Selvedge Style FAQ: How to Style Raw Denim

Denimhunters is reader-supported. If you buy after clicking a link on our site, we may earn a commission.

You’ve Got the Jeans, Now it’s Time to Learn How to Wear Them Right

We spend a lot of time here on Denimhunters talking about finding the perfect pair of jeans or the perfect rugged gear that is a natural fit with selvedge denim.

Of course, having the right gear is only one half of the picture. To make the most of our jeans, we need to make sure we’re wearing them right.

We see that a lot of you have questions about how to style selvedge jeans, and it’s time for us to answer these questions.

The answers below are based on our understanding of foundational style rules, pulled from a wide range of sources, and our own personal tastes.

We understand that, by offering style guidance, we’re walking into a minefield. Particularly in the realm of rebel style, idiosyncrasy is both expected and celebrated. Our opinions are not definitive. If it feels good and right to you, don’t change a thing.

However, if you are curious why some style choices seem to work better than others, why some outfits seem to leap off the page while others fade into the background (or perhaps stand out for the wrong reasons), the answers below might help.

---

FAQ: What Goes Best with Selvedge Jeans? 

One of the things we tend to appreciate most about great jeans is their nearly unmatched versatility. They make friends easily in casual wardrobes, pairing effortlessly and stylishly with just about anything.

However, not all jeans are built the same. As we fall headlong into the world of well-made selvedge, the denim gets heavier. They look heavy, and they fade like only heavy selvedge can. This gives them an inimitable wow factor, but it also limits their adaptability.

It’s our advice to pair like with like. As what you wear below the belt climbs in weight, so should what you wear above the belt.

A breezy linen shirt or a delicate knit will pair awkwardly with heavy selvedge. Just so, a beefy winter-weight flannel or heavy selvedge denim jacket will overwhelm lightweight pairs, making you look top-heavy.

If you’re new to selvedge and looking for a highly adaptable pair that can work with your existing wardrobe, a traditional indigo denim in the range of 12-15 oz. will probably be your best bet. As you start adding heavier shirts and jackets to your wardrobe, a heavier pair will become a must. 

If you’ve got a broad-ranging wardrobe of heavy and light pieces, you’ll find outfits start to hang together when you group pieces in the same weight class. Pair like with like and you’ll be on the right track.

---

FAQ: Can Double Denim Be Stylish? 

Provided you’re in a casual context, doubling up on your denim pieces can be exceptionally stylish. In fact, few pieces pair as well with a selvedge denim shirt or jacket as selvedge jeans. They cry out to be worn together.  

Though we’re not big fans of tonal style (where all pieces in an outfit are identical or nearly identical colours), selvedge denim pieces lend themselves very well to tonal looks. For the desired effect, try to match the indigo tones (redcast with redcast, greencast with greencast, etc.).

Without contrast of some kind, denim can look more like a uniform than an outfit. This might be exactly the look you’re going for, but don’t be surprised if people stop you on the street, not to compliment your outfit but, rather, to ask you to top up the tank and rotate the tires.

Best practice is to introduce some contrast to your outfits. Something as simple as a white tee worn over a pair of jeans and under an open jean jacket gives the dark colours something to bounce off of.

Best of all is some contrast between the shirt, jacket, and jeans. An unbeatable combination is a nicely faded or light-coloured jacket, darker selvedge jeans, and a simple cotton basic like a tee, henley, longsleeve, or sweatshirt. The dark jeans serve as a pedestal for the contrasting above-the-belt pieces. A surefire hit.

---

FAQ: Should I Tuck My Shirt Into My Jeans?

There’s an easy-to-remember rule for this. When it comes to tucking shirts into jeans, low means no. If you’re going to tuck, you’ll need a pair with a higher rise for it to look right.

Here’s why: Even if you’ve got a “flat” stomach, it isn’t actually flat. Shortly below your navel, the stomach angles back towards the pubic bone. This angle becomes even more prominent when you have any padding around the middle.

Tuck a shirt into low-rise jeans and you’ll end up highlighting this angle (and any padding you might have). When the jeans sit higher on the body, this angle is concealed behind the waistband. The waistband divides the body neatly in two, and both shirt and jeans fall straight down.

Provided you’ve got a higher-rise pair, tucking your shirt into your waistband can absolutely sharpen up selvedge-based looks. It’s our advice to stick to lighter-weight shirts when tucking. If you want to stay in the heritage world, chambrays are an excellent choice.

