No other piece of clothing combines the versatility, durability, and effortless style of a great pair of jeans. Buy the right ones, and they’ll only get better with age. Choose the wrong pair, and you could be signing up for subpar fabric, an uncomfortable fit, or—shudder—a sad, saggy behind.
To find the best men’s jeans, we went down the denim rabbit hole, trying on 83 pairs in person (during a heatwave, no less!). We also enlisted a panel of five testers—with different body types and tastes—to share their feedback on the top contenders’ fit, style, comfort, and quality.
Ultimately, six pairs rose to the top. Our picks include: a timeless straight-leg pair with outstanding quality; a relaxed, well-priced straight-leg; a slightly stretchy pair with a just-right slim leg; two styles made from distinctive raw selvedge denim (one is budget-friendly, the other is ultra-premium); and a ’90s throwback with an easy fit.
The A.P.C. New Standard jeans have a designer pedigree—they’re made by French ready-to-wear brand A.P.C., or Atelier de Production et de Création. They also have an eye-watering price tag. But our (initially skeptical) testers were won over by this pair’s substantial, next-level 100% cotton denim, impeccable construction, and timeless, flattering cut. These remarkably well-made straight-leg jeans received the highest combined score of any of our picks, earning glowing reviews from the panel, with feedback like “the best” and “top-notch.”
They’re long, lean, and flattering. The New Standard jeans have a slimmer straight-leg cut, with no taper; testers of various sizes praised their elongating effect. This pair skims the thighs and backside. As our 6-foot (size 35W) tester put it, “They’re close[-fitting], but not tight anywhere.” They have a mid-rise (13.5 inches in the back) that fits rather snugly—one tester (6-foot-3, size 31W) remarked that it made his crotch “look a bit more pronounced.” Another tester (6 feet, size 34W) said his only complaint with these jeans was that they were not a smidge higher in the back, to prevent his “caboose from hanging out” when sitting.
They come in a limited size range. Like that of many higher-end fashion labels, A.P.C.’s sizing seems to cater to the Timothée Chalamet set. The New Standard jeans are available in waist sizes from 24 through just 36 inches, with no inseam options. Waist sizes 24 to 29 have a 32.5-inch inseam, and sizes 30 to 36 have a 34-inch inseam, which will be too long for many people (hemming may be necessary).
We think this pair runs true to size. (Note: According to a company representative, the stonewashed indigo wash, which we tested, fits a bit slimmer than other New Standard washes.)
The soft, thick denim wowed testers. The New Standard jeans are made from heavyweight, 13-ounce, decadently inviting 100% Japanese cotton. “They feel really comfortable, soft and pre-broken-in,” one tester said.
Like most all-cotton jeans, this pair will loosen a bit with wear. One panelist (6-foot-3, size 31W) initially found these jeans to be a smidge tight in the waist and even “actively uncomfortable,” but they soon gave way and were “lovely by the end.” When I washed my test pair (in cold water and air-dried), they shrank a bit, but they were back to their original form within a few minutes of wear.
They’re worth their sky-high price. The New Standard jeans are meticulously constructed, with sturdy seams, shiny rivets, quality buttons on the fly, and thick bar tacks on the belt loops and pockets, for added reinforcement. And the straight-leg style is about as trend-proof as it gets, so this pair could be in your rotation for years to come.
Shockingly affordable raw selvedge slim-straight jeans with a touch of stretch: Uniqlo Stretch Selvedge Slim-Fit Jeans
A pair of great raw selvedge jeans for 50 bucks? We wouldn’t have believed it—until we tried the Uniqlo Stretch Selvedge Slim-Fit Jeans. Sure enough, these stylish slim-straight, gradually tapered jeans are nicely constructed from high-quality raw selvedge denim. They have a bit of stretch, so they’re comfier and less rigid than most raw selvedge, and they’ll break in more easily.
These jeans are an amazing deal. Given how pricey raw selvedge can be, we were blown away by the value that this pair delivers. (By contrast, our other raw selvedge pick, the 3sixteen CT-100x pair, is usually around $250.) The Uniqlo jeans are made with sought-after Japanese Kaihara denim that’s midweight—13.5 ounces for the navy wash, 10.5 ounces for the black wash. And the construction is on point, with gunmetal rivets, uniform stitching, and nary a loose thread. The resident selvedge-head on our panel gave them his seal of approval, offering: “They look like a million bucks.”
We did notice that this pair’s surface has a slightly slick, coated feel; it will get more pliant with time, but it isn’t the most appealing.
Are the Stretch Selvedge Slim-Fit Jeans on a par with our 3sixteen pick? Nah. If you look closely, you can tell that the fabric has been woven on a mass scale, so it’s more uniform and lacks the organic texture of the CT100x pair. (Imagine the difference between a bread loaf made in a factory and one baked by hand.) But the Uniqlo jeans undeniably punch way above their weight.
For raw selvedge jeans, they’re unusually comfy. These jeans contain a bit of stretch (2% in the navy wash we tested and 1% in the black wash), so they’re as comfortable as raw selvedge jeans can be from the get-go. The denim still has structured crispness, but you get to skip over the super-stiff-and-scratchy phase. “I can move and sit in them comfortably,” one tester said. “The stretch makes a big difference—it helps with comfort and fit—but it’s not too much.”
They have an appealing slim-straight cut. This pair looks similar to our 3sixteen raw selvedge pick, but they’re slimmer through the leg by over an inch, tapering noticeably from calf to cuff. Our 6-foot-3 tester (31W/32L) deemed the cut “incredibly flattering and easy to style,” while our 6-foot tester (35W/32L) said that “they’re right on the edge of what I’d pick in terms of overall narrowness, but sharp and well tailored.”
They’re easy to care for … though they’ll get crinkly out of the wash. There’s no need to be precious with the Stretch Selvedge Slim-Fit Jeans. They can be washed on a cold cycle—inside out, if you want to retain their color longer—and then air-dried. (We wouldn’t recommend machine-drying, since heat degrades stretch content.) When first laundered, my pair shrank modestly—about an inch in the inseam and barely at all in the waist.
One quirk: As these jeans dry, the material gets crinkly—it ends up feeling like a piece of tin foil that’s been crumpled and reopened. This will happen less frequently once the denim softens—and some of the wrinkles release just from wear. But I’ve gotten good results from ironing these jeans (inside out, medium heat) while they’re still damp and then drying them flat.
They come in two inseam lengths—and Uniqlo will hem them for free. The Stretch Selvedge Slim-Fit Jeans are available in a 32- or 34-inch inseam. They look good cuffed, to display the contrast stitching (selvedge ID) along their interior seams. If you want them made shorter, Uniqlo offers free hemming with either visible stitching or cut-off hems; chain stitching is an extra $5.
Adv
