30 Cool Teens on Their Favorite Jeans

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In the past year or so, 17-year-oldAlayna Kapadiafrom Texas has been influenced by TikTok creators (Demetra Diasin particular has been a huge inspiration) to go for low-rise baggy jeans instead of the high-waisted jeans she was wearing in 2021. Her usual go-to brands are mall stores like American Eagle, Aeropostale, and PacSun, but Hollister takes the cake as her favorite. The brand’s low-rise baggy jeans are the preferred pair of five teens we spoke to — largely because they’re so affordable and comfortable. Brooklyn-based 17-year-oldEliza Dziekonskiowns three pairs. No matter the wash, she says, the sizing is consistent.

The jeans are also available in acargo version, which 18-year-old Sophie Mohammed from New York likes as a fan of ’90s fashion. While she pairs hers with anything from a graphic baby tee to a chunky cardigan with a white tee underneath, Kapadia usually styles hers with tight long-sleeved tops and either Nike Dunks or UGGs. “That combo is just chef’s kiss,” she says.

It would probably take you only a few minutes in a high-school cafeteria to hear “Edikted” dropped. Founded a few years ago, the brand has successfully earned Gen Z approval withembroideredstyles and lots ofbodysuits. At nearly $30, these jeans are at the lowest end of thedenim price spectrum, but 18-year-old Romy Bergetz says they hold up qualitywise to other brands in her closet like Abercrombie, Garage, and American Eagle. She counts Edikted among her favorites for denim and has two low-rise pairs: these and theCarpenters.

Gabrielle Frances, a 17-year-old from Virginia, discovered the Korean brand Lewkin on TikTok. She has nearly every style of jeans from the site but says her favorites are acid-washed.

Baggy jeans infiltrated 15-year-old Eden’s social media and her classmates’ wardrobes at the beginning of the school year. “Skinny jeans just kind of completely went out of style,” she says. Her favorite pair from PacSun is long enough for her five-foot-nine frame, the perfect amount of baggy — loose around the legs but not dragging on the floor — and comfortable for all-day wear. She typically sticks with light or medium washes because they go best with the rest of her wardrobe. Thirteen-year-old Vivian is another new PacSun convert after seeing lots of friends wear jeans from the brand. She doesn’t wear jeans often (she’s usually in athleisure from Lululemon), but these are the ones she reaches for most when she does.

The Garage comeback shows no signs of slowing. Our source on the ground is 17-year-old Annetta from Connecticut, who says she and her friends love Garage largely because of thestore in Sohoand the brand’s elevated basics. She has owned its low-rise baggy jeans for about a year and a half now and finds they’re baggy all around, including at the waist, but not so big that she can’t secure them with a belt. She typically pairs the jeans with a going-out top to achieve the “little top with big pants” look.

Maiiya, a 15-year-old from Virginia, landed on these American Eagle low-rise wide-leg jeans, which she says fit her better than any other pair she owns. Plus they have a little stretch for extra comfort. “I really noticed that after I forgot to bring my PE clothes one day,” she says. “I had to do PE in jeans, and it was never an issue because of how stretchy the jeans are.” When Dziekonski isn’t wearing her Hollister jeans, she’s wearing these. “Some jeans don’tbaggythe way I want them to,” she says, but these get the baggy recipe right, meaning they’re more fitted at the thighs and looser from the knee down.

Seventeen-year-old Zoe from Dallas says the only jeans she owns are these low-rise baggy ones from H&M. Typically, she goes for more comfortable bottoms like sweats or wide-leg leggings, but these are the exception since they’re loose and the denim is relaxed.

“Usually I never try on random jeans because you never know,” Bergetz says, but she took a chance on these when visiting New York and now calls them her favorite pair. “They fit my waist really well, and they’re still the right amount of baggy,” she says, which translates to a wide leg from the waist to the ankles.

