Men's Slim Fit Jeans

Slim describes a continuous taper rather than a tight leg. Denim narrows steadily from thigh to hem with nothing gripping along the way, finishing at a hem circumference around 14 inches. Pinch the cloth at your mid thigh and about an inch should lift away. No lift at all means you are wearing skinny, and three inches means the pair is really a straight.

Producing a smooth taper takes shaping in the pattern rather than a pinched hem. Both the inseam and the outseam curve inward below the knee so the fabric follows the calf instead of collapsing onto it, and the back rise usually runs an inch or two higher than the front so the waistband stays put when you sit. Most slim jeans carry 1 to 2 percent elastane in the weft, which means the yarn that runs across the fabric, because a close taper in pure cotton binds at the knee within an hour of sitting. That small percentage costs you fade character, since blended denim wears evenly instead of sharpening into whiskers at the hip.

A straight jean holds one width from thigh to hem and reads more traditional, which is why raw denim projects live there. Athletic taper starts two to three inches wider at the thigh and seat, then narrows to the same ankle. It looks like this from ten feet away and fits a leg that this pattern refuses. Relaxed and baggy travel the opposite direction, adding room everywhere and treating volume as the point. Slim occupies the tightest position that still lets you move, which is its place in the drawer rather than any claim to being correct.

Lean and average legs are the fit's home, and so is any wardrobe that wants a single pair of jeans to carry both boots and loafers, since a 14 inch hem sits over either without stacking. Thighs built by squatting or cycling should read the athletic taper guide instead, because this pattern binds there and the knee blows out first. Hot climates argue against it as well, given that close denim traps heat against the leg with nowhere for air to move.

Ignore the word on the label and shop the tape, since one maker's slim measures like another's straight. Lay a pair that already fits you flat, record the thigh an inch below the crotch and the opening across the hem, double both figures and match those. Squat all the way down before deciding, because a leg that grips the kneecap standing still strains that seam within a season. Cold water and a line instead of a dryer keep the elastane alive, and a knee whose elastane has died never comes back.