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Basic Jeans question...

JJ Katz

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I suspect this will seem like an impossibly basic or perhaps broad question to the true experts but please bear with me; I'm not typically a wearer of denim.

Question: what model / brand would you recommend for a pair of denim jeans that are reasonably slim-cut (not skinny or skintight) and have a 'full' rise (i.e. waistband at belly-button level), if any?

Thanks in advance for any tips
 

Todd Shelton

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I suspect this will seem like an impossibly basic or perhaps broad question to the true experts but please bear with me; I'm not typically a wearer of denim.

Question: what model / brand would you recommend for a pair of denim jeans that are reasonably slim-cut (not skinny or skintight) and have a 'full' rise (i.e. waistband at belly-button level), if any?

Thanks in advance for any tips
You mentioned you don't typically wear jeans, but do you currently have a pair of jeans you wear/like? I think a good place to start would be measuring the front rise of your best fitting pair of jeans, then thinking about how you'd adjust that to be better. Once you have that measurement you can search for jean brands that list rise measurements in their sizing charts.
 

dieworkwear

Mahatma Jawndi
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Belly-button high jeans, especially in that stone washed denim on LL Bean's site, is going to look very SNL Mom Jeans skit. Or, at best, Mitt Romney.

Agree with Todd Shelton above that you should go off your best pair of jeans and figure out what you'd like changed. Heddels has an online jean finder with a huge number of models in its database.

https://scout.heddels.com/denim

But it obviously mostly focuses on raw, selvedge denim. I don't know if that's what you're after.

Not knowing what else you wear, but seeing that you generally have very traditional taste, I would recommend starting with Levi's 1947 501s, which is a slim-straight cut with a higher rise than what's standard today (but not mom-jean territory). You don't want jeans to fit like trousers. I'd also recommend going for their New Rinse wash, as it'll take the second guessing out of washing, which can be kind of confusing if you're somewhat new to denim. But you'll still have a pair of dark wash jeans that will generally look better the more you wear them. Heavier washes can be fine, but it can take a bit of experience to tell the good ones from bad (the washes on LL Bean's site are bad).
 

JJ Katz

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Thanks to Shelton and DWW for the well thought-out and useful answers.
Like many men of my generation, I grew up wearing button-fly 501s (Whatever model was extant in the 1980s and 1990s). I bought a pair of 508s a few years ago (meh) and really have not been wearing jeans for a while but I thought: with all the amazing expertise out there, I bet there's a model that would work well.

Interesting point about the 'washes'. When I were a lad, we always bought jeans in their cardboard-like, unwashed (or close to it) stage and broke them in ourselves.

Anyhow, I will look up the 1947 Levis and Heddels. I mean, anything that says 1947 on it is calculated to appeal to a style nostalgist like me. :)
 

Todd Shelton

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You're not alone, lots of guys over a certain age have stopped wearing jeans because they can't find a fit they're comfortable with - mainly because fits/styles have changed since their youth.

One thing to consider, although I generally don't offer this type of advice, is whether to 'shake up the brain' and re-evaluate how a jean should fit you today - and not solely draw on ingrained thoughts. However, stepping out of your comfort zone more times than not, results in a garment you end up not wearing.

But as you say, you're a "style nostalgist" and I respect that. Keep up your search, being able to wear a great pair of jeans is worth it.
 

Al Brooks

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Nudie Jeans? They have a lot of cuts, I am sure they have that type of cut.
 

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