Confession: Denim Is My Least Favorite Staple—These Jeans Made Me Reconsider

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(Image credit: @fannyekstrand)

There are those who love jeans with every fiber of their being, and those who wear them simply out of convenience. Consider me one of the latter. Yes, they're timeless and one of the rare staples that never go out of style, but jeans also don't thrill me exactly. Couple that with the trauma of denim shopping IRL (when you have a pear shape, it's not so pleasant), and there are solid reasons why it's one of my least favorite things to slip on. 

But when it comes to fashion, my opinions can sway like the wind, so I'm always open to reconsidering my stance. I've done that with low-rise pants (they're now one of my favorite styles) and it seems like denim is up for reevaluation. What's helped turn the tide is the influx of unconventional jeans that are both exciting and edgy. They turn the blue-washed straight-leg classic on its head with unexpected quirks (like a built-in kilt and color-blocked patchwork as you'll see below). The whole trend amps up basic jeans into a moment versus a piece that's just in the background. And everyone from Loewe to H&M is getting in on it too.

Keep reading to see 29 pairs of unconventional denim jeans that get a little spicy with the staple, along with where to buy them.

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Fashion Market Editor

Indya Brown is a fashion editor, stylist, and writer living in Los Angeles. While going to school at Columbia University in New York City, she got her feet wet in the fashion industry interning at Elle magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and New York magazine's The Cut. After graduating in 2016, she joined The Cut as a fashion assistant, eventually working her way up to fashion editor. There, she worked on a multitude of projects, including styling inbook feature stories for New York magazine's print issue, writing and pitching market stories for The Cut, and serving as fashion lead for The Cut's branded content. While New York has been her home for over 10 years, she moved to Los Angeles in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 for a new chapter. Now she is a fashion market editor forBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing , focusing on emerging designers, rising trends on and off the internet, interior design, and BIPOC creatives and brands. Aside from her duties as a fashion market editor, Brown is also a freelance stylist and writer, working on national print and video commercial campaigns for Sephora, The Independent, and Cadillac. Her bylines also include Harper's Bazaar, Vox, and The New York Times. But once the computer goes down and the emails turn off, she's likely eating her way through Koreatown, hunting down vintage furniture, scoping out new outrageous nail designs to try, or taking a hot cycling class.