In the summer, white jeans are my staple. My favorite are a 4-year-old pair from J.Crew in what they called “wheat”, in the fit called “vintage slim” at the time. I believe they rebranded it 770, but in the intervening years they’ve added stretch to their jeans like almost every mall brand.
But that’s not the point of this post. The point is: jeans with a sportcoat, whether white or indigo, is a go-to outfit I wear all the time. I wear it with my shirt open-collar almost exclusively, however. Ties with jeans don’t usually work in my opinion for a couple reasons—first, of course, a tie dresses up your outfit and jeans are dressed-down. Second, jeans usually have a lower rise than dress pants, so tying the tie long enough to reach the waistband is a challenge, and can make the tie knot too small or the tie look weirdly long, even.
That said, when we were in Italy a couple years ago, I saw men wearing ties with jeans everywhere. And I didn’t hate it.
Going back nearly 10 years now (!), I remember seeing this image from Pitti via the Sartorialist and thinking it was awesome. The way I saw men in Italy doing it was primarily simple—navy blazer, blue shirt, navy tie. The jeans were about like the guy in the photo: washed, slim. I rarely saw Italian men wearing full-dark-rinse denim.
I’ve done it a few times with indigo jeans of various fades, with varying success. Recently though I made the pairing using my white jeans, and I think it looked great. I chose a linen-silk blend knit tie from Brooks Brothers, which worked really well. I think a plain navy, green or maroon grenadine or knit would’ve worked, too. Shantung would have as well. Repp stripes would’ve worked but I would’ve looked like a professor.
Try it out sometime, wearing a tie with your sportcoat and jeans ensemble. Just make sure the denim is a bit darker, the tie is a bit more casual, and you keep the patterns simple. That’s my advice. If you do, and you think it looks amazing, let me know with a pic or link to Instagram!
Shop the Post
Navy Blazer: Eidos (similar seasonal navy blazer; similar staple navy blazer)
Pale Blue End-on-end shirt: Gutteridge (similar from Drakes)
Linen-Silk Knit Tie: Brooks Brothers
Off-white denim: J.Crew (similar)
Snuff suede loafers: Polo by Allen Edmonds (similar)
