Jeans are the one thing nearly every man owns and the one thing most men buy badly, usually by staying in the fit they wore at twenty-five or by taking whatever the shop has in their waist. The four main fits do genuinely different things, and the right one has more to do with your build than with fashion.
Straight
Cut the same width from the knee to the hem. The safest fit, the easiest to wear over a boot, and the one that suits the widest range of builds — which is why it has outlasted every trend that came at it.
Buy straight if you want one pair of jeans that does everything, if you wear heavier footwear, or if you are not sure. Shop straight fit jeans.
Slim
Narrower through the thigh and tapered from the knee down, without gripping. The most popular fit we sell, and the one that flatters most men who are not especially heavy through the leg.
The mistake with slim is buying it too small. It should follow the leg, not squeeze it — if the denim pulls across the thigh when you sit, it is a size out. Shop slim fit jeans.
Bootcut
Narrow at the knee and opening slightly from there to the hem, so the leg sits over a boot rather than bunching on top of it. Out of fashion for a decade and quietly back, and it remains the correct answer if you genuinely wear boots.
It also balances a heavier upper body better than a taper does. Shop bootcut jeans.
Skinny
Cut close the whole way down. It suits a lean build and very little else, and it is the fit most likely to look wrong as you get older. If you like a narrow leg but skinny feels like too much, a slim or a tapered fit gets you most of the way there. Shop skinny fit jeans.
Tapered is not the same as slim
Worth separating, because brands use both words. Slim is narrow the whole way down. Tapered is roomy through the seat and thigh and narrows sharply below the knee. If you carry weight through the thigh but want a neat ankle, tapered is the fit you actually want, and slim is the one that will disappoint you.
Stretch or rigid
Most denim now has a few per cent elastane in it. Stretch is more comfortable immediately and it gives about half a size, so if you are between two waist sizes in stretch denim, take the smaller one — it will relax into you within an hour.
Rigid denim does not give. Take your true waist, and expect a week of wearing in before it feels like yours.
The trade-off is that stretch loses its recovery over time, which is what makes a pair go baggy at the knee. A hot wash accelerates that, which brings us to the next bit.
Washing
Inside out, 30 degrees, hang to dry. Every wash takes indigo out of dark denim, so wash less often than you think — airing a pair usually does what you wanted the wash to do. Never tumble dry stretch denim: heat is what kills the elastane, and once the recovery is gone the jeans are finished even though the cotton is fine. There is more detail in our guide to washing men's jeans.
How the brands differ
Tommy Hilfiger — cleaner, straighter denim on the Hilfiger side, closer and lower on the Tommy Jeans side. The Denton and Ryan fits are the mainstays. Shop Tommy Hilfiger jeans.
Calvin Klein — good weight, honest construction, and stretch blends that hold their shape better than most. Runs slim. Shop Calvin Klein jeans.
Hugo Boss — numbers rather than names: 708 is slim, 734 extra slim, Delaware slim straight, Taber tapered. Cut on a European block and runs the slimmest of the three. Shop Hugo Boss jeans.
Bugatti and 6th Sense cover the roomier, more traditional end, and Meyer if you want a proper high rise.
Browse all men's jeans, or come in and try a few fits on across our four floors on High Street in Ennis — it takes ten minutes and it is the only reliable way to settle this. Free delivery on orders over €89 across Ireland, and click and collect on everything.