit jeans in their wardrobe. These fits flatter men with slim legs and a great for showing off your footwear as the hem ends sharply at the ankle. Both skinny and slim style start snugly on the seat and gradually get tighter until the ankle. The main difference is that a skinny fit is a skin-tight fit and slim fit has more room throughout the leg.
Raw Denim
Also known as dry denim or unwashed denim, raw denim is denim that hasn't been treated. The material retains it's original deep indigo blue colour; it's cut and sewn to shape and it's ready for sale. Every other jean will go through a treatment process to add extra design or detail.
Washed Denim
Washing denim is a process to make the jeans look faded and worn. This can range from a light wash that features only light fading to a heavy wash where a lot of the dye has ben removed to reveal white underneath.
Ripped & Distressed Denim
Ripped and distressed denim is usually a sign of well-loved jeans that been worn a lot. Inevitably the material thins at high-impact or movement areas (like the knee or the hem) and the denim rips and frays. Ripped and distressed style jeans brings this look to you immediately, without the need to distress the jeans yourself. Plus ripped and distressed designs might have wear-and-tear in the areas on the jeans that won't usually rip, creating looks that wouldn't occur naturally.
The most popular process to create rips and distressed denim is to use highly-specialised lasers to accurately reproduce the rips from designs onto the final jean.
You can even buy jeans that have repaired rips. Where the holes and rips created during production are then repaired with patches or other materials. This can create truly statement jeans and add a patchwork of colour and design to your denim.
Bleach & Paint Drip
Two techniques that create similar looks. Bleached or paint drip jeans give you a look that you can't get from traditional jeans. You can literally add a splash of colour to your jeans with either bleach stains or coloured paint dripped liberally on your jeans.