Do you hate jeans? First of all, know that you are not alone. Actress Eva Mendes once called jeans her “worst nightmare”.
Seth Rogen told Jennifer Hudson he doesn’t own a single pair.
“They’re constricted, they’re heavy, they’re weird,” he said.
Kevin Hart announced he stopped wearing them after he turned 40 because “jeans hurt and are not comfortable”. Dita Von Teese said she finds them “unappealing”.
Whole Reddit threads are devoted to people complaining about jeans.
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“It’s similar to bra-shopping,” said Eva Chen, Instagram’s director of fashion partnerships. “You could have the exact same dimensions as a friend, but what looks good on one person will look wildly different on the other.”
Yet, despite all of the above, we live in an increasingly denim-dominated world.
Jeans acolytes would probably argue, justifiably, that these days there are jeans for everyone, even the haters.
It is also true that the sheer effort of sorting through all of those choices to find the one style that works for you can be overwhelming. Not to mention a source of option anxiety.
And because bodies and trends change over time, you have to keep doing it, again and again.
Little wonder it may seem easier to just say no.
But jeans serve a useful purpose in life. That’s why they have stuck around so long and have such broad appeal.
They are hard to replace. That’s why, assuming you don’t want to go the Von Teese way and devote yourself fully to dresses and skirts, the first thing you need to think about when you think about an alternative is – what are the basic qualities that make denim such an effective part of a wardrobe?
“Practical, durable, American,” designer Mike Amiri said, ticking off on his fingers the positive attributes he associates with jeans. “Classic.”
Perhaps to that would be “malleable”, since, like the white shirt or the little black dress, denim can work in a host of different situations depending on how you accessorise it.
As to what other kinds of clothing may be similar but different, Amiri suggested thinking about vintage workwear, like cargo pants and painter’s pants, clothes that speak a shared sartorial language and belong to the same traditions but generally have a looser fit and come in softer cottons.
“They’re light, and they’re utility,” Amiri said.
They also act as a wardrobe blank canvas in the same way jeans do, allowing you to build a look on top at will.
Cargo pants in cotton, silk and even velvet offer the comfort of pyjamas and sweats with the look of actual pants. They are particularly practical on planes, where even comfortable jeans can cut into the middle when sitting in an economy seat.
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Chen, who took years to come around to denim, offered another suggestion, one that fits in the category of having your cake and wearing it, too.
“I have many friends (even in the fashion industry) who espouse sweatpant jeans,” she said.
Essentially terry cloth or fleece pants that have a trompe l’œil jeans effect, they offer the effect of wide-leg denim, at least from afar, with the feel of – yes – sweats.
She also said that you should never say never.
“Once you find the brands of jeans you like, it changes your relationship with denim,” she said.
To that end, it may be worth considering yet another option – taking the denim you (mostly) like to a tailor. Sure, that adds a second step and a bit of extra cost, but it will solve the problem of fit, thus obviating the endless quest for the perfect pair. – ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