Heavy flannels and thick selvedge westerns are another matter. They’re designed to be worn untucked. Tuck them in and you’ll look like you’re carrying a spare tire around your waist. If you want to experiment with tucked in looks, steer clear of flannel (it’s just too casual to tuck). For denim, look for something as lightweight as possible.

---

FAQ: Do I Need to Wear a Belt with Jeans?

There is a perfectly reasonable argument to make for belts being unnecessary if the jeans fit properly. We’ve seen plenty of great looks that feature shirts tucked into jeans and empty belt loops.

Here’s the issue, though (perhaps you’ll agree). When we leave belt loops unfilled, this draws attention to the waistband. Our eyes linger there, noticing the absence. The same thing happens with suspender buttons that are unused. They draw the eye and cock the head.

It’s our advice that, if you have belt loops or suspender buttons, use them. The look is somehow incomplete without them.

If tucking in, the belt should be at least roughly the same shade as your footwear, but this is less important when the belt is completely covered by the tails of your shirt.

When picking a belt, a good general rule is that the higher the waistband, the thinner your belt should be. A high rise pair with a thick belt and chunky buckle will make you look like Santa Claus.

---

FAQ: Can Selvedge Denim Be Dressed Up? 

With workplace dress codes relaxing substantially since the start of the new millennium, a clean pair of selvedge jeans might be perfectly acceptable in your office. You might even be able to get away with faded pairs, provided they’re combined with smart pieces.

We welcome this development, and we have been amazed at some of the smart casual looks that denimheads have created that bridge the worlds of traditional and rugged menswear.

We have experimented with this ourselves, exploring how selvedge denim can be spiffed up without losing any of its essential character.

There are a few dos and don’ts that we’ll touch on here:

First of all, spiffed-up selvedge means tucked-in shirts. We’re all for loose shirttails in casual looks, but, in any kind of business or semi-formal setting, untucked dress shirts look sloppy and even slovenly.

This means that, if we’re going to spiff up our selvedge, we need to start with a higher-rise pair that lends itself easily to tucked-in looks.

For a jacket, go with a stand-alone blazer or sports jacket (preferably something with noteworthy texture). Do not under any circumstances split up a worsted wool suit, substituting jeans for the matching worsted wool trousers. The look is neither one thing nor the other.

Especially in the cooler months, a shawl-collar cardigan can turn rugged combinations into smart casual looks in a moment, especially if the footwear is on the dressier side. Cozy knits, and especially turtlenecks, are a smarter alternative to flannel in the fall and winter. If you want to smarten the look further, add a blazer or a sports coat. 

When dressing up selvedge, boots work, but you’ll find the outfit hanging together nicely if you add slightly more refined footwear. Black or very dark brown oxfords or penny loafers add a degree of sophistication and an opportunity to introduce a flash of colour or flesh at the ankle. Avoid dress sneakers—another mongrel that is neither one thing nor the other.

---

FAQ: Which Shoes Should I Wear with Jeans?

There are very good reasons that so many people who fall headlong down the selvedge rabbit hole become as obsessed with great boots as they are with great jeans. Nothing seems to complete selvedge-based looks quite as well as well-made boots.

The most popular style by a wide margin is the six-inch lace-up work boot, with Red Wing’s Iron Ranger being a perennial scene favourite.

When it comes to well-made boots, there are dozens of makers to choose from, so before you jump into anything, it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with some of the pairs available at your price point. The differences are often subtle but, for some boot lovers, absolutely critical.

For more aggressive heritage-based looks, the engineer boot has no equal. It was the bedrock of the countercultural look (worn so well by Marlon Brando in The Wild One) that caught fire and turned jeans and biker jackets into style essentials in the early ‘50s.

The look works as well on the street today as it did on the silver screen in 1953.

The 8-inch crepe-soled moc-toe boot (once again made by Red Wing) was a foundational piece for Japanese denim collectors, who started pairing the boot with faded Levi’s 501s in the 1970s. Comfortable and stylish, it pairs as stylishly with jeans (especially faded ones) as ever.

For more polished looks, oxfords can do the trick, but nothing seems to work as well as penny loafers. Less formal than lace-ups, they pair easily and naturally with selvedge jeans, chinos, and even shorts. Once you’ve got a pair, you’ll quickly see just how essential they are.

If you prefer athletic footwear, the world of sneaker obsession frequently overlaps with the world of selvedge.

To pair well with your top-shelf selvedge, sneakers should be clean and slightly elevated. Jordans, Vans slip-ons, German Athletic Trainers, and Chuck Taylors are all popular choices for a reason.

