Categories: Shopping; Misc.

Apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur - a guide to buying the best denim in San Francisco

By Juliette
updated 2 months ago

They say a diamond is about the 4 C's: carat, clarity, color, and cut. Jeans also have 4 C's, and while they are less well-known and less oft-repeated than the 4 C's of a diamond, they're equally important in determining the quality of your denim. They are: color, cut, curves, and cost. Read on to find out what jeans are perfect for you!

1. Color

The term ‘blue jeans’ is almost synonymous with the term ‘jeans’ – but only a fraction of the jeans in the world are blue, and the gamut of denim out there would be so incredibly dull if blue was the only color of jeans you could find! Most brands of jeans create a variety of different washes and colors, and just as you wouldn’t buy a dress that didn’t complement your skin tone, why would you buy jeans in a color that didn’t flatter? Color is really important, from the way it looks on your skin to the way it looks paired with other pieces of your wardrobe. Basic jean colors are usually blue, black, white, and gray, and each color comes in different washes, whether faded, sand-blasted, metallic, vintage, distressed, acid washed, or destroyed. And shit gets more complex, when you factor in the many different colors of denim that are being popularized now, with the revival of nu rave and the whole American Apparel aesthetic. From Aqua Mint to Poppy to Peacock to Hunter Green to Mustard to Pale Yellow, the American Apparel jeans come in literally every color of the spectrum, and other denim companies like Cheap Monday and BDG have jumped on the band wagon, creating jeans in a bunch of new colors. What color is perfect for you? It’s all about what you feel comfortable with. I personally adore wearing my bright purple jeans from American Apparel. If blue is more your thing, find a great blue for you. If hot pink is what you’re looking for, get you the best hot pink out there. Explore and be creative!

American Rag Clothing

1305 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94109

American Rag sells an insane variety of great denim. From Chip and Peppers, Sass and Bide, Wrangler, Superfine, Nudie, Tsubi, Loomstate, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Habitual, Joe’s, Evisu, Denim Design Lab, to Levi’s. They also have a great selection of vintage and secondhand clothing, so you might find those 80s Jordache jeans you’ve been dreaming about. It’s pricey, but worth it for a jean investment.

3. Curves

A woman has curves, and jeans should accentuate them! Even the skinniest models like Kate Moss wear great jeans that accentuate the curves of their butts, hips, and thighs. A jean should emphasis a body rather than hide it, which is why I never understood the fad of super baggy. I mean, what a waste of fabric, just to look ugly.

The C of Curves in choosing denim is all about tightness and fit. Really, curves is just a synonym for finding a great fit. I have lots of different fits of jeans in my closet. Some jeans are super tight – so much so that I have to lay down on my bed and suck in my stomach before I can zip them up. Some are looser, for the days I just want to lounge around the house drinking tea and reading books. Some are in between, for those days when I still want to look hot, but I want to be comfortable too – like the days I go to the grocery store or farmer’s market, where lots of cute vegetarian boys in their skinny jeans will be buying produce with me. You get the point. Jeans should fit your lifestyle, and while they should be attractive, they should also fulfill the need for different purposes. When I’m at Dolores Park, I don’t want to be wearing the jeans I’d wear to the Mezzanine. It’s all relative. And that’s where the fit of the jeans come in – or the Curve.

4. Cost

Cost is important, and self-explanatory. Remember when the designer denim craze first hit, way back in like 2002, and all the girls were freaking out about Seven jeans and the way the back pocket became sort of a status billboard for the brand of jeans you wore? What crap. I remember caring a lot back then about what brand of jeans I wore, but now, really, I could care less. Cost is about how comfortable you are selling out an amount of money for a product. I honestly don’t feel comfortable paying more than $100/pair of jeans, so I like to hit up sample sales, secondhand stores, or just buy cheaper jeans and get my money’s worth that way.

