Forget boyfriend and mom, dad jeans are this season's denim must-have

It seems like just yesterday that we stopped pilfering from our boyfriends’ jeans drawer in favour of our mother’s denim cast-offs from the early Nineties.

In fact, it’s been about six years since Topshop first introduced “mom jeans”, and the high-waist, balloon-hipped style synonymous with a pre-skinny-jean generation of women became a hit among millennials. Now it seems things have taken a turn for the patriarchal.

Meet the dad jean. Much like the mom jean, they are both unfashionable and intentionally unflattering, and therefore catnip to a breed of fashion fan who crave the opportunity to prove that they look good in anything — even a pair of their old man’s Wranglers.

What separates them from their predecessor is shape. Where mom jeans are distinguishable by their curve-loving fit — think surplus fabric around the thigh and bottom, finishing with a tapered leg — the dad jean is defined by a straighter cut with a more slouchy, slightly oversized fit. A low-slung waistband, rigid denim and a button fly fastening are also essential.

American casualwear enthusiast Madewell describes its Dadjean as “a fresh take on a boyfriend style inspired by the kind of jeans you might steal from your dad’s closet (you know, the one place where it’s still pretty much the Nineties)”. It comes in classic stonewash blue and cricket white, as well a paint-splattered pair (DIY optional).

Levi’s also appreciates the appeal of denim so naff it’s really, really cool. New for next season and dropping into stores now, its Dad Jeans are designed to be worn higher on the hip — perhaps belted, as if you’re trying to hold up a one-size-too-big pair — with turned-up cuffs. Levi’s has teamed its version with a tucked-in hoodie and workman’s boots but an Oxford shirt and high-tops would also make ideal Sunday slobbing attire.

The beauty of these jeans, of course, is that they’re not designed to be dressed up, to make your legs look longer or your bum smaller. Instead, they’re made with authenticity in mind — an antidote to the skintight spray-on, so-ripped-they’re-barely-intact jeans adopted by a breed of man whose style is informed by Love Island. Wearing them with a nice silk camisole and strappy sandals would defeat the point entirely. Instead, channel Winona Ryder in Stranger Things 3 or Jeremy Clarkson.

Or see Victoria’s Secret model turned dad jean poster girl Elsa Hosk and her new collaboration with J Brand. The 11-piece collection, in-store at Selfridges on Thursday, includes days-of-the-week denim, from Saturday skinnies to a slouchy Sunday style, all made in a sustainably-minded way. Her dad-jean contender? The Monday Jean in Workday Blue: a simple, straight-cut and reassuringly stable style, which she wears with an oversized grey marl sweatshirt and the perfect pair of dad trainers to match.