Denim, Revisited

Denim is a touchy subject for a lot of people. Women work out and starve themselves in order to fit into their "skinny jeans." Guys who care about style and clothes often favor pricey selvedge denim jeans from obscure labels. People get mocked for wearing "mom" or "dad" jeans.

I've had my own ups and down with jeans over the years. I realized that I was wearing jeans with legs that were too narrow, both because they were getting caught on some of my boots, and also because the legs were not wide enough in proportion to my taller-than-average frame. I found that I didn't like wearing relaxed-fit jeans because they looked bad on me in the opposite way. Trying to find a decent compromise takes effort and can be difficult.

Over the past three years or so, I've tried a number of different brands and fits, in an ongoing effort to find what works best for me. I have no interest in selvedge, because it tends to stretch out with wearing and because it's expensive. Another tricky issue with jeans: an awful lot of the stuff looks like it's been dragged behind a truck for 50 miles. I'm a middle-aged guy, and I don't want to be seen in jeans like that, even on weekends.

Also potentially embarrassing: wearing jeans that are cut too low. It's probably obvious to say this, but slimmer jeans also tend to have a lower rise. Depending on how you are built, a lower-rise jean can make sense. It elongates the torso, so it might work better for a shorter guy, but taller guys have to be careful that their shirts are long enough to stay tucked in and that they don't end up looking out of proportion. Beyond that, I've found that sitting all day in lower-rise jeans tends to cause my shirt to come untucked in the back more quickly.

I had bought some jeans from Lands' End Canvas because they were marked down to around $15, but after wearing them for a while I decided that they were cut too low and too slim, and didn't look right on me. Finding a reasonable mid-point is not easy. The Levi's 501 and 505 fits represent the lower limit for me in terms of rise and slimness. J. Crew's "slim straight" cut fits me very well and is comfortable, but their "484 slim" is too far in both rise and leg width. So while going through all my clothing for donations, I made some decisions about what was staying and what wasn't, which left me with a slight jean shortage in the "jeans nice enough to wear to work" category.

Not long ago Target started selling a brand of jeans called Denizen, which is a really stupid name, but what are you gonna do? They are free of external branding except for a back waist patch, which is easily removed. They come from Levi's discount-store sub-brand Levi Strauss Signature, and seem to have replace that brand in Target stores. There are maybe half a dozen different fit styles, and after looking them over and eliminating the ones aimed at younger guys, I bought two pair in a fit that's called, appropriately enough, "regular."

They come in a dark blue and a medium blue, both of which are of a consistent finish without any whiskering or other distressing. I can wear either one to work and feel confident that they look appropriate. Both go nicely with my various shoes and boots. They aren't as slim as the J. Crew and Levi's jeans I have, but they aren't big enough to be considered relaxed either. (They do offer a looser "relaxed" fit, for those who prefer it, as well as other fits.) Perhaps best of all, they're only $23 a pair. I suspect they were originally meant to be priced at $20 a pair before the cotton supply problems; they have been on sale at least once for $20, and probably will be again in the run-up to the holidays.