There are lots of flattering, less expensive alternatives to buying great jeans. Check out Urban Outfitters, for brands like BDG, Cheap Monday, and Levi’s, which UO carries and are all less than $75 a pop. Or go to Forever 21, American Apparel, or other mass retailers like the Gap or even Old Navy. Who cares about the brand, as long as you like them and they feel good on you? You know, of all the jeans in my wardrobe, my favorite pair are from Forever21, and they were less than $20 when I bought them. You don’t need to spend $160 on a pair of jeans to look good.

Original Levi's Store

300 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94108

Did you know Levi’s was founded in San Francisco? In the 1860s, miners during the California gold rush needed sturdy pants to wear when going into the mines. That’s where Levi’s came in to bridge that need – they built pants out of resistant canvas material that became an instant hit with the miners, and thus the denim jean was born into America’s style consciousness. Since then, blue jeans have been as American as apple pie and the cultural splash jeans have made in American culture – from miners to cowboys to James Dean – has made history. All thanks to Levi’s, right here in our lovely San Francisco. Make sure you check out their flagship store and buy a pair of THE jeans.

2. Cut

The most important aspect of a pair of jeans is the cut. It is hands down what determines if a pair of jeans is right or wrong for you. No matter how much you like skinny jeans, if you are a heavy person, they will not look good on you. Conversely, if you are petite like I am, the wide-legged sailor jeans will eat you alive and make your legs look about ten times shorter than they are. And if you’re a tall skinny person, you will look ridiculous in a huge pair of bellbottoms – you’ll look like a tree with a giant above-ground root system. But even if, say, you’re petite, and you find a cut you like and believe looks good (a high-waisted super skinny jean, perhaps), you have to make sure you buy the right pair of high-waisted super skinny jeans that looks good on you, otherwise you’re throwing money down the tube to chase an unflattering trend. So think about your body, what you want to accentuate and what you want to hide, and go from there to determine if a jean’s cut is flattering or not. The cuts of jeans that are most popular right now are the skinny jean, the trouser jean, the sailor jean, and the high-waisted version of all those styles. Styles that are currently unacceptable are super low-waisted anything, very very baggy jeans, bellbottoms and boot-cut jeans, and capris. So, go to a store and look for the aforementioned styles that won’t get the fashion police to come knocking, and see if any of them work for you. Cut is important, but most important of all is how you look in the cut you choose.

Blues Jean Bar

1827 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 94123

This is the largest selection of denim under one roof you’ll find in San Francisco. They have over 40 different brands of jeans, for women, and for men as well. They only focus on jeans too, which is great because all the helpful salespeople know exactly what they’re doing all day – jeans – without losing their focus on trying to convince you to get a new sweater as well. This is a one stop shop for all your denim needs.

American Apparel

1615 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117

American Apparel’s Unisex slim jeans have the hottest colors and look good on both girls and boys. At $68 they are reasonably priced too, compared to high end denim like Chloe or Rich&Skinny (and, in my opinion, look better too). While you’re at AA, pick up the new Vice Magazine, and then make a day of it in the Haight.

Self Edge

714 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Self Edge is great for the lads out there. They will rob you for all you’re worth. But if $400 jeans matter to you, here’s where you should go. Also, they’ll hem the jeans for you for only $15 bucks, whether in cross-stitching or chain-stitching or whatever have you. They jeans are a bit on the large side and I like my boys in skinny pants, but whatever. Yelp seems to like Self Edge – and so do the cheeseballs in the Marina, even though the store is in the Mission.

Forever 21

7 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Can I get a shout out to F21 for making the most flattering pair of jeans for my body I’ve ever come across? And the price really can’t be beat. I know it’s kinda fishy when you run into a pair of jeans that are like $20 but hello, they are worth so much more than what F21 charges. Okay, I know the quality of the denim isn’t as high as, for instance, my Tsubis, but they look WAY better, and if I have a hot date, my $20 Forever 21 skinnies are the pair I’ll don, ahead of any of pair of designer jeans out there. F21, being a store targeted to tweens and teens, is great for petite people. I’ve never once had to hem a pair of my Forever 21 jeans. And I’m 5’3”. Word!