How Should Jeans Fit? Use This 12-Step Checklist for Perfect Fit

You can find many fits of jeans in clothing stores today.

Skinny fit, relaxed fit, slim fit, athletic fit. You might be tempted to get whatever feels right to you — as long as you’re comfortable, right? 

But choosing blindly is a bad idea if you don’t know how jeans should fit on you. You should wear jeans that both look AND feel good.

You want your jeans to flatter you, don’t you? That means you want to get the fit as close to perfect as you can. 

How?

If you’re in a rush, you can use the checklist below. If you want more detail, we’ll dive deeper into how jeans should fit later on. We’ll also look at the best-fitting men’s jeans for each body-type.

Perfect Fit Checklist: How Jeans Should Fit

Your jeans should neither be too long or too short, and neither too loose or too tight. That much is obvious. You want to be like Goldilocks and get it just right. 

But how can you check whether your fit is just right?

Use this checklist to quickly check whether your jeans fit you just right:

1. The jeans feel snug, but not so tight that you feel you can’t move without ripping them.
2. The jeans don’t drag on the ground
3. The jeans reach the top of your shoes (ideally with a slight bit of extra fabric)
4. The fabric doesn’t stack around the ankles. It has only a slight to half break
5. The back of your jeans reaches between the top and middle of your shoe’s heel
6. The jeans stay on your waist, even if you walk around without a belt
7. The button closes easily and you don’t feel like unbuttoning when you sit down
8. The waistband doesn’t feel like it digs into your skin
9. The jeans don’t give you diaper butt
10. The crotch doesn’t feel too tight
11. The jeans allow a 0.5-1 inch fabric pinch in the thighs and calves
12. The legs taper down toward your ankle

And if you want more details and examples, keep reading to find out more.

The Eternal Struggle Between Men and the Fit of Their Jeans

Jeans have been a men’s casual fashion staple for decades. You’d think we’d have it figured out by now, but for as long as I have been alive, men have struggled to get the fit of their jeans right.

And yes, that includes me. Teenage me used to wear over-sized baggy jeans just like every other teenager in the 90’s. And it took me a while to outgrow that horrible trend.

Unfortunately, many men still haven’t. Even many among younger generations wear their jeans too big. And I get it. Baggy jeans are roomy, which feels comfortable. 

The problem is that these jeans are unflattering on literally all body-types. 

More recently, the trend has gone tighter. Skinny jeans entered the market and now many men are wearing skin-tight jeans that let you make out the exact shape of their family jewels. We overcompensated and went too far into the opposite direction.

This is why I always tell guys who want to dress better to ignore the trends and apply timeless style.

Follow the guidelines below and you’ll get a pair of jeans that have a proper fit.

LENGTH

First up, we have to look at proper jeans length, because this is where the vast majority of men go wrong. Practically every man I see walking down the street wears jeans that are too long for him. 

So let’s start there:

How Do You Know If Your Jeans Are Too Long?

That first sign that your jeans are too long is that the fabric stacks around your ankle. This means that the fabric folds in on itself multiple times. The second sign that your jeans are (way) too long is if the hem reaches the ground.

If your hems keep fraying because you keep stepping on them, you need to go down a few sizes.

If you own jeans that fit you perfectly but are too long, you can get them hemmed by a tailor for a reasonable price. It doesn’t cost too much and is well worth the money. It’s cheaper than replacing them. Alternatively, you might choose to cuff them. This is the least favorable option, but it’s better than wearing them too long.

How Do You Know If Your Jeans Are Too Short?

You can tell that your jeans are too short if they don’t reach the top of your shoes and your socks are showing while standing up. Ideally, the jeans should reach the shoes and have a little bit of length left over.

More on that in a second. 

In recent years, shorter lengths for jeans have become trendy, but I still recommend going for the timeless look. It’s not going out of style to wear your jeans at the regular length. If you want to achieve the trendier look, you can always cuff your jeans. 

You can cuff longer jeans to make them look shorter, after all, but you can’t make short jeans longer. 

How Long Should Men’s Jeans Be?

Your jeans should be long enough to show a slight to half break in the fabric around the ankles. The back of your jeans should end somewhere between the top of your shoe and halfway down your heel.

Don’t know what “break” means? It refers to how much the fabric folds and creases at the ankles.

• Full break jeans fully fold in on themselves at the ankles
• Half break jeans don’t quite fold in on themselves at the ankles but show a significant crease
• Slight break jeans will show only one or two small creases at the ankles
• No break jeans will show no folds and creases at the ankle

Many will tell you that anywhere between no break and full break is okay, but you should aim for slight break to half break at most. This way, you’re least likely to make a mistake purchase.

