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Style guides

How to style baggy jeans (guys)

Written by DJ from StyleUp ·

A lot of guys like how baggy jeans look on other people but stay away from them, because they think they’ll look sloppy, or like they borrowed a pair from someone two sizes bigger. I get that, but I think most of the time the jeans aren’t the problem, it’s what they’re paired with. This guide covers how to wear them, with the pieces we think go best with a wide leg.

Baggy jeans are cut loose through the thigh and straight or wide down to the ankle, so they hang instead of hugging your leg. They came up through 90s hip-hop and skate culture and have been back for a few years now. In terms of styling them, it mostly comes down to two things: the top should end around your hips, and the hem should stack a little on your sneakers.

The short answerHow to style baggy jeans in five steps
  1. Buy your real size. Baggy jeans are already cut wide. Sizing up only makes the waist fall down.
  2. Keep the top at the hip. A boxy tee, hoodie or sweater that ends around your hips keeps your shape.
  3. Let the hem stack. A little bunching on the sneaker is the look. Dragging on the ground isn’t.
  4. Wear sneakers with some size. A thin, flat shoe gets lost under a wide leg.
  5. Keep it to one loud piece. The jeans already take up a lot of room in the fit.

How should baggy jeans fit?

They should fit at the waist and be loose everywhere else. A belt is fine, but if the waist is sliding off you, they’re too big, and no belt is going to make that look like you meant it.

Length is the part I think most people get wrong. You want the hem to land on top of your sneakers and bunch once or twice. If they’re longer than that, cuff them once, and if they’re short enough to show your socks, the wide leg starts to look cut off.

What tops go with baggy jeans?

The rule I use is that the top should be about as relaxed as the jeans, but no longer than your hips. A long top over wide jeans hides where your legs start, and that’s usually what makes a baggy fit look sloppy.

TeesThe easiest place to start

A heavyweight tee is the easiest top for baggy jeans, since it’s boxy enough to match the jeans and doesn’t hang past your hips. Go one size up if you want it wider, not longer.

Hoodies and sweatersFor when it's cold

An oversized hoodie works too, as long as it stops around the hip, and I’d leave it untucked. A sweater with some color is the more put-together version, and it’s what the fit below is built on.

What shoes go with baggy jeans?

Sneakers with a bit of size to them. A wide leg needs something underneath it, or it looks like the jeans are swallowing your feet. Clean white low-tops are the safe pick, because they go with black or blue denim and give the hem something to stack on. Skate shoes and chunkier sneakers work for the same reason.

The one thing I’d skip is a slim, flat shoe like a canvas slip-on under really wide jeans. It isn’t a bad shoe, the proportions are just off.

A baggy jeans fit to copy

This is the one I’d start with. The black carpenter jeans are the base and the patchwork sweater is the only color in the fit. A black beanie ties the top back to the jeans, and a thin silver chain over the collar finishes it.

Color-block sweater fitSee all 5 pieces and what each one does
Illustration of the color-block sweater fit

Illustration of the full fit. Open the full fit

If you like the shape but want something more relaxed, the baggy cargo fit runs on the same idea with cargos instead of jeans: one big shape on the bottom, and everything else stays out of its way. The baggy cargo pants guide goes through it.

Black baggy jeans vs. blue

In my opinion black is the easier pair to start with. It goes with almost any top and looks a little dressier, so it’s the pair I’d buy first, and it’s the only pair on the site right now. Blue denim feels more relaxed and leans more 90s. With blue, a plain white or black tee is enough, and a light wash looks best with a darker top so the whole fit doesn’t wash out.

Can you wear super baggy jeans?

You can, but the wider the jeans get, the simpler everything else has to be. Keep the top at the hip, keep the sneakers clean and chunky, and get the length right, because extra fabric pools fast. If you’re new to baggy jeans, I’d start with a wide leg like the pair above and go bigger once that feels normal.

Common baggy jeans mistakesFive things that make the fit look off
  • Sizing up the waist to get a baggier leg. Buy your size in a wider cut instead.
  • A top that hangs past your hips, which hides where your legs start.
  • Hems dragging on the ground. They fray and get dirty fast.
  • Slim, flat shoes that disappear under the leg.
  • A big graphic, ripped jeans and bright sneakers all in one fit. Pick one.

Start with the length

If you only fix one thing, I’d fix the length. Most baggy jeans that look sloppy are just too long or too short, and the rest of the fit gets blamed for it. One example of this would be the sweater fit above, where the jeans stack once over white sneakers, and that small detail is a big part of why the fit looks clean.

From this guide

The fit

All fits