One thing we can all associate jeans with is the fact that they have stretched out and become too baggy over time. This has happened to probably every single one of us out there who loves denim, so how do we get around that issue? You might buy the perfect fitting pair in the store, only to wear them a couple of times and realize they have stretched out size and now don’t fit very well. There are tips like buying them extremely, painfully tight, and wearing them so they stretch out to be the perfect fit (this was common for my era) but it’s a pain in the butt (quite literally) and it is frustrating to do.

As the times have changed though, you are in luck because so many brands have brought out denim with different stretch and fabrications, meaning that baggy, saggy jeans are a thing of the past and your jeans won’t stretch out. How? It’s all in the denim! If you want the perfect-fitting jeans, find out what the different denim fabrications mean and how/if they will stretch out below.

100% Cotton Denim

Unfortunately, with 100% cotton denim, it’s a fabric that will ALWAYS stretch out no matter what you do. Since it has no stretch in the fabrication, the cotton threads will expand themselves and never return to the smaller size they were before. Not permanently anyway. Sure you can wash and dry them on hot, temporarily shrinking them, but they will stretch right back out again. The best thing you can do for 100% cotton jeans is to buy them small, make them damp, and wear them. The water on the denim will stretch it quite quickly, so it won’t stay tight for ages, but this can be very painful, so I often find that 100% cotton denim is better when worn slouchy, plus it’s comfier too. Or, why not go vintage and find a pair of vintage Levi’s or RE/DONE Levi’s which have already been broken in and stretched by the previous wearer? Saves you the job!

– Buy rigid jeans online at Urban Renewal, RE/DONE Levi’s, and Nudie Jeans Co.