How to wear straight leg jeans like an off-duty model this summer

Straight leg jeans are really that sweet spot in between baggy and skinny. For the longest time, it felt like baggy jeans were the only choice for the street style crowd – ideally low-rise, with some pointy or Tabi boots being swallowed up by the pooling hems. In recent months though, and as the weather’s picked up, another style of jeans has been shuffling their way onto our moodboards. I’m talking, of course, about straight leg jeans.

I first started seeing a noticeable return to the humble straight leg around fashion month earlier this year, when it was clearly the go-to uniform for off-duty models slouching around Paris and New York. Usually low or mid-rise, and worn with loafers, ballet flats or boots, the straight leg feels casual and low effort without totally swamping you like some baggy jeans can. And if, like me, you’ll never be on board with a return to skinny, the straight leg is an easy alternative that feels like a classic.

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Really, it’s no wonder that models have jumped aboard the straight leg train en masse – the style has made an appearance on the catwalk more recently, too. Think: the low-slung straight leg jeans for Diesel’s autumn/winter 2025 collection, or all the shimmery and glitter-studded straight legs at Versace’s autumn/winter 2025 show, or even the slouchy, not-quite-skinny jeans for Dsquared2’s autumn/winter 2025 collection. While the straight leg jean has become a fave in the run up to summer, the style clearly isn’t going anywhere.

Bella Hadid – who I consider a sort of soothsayer when it comes to jeans – has also been on the straight leg jeans trend for a minute. Often pairing hers with a vest and trainers, or sometimes a lil stiletto, the 28-year-old model has got straight leg outfit combos down to a fine art. She’s also not averse to a high-rise straight leg with a belt, which feels very “early 2010s mom” in the best way possible. Controversial take, but: I feel like she eats in a straight leg even more than she does a bootcut.

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Fortunately, finding the most perfect straight leg jeans for summer is a relatively painless experience (unlike, say, piling a gazillion bootcuts into a harshly lit changing room). My colleague Alice Cary swears by vintage straight legs, as the denim has a bit more life to it. “The pair of Levi’s 501s I found in a vintage store in the US several years ago are perfectly worn-in and will continue to age as I wear them,” she wrote for British Vogue recently. “They have a finish that’s hard to replicate in a factory.”

Obviously models look good in anything – that’s literally their job. But if there’s one trend that’s worth replicating this year from the GOATs of low-key cool, it’s the straight leg. Whether you’re a model or not, I truly believe you can’t go wrong with this straight up-and-down classic.