Jeans

The second item on my list of things to make you look cool is jeans. I know we all have them, but it is important to read this all the same. With jeans there are a few things to take into consideration: cut quality, colour, denim and pockets. For the sake o fashion I’m going to run through the dos and don’ts of each.

Cut: There are several different acceptable cuts for men, these are skinny leg, straight leg and boot cut. Cuts such as wide leg should be left on the shelf. Each cut is good for different people and different styles, if you are tall and skinny, opt for a skinny leg as your main choice in cut, this being said however, if you are super skinny, don’t buy super skinny jeans as you will constrict your testicles and you will look top heavy. also DO NOT wear women’s jeans, women’s jeans are not made to flatter men or suit them in any way so next time you have an urge to walk out the door in your sister's or roommate's jeans or god forbid a pair of women's jeans you bought yourself, take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself where your penis went. There are plenty of unisex jeans out there so make use of them. Another factor of cut is the "yolk", or the 'y' shape on the back of the jeans, try and buy jeans with a yolk that isn’t too high, otherwise from behind it looks like you are wearing your jeans around your navel. Buying jeans that are the right length is key; you don’t want them too long or too short, if you want to show a bit of ankle roll the jeans up a little instead of buying a pair that is intentionally too short.

Quality: A good quality pair of jeans will last longer, fit better and have better detailing than a cheap pair. With denim you pay for the denim, the craftsmanship and the dyeing, all three of these things are not worth being cheap about; denim should be Japanese or European as they produce the best and often organic denim, bad denim frays and rips easily. Jeans should have small even stitching, a nice design motif on the back pockets and a good fit, bad craftsmanship means the jeans will be boring and probably won’t fit nicely due to the fact that the person sewing is trying to churn out 100 pairs a day instead of worrying about quality. Dyes should be deep and rich and long lasting, when done cheaply, dyes won’t last long, will be boring colours and may also contain poisonous chemicals which we can absorb through our skin. My point is, buy quality.

Colour: Men should have a wide array of jeans, but the jeans should not be in a wide array of colours. Bright colours should definitely be avoided, high end brands do them every season or so but they never last, instead opt for dark hues of blue, they go with nearly everything and can be worn all year round. Light grey pairs, acid wash (highly distressed) and white jeans are also good for summer months. Winter colour palettes should be darker colours such as dark grey, black and the dark blue. You should also have a pair of jeans that is special, a highly unusual but fashionable pair, for me it’s a pair of dark grey jeans with a metallic hue in them, they don’t go with everything but they are a slightly dressier version of your average pair of jeans. Other unusual things can be jeans that are wax coated or jeans with small amounts of embroidery on them.

Denim: As I mentioned before, good denim is important and on the most part, the best denim comes from Japan, Europe and turkey. Top quality denim is woven evenly and made from the ebst cotton, which in turn means it takes dyeing better and it is stronger than your average cheap denim another thing to look for if you are a plant conscious warrior is if the denim is organic, in the past 10 years or so, there has been a huge push for more organically grown cotton. I bet you are yawning at this point but cotton plantations use more chemicals than any other kind of plantation, so buying organic is an ethical choice to try and save the planet.

Pockets: Ideally jeans should have 5 pockets, 2 in the back, 2 in the front and one little one on the front for coins. These pockets should ideally be without zippers. gravity cannot make things fall out of jeans pockets like they can in some jacket pockets that require zips a button or press stud would suffice, maybe having one on a back pocket is a nice choice but to have more is ridiculous and in bad taste, if anything they are going to fall off from being scraped on benches and various other seats. Some cooler ideas that I have seen of late are pockets with leather or silk edges, pockets with studs going the whole length and pockets with zipper teeth but no zipper.

Brands of Note: Nudie, True Religion, Acne, Dior Homme, Tsubi