The teens, it seems, don’t mind shopping from stores without brick-and-mortar locations, one of which is the “designed in Los Angeles” denim brand Revice. After learning about it from Demetra, Dziekonski bought these low-rise, baggy jeans, which she says are heavier than some of the others in her closet “but not in a bad way.” In the months since they’ve arrived, she has been wearing them once a week and is considering buying another pair —the Vice jeans, which have a sweater waistband and are constantly selling out.

Baggy low-rise jeans were by far the most mentioned style, but a couple of teens we spoke to still opted for high-rise denim, especially if it fits them like a glove. That’s the case for 19-year-old Annie Gilligan, who says her Farrah jeans are versatile enough to wear to her classes at Villanova as well as for nights out. The jeans come in seven washes and three lengths — short, regular, and tall — so you can choose a pair that fits your height and your color preferences.

While 19-year-old Avery Simon called the Farrah jeans her favorites last year, she has moved on to low-rise pairs like these from BDG since starting school at UC Santa Barbara. “It’s the SoCal style,” she says. Over in Massachusetts, where 19-year-old Vivian Weissman goes to college, they’re in style too. She owns BDG’s Kayla jeans in two washes — the light wash Austin and dark wash Rinse — which she likes to wear with a belt and baby tee. “They are so low, I can’t even tell I’m wearing them,” she says. For an extra-low and baggy fit, she recommends buying them a size up.

While 18-year-oldMorgan McGuiresays low-rise jeans have taken over, her favorite pair is still these high-rise relaxed jeans. They’re more flattering for her proportions but not too high-rise. Similar to the Aritzia jeans above, these hit McGuire around her bellybutton, she says, so they’re still comfortable to sit in. She’s five-foot-seven and often has trouble finding jeans that are both long enough and fit her curves, but these work thanks to the brand’s inseam options and Curve Love styles.

Roryhas a classic ’90s aesthetic, so she opts for straight-leg jeans over wide or baggy. Levi’s 501s are her tried-and-true pair because they’re timeless, versatile, and come in an inseam that fits her five-nine frame. When she wants to look on trend, she wears herFree People baggy jeans. “It’s funny how much jeans evolved from my freshman year to my senior year in high school,” she says. “Now you look around at my school and everyone has baggy jeans on and is falling into the Y2K style.”

Evie Komninakas, 19, who goes to college in New York, counts anow-sold-out pair of cargo jeansas her favorite, but she recently added these barrel jeans to her closet. She saves them for special occasions since she thinks the’re more memorable than, say, her beloved cargos. Though compared with other barrel jeans she has seen on celebrities and online, she says these are less pronounced.

A couple of teens preferred low-rise flare and boot-cut jeans to play up the popular Y2K aesthetic. Nineteen-year-oldAlexsia Tarquiniifrom New York says these Vigoss jeans handed down from her mom fit that look to a tee since they’re low-rise with a subtle flare at the bottom. To take it a step further, she often pairs them with cropped baby tees and bedazzled belts in bold colors. “I’ve never worn a standard black belt,” she says.

Weissman still loves her boot-cut jeans from AG, too, which she learned about when her mom passed down her old ones. That pair,the Angelina, is no longer available, but Weissman owns the newer version of the style, the Angel, which features the same low-cut look she loves to pair with a belt and a slightly cropped T-shirt.

Solari says she finds herself shopping at Mango because the jeans fit her taller frame better. While she’s usually a “a straight-leg or baggy girl,” she decided to try out some boot-cut jeans at the beginning of the school year and has been looking for a similar pair in a blue wash. Since these are long enough to touch the floor, she typically pairs them with a kitten heel or wedge.

“I used to wear mid- and high-waisted pants because that’s what my mom got for me,” says 18-year-old Jelice Fiffee. Now she opts for more comfortable mid- and low-waisted pairs that are wide-legged — definitely not skinny. In particular, she says, “I love a good flare jean, especially when it hugs your thighs.”

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Kaido Lee Roberts, a 15-year-old actor in Los Angeles, says almost all his jeans are from H&M. He switched from straight-leg to baggy jeans in 2024 with some light peer pressure from friends. “I hang around a lot of dancers and hip-hop artists, and I want to be in that mix,” he says. “I got so addicted to baggy jeans once I started wearing them.”