---

FAQ: What Cut Is the Most Stylish? 

The answer to this question depends a great deal on the shape of your body and your style preferences. On the larger man, a pair of slim straights might look painted on. A skinnier man might look like he’s swimming in that same pair.

Similarly, if you tend to reach for oversized sweatshirts and hoodies, it’s logical to stick with generous fits below the belt, and if you like your shirts to fit tight, your jeans should fit in the same way. Your silhouette should be balanced.

There’s not one cut that fits all body types and styles. Exceptionally stylish selvedge-based looks do, however, have two things in common: they flatter the wearer, highlighting their best features; and they are coherent, speaking an identical or at least compatible style language.

The jeans you pick should be a perfect fit both for your body and the pieces you plan to wear with the pair. For the average man with average tastes, the slim straight will usually be the best fit. It will work with just about any untucked looks, and it will pair nicely with a wide range of footwear.

More generously cut, higher-rise pairs (often based on fits from the late ‘40s or early ‘50s) will be a great choice for those who want to lean into heritage menswear, and the combination of wider legs and higher waistbands flatter a broader range of body types (including broad ones).

It’s our advice to steer clear of the extremes. The pendulum of style swings back and forth from super skinny to ultra-baggy pairs every few years.

If it’s important for you to follow style trends, be our guest, but in the broad area between these two poles, jeans are comfortable, adaptable, and perpetually stylish.

---

FAQ: Should I Cuff My Jeans, or Hem Them?

Those dipping their toe into the selvedge pool are often perplexed by the amount of cuffed selvedge they see in the scene.

The rolled cuffs are a stylistic choice, providing a pleasing visual break between our jeans and our footwear that, as an added bonus, shows off the selvedge ID, which advertises our love for great jeans.

If you’re not fond of the look of cuffed selvedge, the practice is entirely optional. Most retailers offer some kind of hemming service, and you can often order your pair hemmed to your usual length. Make sure to ask the retailer about how much shrink you can expect with your pair.

If you’re new to selvedge and unsure about whether you want to cuff or not, leave yourself at least a few inches to play with when ordering. When you get them home, experiment with different cuffing techniques. Compare how the jeans look when they are cuffed to how they look when the denim is rolled inside the jeans.

Whether you are cuffing or not, best practice is to talk to your retailer about your desired inseam length, cuff size, etc. If they don’t offer hemming services, consider waiting to have them hemmed until after you’ve washed them a few times.

Whether they are sanforized, one-washed, or unsanforized, you never know exactly how much your pair will shrink until after you’ve washed them. 

Leave around 1.5 to 2 inches per roll. Remember that it’s always better to have a little too much than not enough. Long pairs can be rolled up or down. Short ones will likely never get worn. 

---

FAQ: Who Makes the Most Stylish Selvedge Jeans?

Just as with cuts, there is no answer to this question that will suit everybody. Whether you are looking for your first or your fiftieth pair of selvedge, it’s our advice to look far and wide for that perfect pair.

Selvedge is an investment, and you should only slap your plastic on the counter when you’re sure that you’re getting your money’s worth.

There’s no guarantee that the top-shelf brands will look better on you than entry-level brands will.

There’s significant value for money with each rung of the price ladder you climb, but this value has more to do with how the denim is woven and how the pairs are constructed than how stylish they are.

We have our favourite brands that we frequently recommend here on Denimhunters, but it’s good practice not to get too hung up on a particular brand’s output. Even if you feel a particular brand is speaking directly to you, it’s likely that they’re not the only ones speaking your precise style language. 

The most stylish characters in this scene tend to build outfits based on particular moods and moments. Rather than recreating a particular brand’s catalogue shots, they assemble looks from disparate places and times. The result is a look that is entirely their own.

The best pairs for you will be the ones that you wear the most. The more you wear them, the more stylish and adaptable they will become. No matter what it says on the label, they will not be their jeans. They will be, like your style, yours and yours alone.

---

Ready to Start Your Style Journey?

Got more questions about selvedge style that you’d like us to answer? Submit them here!

To get off on the right foot, you’ll need a great pair of selvedge jeans. Start with our Selvedge Masterlist. If you’ve already got the perfect pair, the next step is usually a great pair of boots and a heavy flannel.

To get the latest news on what we’re wearing and watching, sign up for our newsletter here.

The post Selvedge Style FAQ: How to Style Raw Denim appeared first on Denimhunters.

DENIM and PATCHES sourced this post originally published on this site