Many men struggle to properly distinguish the full break when they try jeans on themselves, and end up with stacking fabric. You may be used to wearing longer jeans with excessive fabric, so even going a step shorter feels like a lot. Chances are that you should have less break than you instinct tells you.

TIGHTNESS

Next up, let’s check the tightness of your jeans. As I said, many men either buy their jeans too tight or too loose.

Let’s see how you can get it just right. 

How Do You Know if Your Jeans Are Too Loose?

Your jeans are too loose if they fall down when you wear them without a belt. If you feel them drop when you walk around, you need to size down. Jeans that are too loose will also give you “diaper butt”. They will look saggy in the seat, making you look like you’re wearing a diaper, and a loaded one at that.

How Do You Know if Your Jeans Are Too Small?

Your jeans are too small if you have to struggle to close the button. You will feel the waistband dig into your stomach which will be increasingly uncomfortable when you wear the jeans for some time. 

Try to sit down in the jeans. If you feel you need to unbutton the jeans to be comfortable, you need to go up a size in the waist.

Try to move around, lift your legs, and squat in the jeans. How much mobility do the jeans allow? If you feel the jeans stretching to the point you worry they might rip if you move further, the jeans are too tight. You don’t want to be the guy who bends down to pick something up and accidentally opens an underwear window in the seat of your jeans.

If your crotch feels tight, this is another sign that the jeans are too small. Just one caveat though: If you’re used to baggy jeans, even a well-fitting pair of jeans might feel tight at first. When I say tight, I mean your balls are actually in pain when you move around. 

How Tight Should Men’s Jeans Be?

Your jeans should feel snug; neither too tight nor too loose. They should follow the natural shape of your legs, but shouldn’t be so skin-tight that you can make out the contours. They should hug your waist, butt, thighs and calves, but allow enough mobility to move around.

As a general rule of thumb, you should be able to pinch no less than 0.5 inch of fabric in the thighs and calves one each leg, and no more than 1 inch. If you pinch less, the jeans are too tight, and if you pinch more, they are too loose. 

Ideally, you want tapered leg jeans that narrow down toward the ankle. This flatters your natural shape and also eliminates creases. 

Jeans Fit Guide: What Do Different Fits Mean?

When shopping for men’s jeans, you’ll find different classifications of fit. Below you’ll find what these mean. 

• Skinny fit jeans are skin-tight. They follow the contours of your legs like a second skin.
• Slim fit jeans feel snug and taper down toward the ankle. They drape the natural shape of your leg without feeling skin-tight.
• Straight fit jeans are cut straight so the bottom of the leg is the same width as the top. They feel looser around the calves and ankles.
• Slim straight fit jeans are between slim and straight fit. They’re usually slightly more snug than straight fit, but don’t taper like slim fit.
• Relaxed fit jeans offer more room in the seat, crotch and thighs, and are cut straight. These jeans look overly baggy on most men.
• Athletic fit jeans offer more room in the seat and thighs, but taper down toward the ankle. These are great jeans for men with large thighs from working out, as well as heavier-set men. 

The exact fit can vary from one brand to the next, but this terminology is generally followed. You should always try out different fits to see which suits you best. 

Best Fitting Jeans for Men by Body Type

The only way to find the right types of jeans for you is to try on different fits. These fits vary from brand to brand, so I recommend trying a few to see which feels best. 

But you probably want to have a general idea which fits you should try first.

This list shows you the best fitting jeans for different body-types:

• The best fitting jeans for men with average body types are slim fit and slim straight jeans. You can still go with straight fit, which offers a decent fit, but won’t give you the tapered look.
• The best jeans for short men are slim tapered jeans with a short inseam. Jeans that fit your shorter legs can be harder to find, but you have several stores that offer shorter inseam jeans.
• The best fitting jeans for tall men are slim fit jeans and straight fit jeans with a longer inseam. Measure your inseam so you know exactly which length you should shop for. 
• The best fitting jeans for skinny men are slim fit jeans. You might try skinny jeans, but be wary of them giving you a skeletal look. They shouldn’t feel skin-tight, but they might fit looser on your skinnier legs.
• The best fitting jeans for muscular men are athletic fit jeans. They will accommodate your more muscular thighs and flatter your athletic leg shape. 
• The best fitting jeans for chubby men are also athletic fit jeans. You should try them first as they tend to fit well on larger non-athletic body-shapes as well. If you feel those don’t give you enough room to move around, give relaxed fit a try.

Find the Best-Fitting Jeans for YOU

You no longer have to feel confused about all the different fits of jeans. You no longer have to choose your jeans blindly and hope you’ll be alright. 

You can select the jeans that look perfect on you. 

With the information in this guide, you now know exactly how jeans should fit. You know exactly what to look for. Nothing is stopping you from getting a pair that fits you just right.