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Not all denim is created equal. Here’s a guide to making sure you find the very best—and best looking—at any price.
By Charlie TeasdaleIn 2022, a pair of 150-year-old Levi’s sold at auction for almost $90,000. These blue jeans were special—they had been at the bottom of a mine shaft since the Victorian era. Fundamentally, however, they were regular cotton-denim jeans, very much the kind of thing you can easily buy today. But if you want the quality that can outlast a generation, you need to know what to look for.
An estimated 450 million pairs of jeans are purchased in the U.S. every year, and they can’t all be of good quality. In fact, most of them are rubbish. But when it comes to denim, what defines quality? Here is your guide, including ten great pairs worth buying now, from global brands to indie designers, at every price point.
The first sign of quality is the fabric, which begins with cotton. So-called long-staple cotton is ideal for denim because it’s both stronger than short-staple cotton (the most commonly used type) and it softens better over time. The best denim jeans improve with every wear, and the cotton can be the deciding factor.
That said, cotton variants aren’t often discussed in denim marketing material. A better insight into quality for you, the consumer, is the denim itself. Weight, measured in ounces, will define its thickness and rigidity. Generally, denim under 12 ounces is considered lightweight; it is lighter, softer at first, and more flexible. Denim over 16 ounces is considered heavyweight, and it will be tougher, stiffer, warmer, and harder to break in.
In theory, lightweight denim is comfortable right off the rack and heavyweight denim, though rough, will eventually adapt to your body shape and soften in all the right places, resulting in a comfortable, long-lasting pair of jeans. But it requires many wears and many washes. That can take years.
One word to look out for is selvedge, because selvedge denim is generally accepted to be of a higher quality than regular, non-selvedge denim. We’re about to get technical, but it’s useful information. Selvedge denim is woven on an old-fashioned shuttle loom, which gently weaves together the vertical yarn (known as the warp) to the horizontal yarn (the weft). In doing so, it creates a neat, natural finish to the edge of the fabric—a “self-edge,” hence the name. But shuttle looms are too slow and temperamental for modern demand, and most denim is made on projectile looms, which are much faster and more uniform, with a bigger yield.
Shuttle looms put less tension on the yarns and are more forgiving of defects. This lends the denim more character than fabric from a projectile loom, which is more consistent but less interesting. Ultimately, selvedge denim is harder and slower to make, which is why it’s more expensive. That said, you can get cheap selvedge—around $50 at Uniqlo—and you can get expensive non-selvedge, such as in Kapital’s Century range.
It’s a bit like whiskey or kitchen knives: There are single malts and ornate blades at every price point. But some are made by a big company producing large volumes, and others come from one dude in a workshop in his backyard. The latter is probably a better bet for quality.
In denim, those backyard workshops are the smaller, denim-focused brands like Samurai, Real McCoy’s, 3sixteen, Schaeffer’s, Left Field, and Sugar Cane. High-end selvedge-denim jeans can be had in the $200 range, but many will run you anywhere between $400 and $1,000, so it’s serious business. You can even go bespoke, which is an even bigger hit on the wallet.
If you want quality at a less astronomical price, then pay attention to the details. Fabric is one thing, and selvedge is often preferable, but you need to know it’ll all hold together. Look out for denim with “chain” stitching, which is tough and historically accurate to iconic mid-century styles—as opposed to modern “lock” stitching—and it allows for especially pretty “roping” on the hem of your pants. Clean stitching in general is a sign of care taken, so turn your jeans inside out and look for loose threads. If it looks shoddy, it probably is.
High-quality-denim makers often install raised belt loops that lift very slightly off the waistband as opposed to lying flat against it. And there is a discussion around the use of cotton thread, which is more traditional but less reliable than polycotton. Artisanal makers might use the former for character and its easy repairability, but in terms of longevity, polycotton seems to be preferable.
Hardware is another signifier of quality. A good button fly will generally point to better craftsmanship, but not all zippers are created equal: look for the YKK or RiRi logos. Rivets were originally designed to protect common-tear areas (pockets, crotch, etc.), but as sewing tech has improved they are now largely decorative. Still, look closely at your jeans’ rivets; if they’re embossed with the brand’s logo, it implies a certain attention to detail.
Finally, distressing. It’s a curious foible of fashion that we prefer jeans that look worn in or even decrepit. You can buy high-quality, pre-distressed (or washed) denim by OrSlow, Spellbound, and Fullcount.
Denim will shrink when you wash it unless it’s been pre-shrunk or “sanforized,” which is another term to look out for. But if you want a pair of “pure” denim jeans that are un-shrunk and not distressed, in a single block color, look for unsanforized “raw” denim, which is as intense as it sounds. It’s also the opposite of stretchy, pre-distressed, skinny, mall-brand denim. Raw denim is knee-bleedingly tough and more a test of mettle than a garment. If you can bend it to your will, you’ll be the proud owner of the perfect pair of jeans. You’ll also have the respect of denim-heads everywhere—and you didn’t have to climb down a mine shaft to get it.
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