After a baking summer it’s a relief to be reunited with the structure of jeans again. They are such a staple in our collective wardrobes – 2.5 million UK women wear jeans every day, and even the Queen wears jeans in public these days.
But while denim has been a style essential for decades, the fit that is in fashion is subject to constant micro-shifts. The pair you bought a couple of years ago might feel slightly dated now: think of how skinny jeans have been cast out to fashion wilderness (although, watch out, they keep threatening to return). Marielle Wyse, founder of the eponymous brand, says that one main trend for this autumn is that “jeans are getting longer in length this year”. “Full length is where it’s at,” she says.
There is a dazzling array of styles to choose from (M&S alone has some 616 styles for women) but new-season styles are dropping from all of the major high street retailers in all kinds of new lengths, shapes and colourways. Which means that shopping, the stylist Serena Crawley says, “can feel like a minefield”. But, she encourages, we should persevere, as “finding the right pair of jeans will transform your whole wardrobe”.
Some brands are helping to narrow down the options. The shirts-first British brand With Nothing Underneath has just launched three core styles: a classic straight leg, a high-waisted, wide leg and a cropped kick flare. “Customers have always asked where to get good denim jeans from to complete the look, so we decided to design our own,” founder Pip Durell says, of a process that involved more than two years including fittings with “real women” to get feedback on the designs.
Similarly Louisa McCutcheon, founder of new denim brand Lousin, created three central designs – wide, straight and slim – but uses an AI-powered quiz, combined with a cleverly designed pattern, to allow each pair of jeans to have a custom fit. Customers type in their exact measurements, along with whether they usually find jeans gape at the waist or fit too-tight on the hips, along with length, colour and style. “The idea was to create shapes women could come back to again and again, rather than design around a particular trend,” she says.
Crawley adds that if you already have a great-fitting pair, they can be brought up to date “with accessories like a new pair of shoes, a fresh white t-shirt or a different belt”. Loafers, for example, feel especially this season, or a jumper styled over the shoulders. “As long as the fit is still good and they haven’t lost their shape, they are good to go.”
The perfect straight leg
With Nothing Underneath’s Crawford jeans are a high-waisted straight leg in 100 per cent organic cotton, “what I call proper denim”, according to Durell. She was frustrated with other straight-legged jeans on the market that were “either too skinny or too wide. I wanted to ensure it had a great cinch at the waist, a flattering lift for a peachy bum, and then a truly straight leg cut.”
Crawford Jeans, £150, With Nothing Underneath
Best for: Wearing with loafers, such as classic Penny styles from GHBass, and styling with a shirt and bright jumper over the shoulders for days running around town.
The pair made to your measurements
Lousin launched this year after two years of development by an all-female team across London, Amsterdam and Berlin. “What I found was that the same fit frustrations kept coming up, both for me and for other women,” McCutcheon says. “You could try on pair after pair, across different brands and different sizes, and still come up against the same problems. A big part of the issue is that traditional denim often isn’t designed to reflect the variation in women’s proportions.” A 60-second quiz uses AI to determine a custom fit, then the jeans are made to spec and delivered in two to five working days.
Custom High Rise Straight Jeans, £275, Lousin Apparel
Best for: Anyone whose waist-to-hip ratio defeats standard sizing, and for long or short legs as there’s no hemming required.
The reinvented classic
Not everything old is out of style: classic Levi’s 501s have been worn for more than 150 years with celebrity fans spanning Marilyn Monroe, Hailey Bieber and Pamela Anderson. Since August the brand has been available to buy on M&S.com. Sales of the 501 have been the most popular of the brand’s styles on the site (£110, M&S). But you don’t have to buy new: “a vintage pair of Levis 501s from the 90s will forever be the ultimate denim nirvana,” Crawley says.
Best for: Wearing with trainers, such as a low style by Hoff, and pairing with a great white vest.
The jeans for the person who thought they couldn’t wear jeans
If you’re a woman who believes that they can’t wear jeans, try a style that looks more like a tailored trouser, such as Hush’s Nessa wide-leg jean (£100, Hush) which “creates a beautifully balanced shape that’s both modern and easy to wear”, says Nina Jenson-Collman, design director at Hush. An alternative, according to Wyse, is a wide-leg turn-up jean. “It’s a new take on shape which has a real cool vibe to it. It gives you an opportunity to again introduce ballet flats or ballet heels which give that look the current style,” Wyse says.
Iris Turn Up Wide-Leg Jean, £195, Wyse London
Best for: Anyone new to, or returning to denim
The jeans to rediscover your waist
When barrel legs first burst onto the scene, the shape looked so alien that they seemed unwearable. Now they are M&S’s best-selling style. “Many of my over 50s clients have been surprised by how much they love the soft curve of the barrel-leg, which is super flattering for most body shapes,” Crawley says. “One client told me that her new barrel-leg jeans made her realise that she actually has a waist. The problem wasn’t her body; she had simply been wearing the wrong style.” The best barrels in the business are those by Citizens of Humanity, worn by Halle Berry, Rihanna, Gigi Hadid and Zara Tindall, which sit high on the waist and taper to the ankle in rigid, non-stretch cotton (£320, Net-A-Porter). An updated version of a style that’s been around for a few seasons is to go for coloured denim, such as the Carob wash. Crawley also rates Whistle’s version which has a less extreme shape.
Denim Stretch Barrel Leg Jean, £95, Whistles
Best for: Smartening up for work, paired with pointed-toe ankle boots such as these by Dune (don’t allow a gap of skin to show) and a fitted top half.
The pair engineered for a butt-lift
Mother, founded in Los Angeles in 2010, built much of its reputation on what its jeans do from behind. The Dazzler, a mid-rise slim-straight, was one of the first styles the brand created, and it remains one of the brand’s best-sellers. “The back pocket placements are very considered and create the lifted, flattering effect,” co-founder and creative director Tim Kaeding explains. Opt for the ankle-grazer style to ease yourself out of summer (£261, Motherdenim). For a high street pair, M&S’s magic shaping jeans get hundreds of five-star reviews online, thanks to the design’s clever back-seaming that helps lift the bum.
Magic Shaping High Waisted Straight Leg Jeans, £46, M&S
Best for: Its famous butt lift, and for keeping hold of that Californian cool, summer feeling as long as possible.
The vintage that looks modern
There is no shortage of jeans in the world, but finding the perfect vintage pair is harder than it seems. Vintage Levi 501, for example, has had a range of fits over the years. Chloë Culpin launched Pin Denim in 2020, drawing on a background as a denim designer and personal shopper. She sources pairs to order, measuring clients at her Chelsea studio and talking through how they want the jeans to fall and which era they want them from (Vintage Levi 501s from £55, Pin Denim). The studio has partnered with the alterations service, The Seam, for customised fits. For an alternative take on vintage denim, ELV is an extraordinary brand: it scours vintage warehouses across the UK for good quality used denim (nothing that contains stretch), then uses the fabric for their innovatively designed jeans, which have previously shown at London Fashion Week.
Talbot Jean Dark Blue, £435, Elv Denim
Best for: Those who want a genuine one-off, and a solution to the mounting piles of new denim in the world.