Five years ago, I’d never worn black jeans in my life. People didn’t really wear them when I was a kid, and until recently I didn’t really see them on people other than women and more fashion-forward guys.
That slowly started to change, perhaps as looks got darker and more tonal. I appreciated them more on friends like Lucas, and saw brands introducing them as well. Today, I wear black jeans easily as much as the more classic mid-blue or dark-indigo, and certainly more than white.
In fact, I think they’re a good example of the benefits of remaining open-minded about fashion. It rarely pays to follow trends slavishly, but it’s equally a shame to cut yourself off entirely. Fashions consistently refresh and reframe traditional clothes, and will sometimes reveal an interesting way they can work with your style.
After all, you inevitably got into clothing at a particular point in the history of fashion, and adopted many of its presumptions. It would seem a little capricious to never change in any way again.
I wrote about this open-minded filtering of fashions eight years ago, and it only seems truer today – even though my style has probably narrowed in that time.
The best argument will always be a good example, however, and I think black jeans are that example in my case.
I love jeans for their character, versatility and universality. But tailoring is my first love, so finding ways to wear the two together has been a long-running project.
Black jeans, I’ve found, are particularly good because when they fade they’re basically as versatile with tailoring as dark-grey flannels. Not quite as smart of course, but just as good colour-wise.
I’d never considered this until I saw them reframed by popularity among friends and by fashion in general. I had my own perspective and that was shifted slightly; now they’re a really useful and enjoyable part of my stye.
One hard thing about black jeans – and as a result, the thing PS readers ask about most – is how they much can be worn with staples like navy jackets and brown shoes.
Black jeans fit very easily into a tonal wardrobe of white, beige, taupe and so on – the palette that seems to define high-end casual wear at the moment (eg top image). But with other colours, tone and shade become quite important.
Yes, brown-suede shoes can work with black jeans (above), but it’s easier the darker and colder the brown is and the more faded (so closer to grey) the jeans are.
With navy (so common in knitwear, even if you don’t wear tailored jackets much) it’s the same: easier the darker the navy is, and the greyer the black is (eg below).
I find you need less contrast between navy and black for it to work, in part because we’re so used to dark colours together.
But accessories around the two also help – this is something men are often guilty of, considering two things in isolation rather than what else is worn around them. For example, a black leather belt and shoes immediately make the jeans look lighter, because of the contrast created with the shiny, flat-black leather (below).
And to all those that consider this obvious: I write because people ask, and chances are you also learnt this, just through observation and experimentation rather than instruction.
The nice thing about finding something new that works with your style is that it opens up a slightly different look, an adjacent and only subtly different option. Like revealing a different part of the map.
The same tweed jacket worn with black jeans rather than mid-blue has slightly different semiotics – it seems a little less trad, perhaps a little cooler. That might not be what you want to project of course, but it’s a very easy thing to try, a little sideways step into that other part of the map.
The jeans shown here are from Brycelands or are vintage Levi’s. Details at those links. If there are any looks above that you don’t recognise, let me know and I’ll link to the original articles.
We’re always interested, of course, in how readers have uncovered similar little regions of their style map. (Sorry, the map metaphor seems so good, and I’ve been playing a lot of Zelda recently!)
See you in the comments.