“Honestly, the baggier I can get, the better,” says 19-year-oldGabriel Stevensfrom Michigan, who typically sizes one or two up from his usual. He goes with these H&M light-washed gray jeans since they’re easy to pair with darker sweaters and tees, along with chunky shoes like UGGs or Nike Air Maxes.

When 17-year-old Khaled from New Jersey began his senior year of high school, he realized he was sick of wearing sweatpants to school every day and decided to invest in some jeans. His sister pointed him toward these from American Eagle that he likes to pair with his Birkenstock Boston clogs. “Those are probably one of my favorite jeans because they fit very true to size,” he says. “I can get a medium and it’ll fit perfectly.”

While figuring out how to express his style with denim, Khaled found himself preferring two types of jeans: regular baggy ones and baggy cargo jeans, the latter of which he has been buying again and again from PacSun. So far, he has four pairs, which he buys a size up because he likes them baggy and long — long enough to drape over his shoes (typically Asics or New Balance sneakers) à la Gen Z.

The boys like Hollister’s baggy jeans, too. Compared with his PacSun and American Eagle jeans, Khaled says, these are higher quality: “The material feels very good on my legs. It’s not too heavy.” He typically cuffs them once since they’re longer than his other pairs.

Danny Vergara, an 18-year-old in New York, says his usual day-to-day look is sweatpants, a hoodie, and sneakers. He reserves his jeans for occasions like dinner or taking a girl out. Lately, he has been into Instagram brands like Meyyd Gallery, which schedules out its drops, and Ditch. His go-to styles are baggy and darker washes, similar to the one shown here.

Fourteen-year-oldCodyfrom New Jersey is another teen who lives in sweats but likes wearing jeans when he goes to the mall or out to dinner. He pairs baggy ones with either a graphic tee or sweatshirt and Adidas Sambas or Straye skating shoes and is largely inspired by the hashtagUtah fit checks, he says. (The aesthetic involves loose-fitting clothes in toned-down colors.) This pair from Cotton On is the perfect amount of baggy, the hem hits right at the heel instead of the floor, and they’re comfortable.

Nineteen-year-old Parsons studentAlvieriwears Rick Owens and Calvin Klein pairs, but his daily denim is from French brand Protémoa, which he discovered on social media. “It’s kind of fast fashion, but not everybody knows the brand,” he says, adding that most of his friends and classmates go for Uniqlo and Urban Outfitters. The acid-washed effect, stitching details along the back, and overall bagginess drew him to this pair.

The widest pair we heard about comes recommended by-year-old Jayden Doukky from Illinois. Compared with the other jeans in Doukky’s wardrobe — everything from selvedge denim to one-of-a-kind thrifted finds from Diesel, Levi’s, and Wrangler — these jeans are so wide-legged, he says, they drag on the floor. (“They’re a little cumbersome to walk around in,” he adds.) The pair comes from JNCO, a ’90s brand whose 2019 relaunch captured the attention of denim heads across the country. Its signature wide-legged jeans are adorned with little embroidered characters; Doukky’s features a spirited kangaroo.

Eighteen-year-old Lincoln Lundak from Illinois has been seeing JNCO jeans in his school hallways, but he prefers straight-legged pairs for himself. Compared with theOur Legacy jeanshe favored last year, his new favorites from Levi’s have a straight, slightly boot-cut fit. He bought his pair a size up with a longer inseam so he could keep the original frayed hems and avoid, as he puts it, the “cowboy look that a lot of vintage Levi’s can have.” This gives him more room for movement, too.

A couple of teen boys we spoke to noted they were flare and boot-cut curious after Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show, but only one had a pair himself.Brayden Petrash, a 16-year-old from Texas, says his Rock Revival jeans are his favorites for both school and going dancing in boots. He appreciates their inclusive sizing, comfort (a must for dancing), and pocket designs. His dark-wash jeans are his everyday look, and the more contrasted light jeans are for “when I’m trying to stand out in a crowd.”