Sport Coats and Jeans

[dieworkwear]

What’s with this upturned cuffs fad on jeans?

it breaks the line and makes most people look fat

why would cuffs make someone look fat?

 

[mossrockss]

Seriously, you guys should up your budget for jeans. They last forever and are genuinely useful for a casual wardrobe. I'm not one to believe that paying more money necessarily gets you a better product, but these $50 jeans look

If you're not the kind of person who wears jeans every day, a good pair of jeans should last you ten years or something. They will look better with age. They're worth spending $200 or $250, and they're more useful than green Ghurka pants.

The jeans I was wearing in the pic you posted of me were $30. From American eagle. Just FYI.

 

[flashjack]

What’s with this upturned cuffs fad on jeans?

it breaks the line and makes most people look fat

If you look fat in jeans with a cuff, don't be blaming the jeans.

 

[FlyingHorker]

The jeans I was wearing in the pic you posted of me were $30. From American eagle. Just FYI.

hehehehe

 

[Patrick R]

Cuffs making people look fat is funnier than pretending people in this thread are buying Urkle jeans. I lose.

 

[Waldo Jeffers]

why would cuffs make someone look fat?

it doesn’t always

if you have wide legs, large hem opening for example so that jeans sort of drape down and you roll up that can look ok

but few people wear jeans this way

most are wearing them close fitting

if you wear them this way and cuff the bottom, many legs will look short/ stumpy unless you are very thin

the worst is tapered jeans with cuff

I see a lot of pictures of menswear dudes with these cuffs and it almost always looks suboptimal

an unbroken vertical line all the way down to your shoes will look more flattering in general on most people

 

[dieworkwear]

an unbroken vertical line all the way down [...] will look more flattering in general on most people

This is exactly why i wear raw denim jeans with my raw denim shoes

 

[imatlas]

if you wear them this way and cuff the bottom, many legs will look short/ stumpy unless you are very thin

It’s not the cuffs.

 

[Waldo Jeffers]

I can see many are very committed to the cuff thing

where did this originate anyway?

why would you choose to do this?

 

[dieworkwear]

I can see many are very committed to the cuff thing

where did this originate anyway?

why would you choose to do this?

If you're talking about the original subcultural communities that cuffed denim, such as greasers, rockabilly types, or just low-income workers, that was often for a look or because they were wearing unsanforized denim. Sanforization takes all the shrinkage out. But back in the day, if you didn't know where your inseam would end up many years later, you just cuffed your jeans so they wouldn't end up looking like high-water pants.

If you're talking about the modern community for raw denim -- which aren't the type of guys to wear this stuff with sport coats -- then people wear cuffs because 1) the unsanforized thing, assuming they're wearing unsanforized denim, 2) because they're trying to copy a historical look (greasers, rockers, cowboys, workers, etc), or 3) because they're trying to show off that they're wearing selvedge denim back when selvedge denim was more of a rare, vintage, or repro thing. Selvedge denim now doesn't indicate anything, really. You can find selvedge jeans at Macy's. But back when raw denim was more of a community for denim collectors, vintage hunters, and repro enthusiasts, the selvedge stripe was a sort of cultural marker that you were in the know.

Raw denim has since spread way past its original community. Now all sorts of people wear raw selvedge denim, including guys who wish to wear them with Italian sport coats (a very modern look). So the cuffs remain because they're a kind of shadow from all those other communities -- the historical communities, as well as the modern raw selvedge community.

Whether someone wears jeans with cuffs or not is a personal decision. I personally think sport coats look better with uncuffed jeans, but plenty of guys look great with cuffed denim, IMO. The best way I've heard cuffs framed -- aside from the old city/ country dichotomy used in British traditions -- is that cuffs are like serifs. If you want a modern look, uncuff your jeans (or pants). So something like a trim contemporary topcoat goes better with uncuffed jeans. If you want a traditional look (e.g. Times New Roman), cuff your jeans (or pants). Such that they go better with things like a traditional 1920s inspired chore coat with chambray shirt.

If you're a heavier guy, I agree that you should be wary of heavily tapered jeans. Because the sharply angled drop can accentuate your waist. But I don't think cuffs add visual weight otherwise. They're just a personal style detail.

 

[imatlas]

^ nice summary

 

[Waldo Jeffers]

That was awesome, thanks!

 

[Eli Curt]

Tweedy jacket today.

 

[gettoasty]

The jeans I was wearing in the pic you posted of me were $30. From American eagle. Just FYI.

I have to say you always have the best washed denim fit pics I've seen on this board especially styled with brands like Eidos. You really have to share deals when you find them.

 

[mossrockss]

I have to say you always have the best washed denim fit pics I've seen on this board especially styled with brands like Eidos. You really have to share deals when you find them.

Thanks, I appreciate that.

I probably did share these back when I got them in 2016. I was debating between two pairs, these and another non-selvedge jeans from AE, and by internet vote (on my instagram), these were the most popular.

Let me just say, the AE slim-straight is a great silhouette (the ones I have are not slim-straight, they're the regular slim, which was why I was torn—I liked the other pair's less exaggerated taper, but preferred the fade on these). Rise probably not as high as some would like, and it's rare they make non-stretch jeans. But get yourself to a local mall, get an Auntie Anne's pretzel, maybe try out a Peloton or whatever, and ignore all the teens to get into the AE store and try on the sizes to find the one that works (I size down 1 from my typical vanity sizing, so 33 is how I size with AE). Then you know, and can troll their website to find the occasional gem. I've found they usually have 100% cotton selvedge jeans in the winter months. The pair they've got now, which are raw, not faded, are all sold out sadly (though again, in slim fit).

Here are two pretty decent-looking mid- / light-wash pairs in slim-straight, rife with stretch to the max, but as my brother recently said upon buying some stretch jeans and discovering their excellent comfort and utility: "Where have girl jeans been all my life?"