Written by Rakelle Maurici in Tips & Advice on the 15th March 2016

If there’s one item we can all trust and wear all year long, it’s our jeans - so it’s important to figure out which styles work best for us and our bodies. Naturally jeans are meant to fit to your shape and size over time making them very comfortable. However, this should never compromise the style. Let’s look at the top styles, colours and washes you can always rely on.

Skinny Fit 

This is a style best suited to those with slimmer bodies and especially slim legs. If you don’t fall under this body shape be careful because not only will they not look good, they’ll be very restrictive. This style of jeans is great for guys in their twenties since they have a youthful, ‘boy-about-town’ look. When it comes to styling keep to a casual look with either trainers and a t-shirt, or a checked shirt, leather jacket and Chelsea boots for an off-duty evening style. Skinny jeans also tend to need breaking in and will get looser after wearing them a few times, so don’t worry if they are too tight when you first buy them.

Slim/Straight Fit 

This style of jeans is one which suits most body shapes, especially if you have a slim athletic build – they’re the most versatile cut for occasions. Team them with a shirt, blazer and lace up Brogues or Derby shoes, as well as a sweater and trainers. This fit of jeans is pretty true to size so be sure to find ones that fit like a standard pair of trousers as they will not stretch - they should be tighter on the thighs, knees and calves and loose at the ankle.

Relaxed/Loose Fit 

This is a good cut for those guys reading this that have a slightly larger build. It’ll create an illusion to balance your body out and put you into better proportion. This type of jean is straight from top to bottom and just like the straight fit they can be worn with most style of dress; be it a sports jacket, a polo shirt or button down shirt. Again, like the slim fit jean they will fit true to size and won’t loosen after “breaking them in”.

Colour & Wash

When it comes to colour and wash, there are a variety of coloured jeans to plain neutrals which are accepted more than ever today. However, there are three main washes for your standard blue jeans:

Classic - think Levis or Acne Studios. An average blue-mid wash, where the raw denim is rinsed and then bleached to soften the shade. This was is perfect for casual attire and general weekend wear. 

Vintage - I’m sure we all have our own vintage jeans lurking around in our wardrobes somewhere, albeit they probably have rips in the knees and broken belt loops. However, they will look tatty if they’ve had many years of use. Vintage jeans are made from sanding them slighting at the seams, knees and thighs with a vigorous rinse.

Dark - dark is your best friend if you want to be able to wear jeans for a smarter occasion or at the office if your boss is slightly relaxed. The denim is usually untreated, so they can lose their colour a little after one or two washes. You can try to maintain this by washing and ironing inside out. 

Raw - the basic form of denim - if you ever come across Swedish brand Nudie Jeans, you’ll see that this kind of denim is unwashed, untainted and much denser than the rest. If they’re tighter (either skinny or slim fit) they form creases easily at the knees. Since this denim is raw (also known as dry) they will lose a lot of colour after one wash compared to treated denim which has been pre-washed before it is sold. In the instance of raw denim it’s not unheard of for people to leave them unwashed for 6 months of wear.

We discuss jean fitting, washes and colours in this Ultimate Guide to Denim Jeans for men.