The Levi's Jeans That Fit So Well, I Wear Them Pretty Much Every Day
BUY $98, nordstrom.com
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For something so essential, so much a part of my everyday life, I haven't had the best relationship with jeans. Shield your eyes and plug your ears, denim heads, because at the end of this sentence I'm about to admit that most of my jeans, until recently, have been of the fast-fashion variety, either winding up in the trash can or being reborn as jorts (worn by my roommate, no less!). Even Levi's, the godfather of it all, hasn't quite had a silhouette I felt like I could go back to over and over again. I like a slim pant, but as trends lean toward the wider side of things, I don't want it to be too slim. What I do like on the slimmer side, though, is the leg opening. So what's a guy gotta do to get a pair of jeans that don't crowd his loins but do hug his ankles?
I found my oasis when I came across Levi's' 512s. Here's why you should put a pair in your own rotation.
They're Levi's.
There isn't a ton of backing up required by that statement. You know as well as I do that Levi's clout in the denim game cannot be overstated. The addition of this cut to the brand's arsenal only made it more dangerous for the fast-fashion folks I used to give my money to. Levi's is heritage. Levi's is quality. Levi's is reliable. It's the brand you bring home to meet your parents after years of jumping from one pair of jeans to the next.
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BUY $98, nordstrom.com
They're cut for our times.
I don't know why, but the leg opening is the first thing I check when eyeing up a new pair of jeans. If you don't know what that is, essentially it is how tight a pair of pants is going to be on your ankles. And it might just be why I've had so much trouble finding The Perfect Pair for Me. It's hard to come by a jean that provides straight lines from the hip to the calf, and then narrows down to a nice, tailored ankle. But that's exactly what 512s do. From the calves up, I'm flexible and slim—but not too slim. At the ankle, I can cuff or uncuff with the confidence that they aren't billowing about or getting bent out of shape. It's everything you love about the way slimmer jeans look without everything you hate about the way slimmer jeans feel.
BUY $98, nordstrom.com
They'll get better with age.
Like most jeans, you can completely exhaust these puppies throughout the course of a day, fold 'em back up, and do it all over again the next day. They're so versatile, and are such a good cut, that you'll have a hard time not pairing them with other items in your closet. That leads to a lot of potential wear—and that's wear they can handle. The best part? At this price, when they finally do kick the bucket (and that'll take some time), you won't have to sell your liver to replace them. You've got some runway to come up with another 98 bucks.
Prop styling by Miako Katoh
Photography by Allie Holloway
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