[ad_1]
History has taught us that you can breed any item of clothing with jeans — boots, leggings, sneakers. Recently, a new denim hybrid has caught my attention: sweatpant jeans. I’m not talking about Rag & Bone’s Trompe L’oeil pants, which are sweatpants that are painted to look like jeans. An appealing option, sure, but the pants I’m speaking of are firmly in the jeans family tree. They’re technically made of denim but seem to bear some level of slouch or sag as well as a drawstring closure, making them appear far less constricting than your average pair of Levi’s. Based on my Instagram ads, all these jeans look soft and roomy enough to approximate the comfort level of sweatpants.
At first, I wanted to reject this type of bottom with every fiber of my being. We can all agree that jeans legs have become too big, and this style seems like a criminal offender — plus, I do not need to spend $300 on jeans that look sloppy. But I was also curious: If these jeans really do have as much give as they appear to, could I walk around in them feeling like I just threw on my oldest pair of Jerzees? And, if so, could I passably wear them to, say, work or a birthday dinner without anyone batting an eye? I tried on a few pairs to find out whether anyone has concocted a denim-based leisure pant that actually looks good.
Still Here Cool Jean
These are the influencer jeatpants. You’ve probably seen them on TikTok, and if not, you will at least recognize their silhouette: low-rise and supremely baggy, with the addition of a metal toggle that the brand’s website describes as “adjustable.” Still Here recently got a big restock of the Cool Jean after selling out several times — the wait list was apparently 15,000 deep at one point — and while they quickly ran out online, the brand’s narrow size range (22–32) was in stock at its Nolita store. The fabric, which is 100 percent cotton, feels significantly softer and more flowy than average jeans, though I wouldn’t quite describe it as lightweight — more mid-weight. As promised, there’s no waistband, and the minimal stitching by the hips makes them super-comfortable. Still, four metal buttons is a lot of hardware for a sweatpants-adjacent item, and though the toggle, which you can move up and down a coated string by pinching, can technically function as a drawstring, it doesn’t really work — anytime I cinched it tighter than the jeans’ natural waistline, the metal part of the toggle rode up above the top hem of the jeans. When I asked a woman working the desk about this, she told me most people just let the toggle hang.
But the most uncomfortable thing about these jeans are those goddamn huge legs. I kept having to hike them up just to walk around the store, and at one point, the teeming pile of fabric at my ankles got caught on the steel frame of a trendy chair outside the dressing room. I may have looked like a distant relative of Bella Hadid, but I was nowhere near my real goal: achieving a sweatpants level of ease.
Still Here Cool Jean
$260 at Still Here
Citizens of Humanity Brynn Drawstring Trousers
Around the same price point as Still Here’s massively popular set, Citizens of Humanity makes a pair of drawstring jeans that is slightly more structured and comes in sizes 23–34. It also has a button-up fly and a similar middle-of-the-ground thickness, which both make it a little less sweatpants-like. But this drawstring, which stands out a bit too starkly from the denim, actually does work. While not as slouchy as Still Here’s, I think these guys are edging closer to sweatpants land.
Brynn Drawstring Trouser
Cos Extra-Wide-Leg Drawstring Denim Pants
These Cos pants look like a dupe of the Still Here jeans, and they appear to be equally popular — most sizes (these come in 2–14) are sold out online, but a very kind customer-service rep helped put aside a few stray pairs at the brand’s Oculus store. The material feels noticeably cheaper (it’s a blend of cotton and Lyocell, a type of rayon), but also softer and lighter, bringing them closer to sweatpants territory. Like the CoH jeans, this drawstring works, and it’s made of the same denim-y material as the jeans, which makes it stand out less. Overall, they’re easier to throw on (zip > four buttons) and have a far more adjustable waistband. On a softness scale of Japanese denim (1) to cashmere joggers (10), they’re hovering around a 6.
Extra Wide Leg Drawstring Denim Pants
$150 at COS
Gap Factory High-Rise Wide-Leg Pull-On Jeans
By the time I made it to the Fulton Street Gap Factory, I was ready to accept that just because a pair of jeans looks like sweatpants doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near as comfortable. But then I discovered these babies. The word pull-on is in the name! Though some of the reviews claim they’re not as soft as they look in the photos, I found them to be pretty buttery (they’re 95 percent cotton and 5 percent recycled cotton). Another sign these fall more on the sweatpants end of the spectrum: The pants are sized without numbers, from XS to XXL. The off-white twill drawstring is similar to the Citizens of Humanity pair, but you don’t even need it because the waistband is — wait for it — elastic. Gap has also taken cues from sweatpants for the pockets, which are on the side instead of in the traditional jeans position. There’s a fake crotch flap to make it look like a zipper fly is there, which I found a little silly, and frankly I don’t love how the drawstring tie looks. But when I untucked my chunky sweater, which was long enough to cover it, it looked mostly normal. Another pro for me personally is that they have a much more millennial-friendly silhouette — you’ll notice they’re the only high-rise pair I tried on, and I could actually see my full foot below the hem.
To be clear, the coolness factor on these pants is hovering close to zero, and they look like they could be worn by a 2-year-old. But they were the most comfortable pair I tried on. I could see myself throwing them on for a coffee or grocery run and feeling presentable enough to run into an acquaintance and not be embarrassed. Still, in the end, I wasn’t convinced to pull the trigger. Maybe jeans and sweatpants were simply never meant to mate.
High Rise Wide-Leg Pull-On Jeans
$70 at Gap Factory
Related
- Kylie Jenner Made Jeans. We Tried Them.
[ad_2]
Danielle Cohen , 2024-05-27 17:00:28
Source link
