Trainers are to jeans as Nutella is to pancakes; eyeliner is to Alexa Chung; and corsets are to the cast of Bridgerton. They just look good together. The only major flaw in this thinking, however, is that every pair of trainers works with every pair of jeans. As someone who has often chosen jeans and sneakers over heels and a dress, I’ve worked out that there are certain trainers that work best with certain jeans silhouettes. Yes, it does help that I own a fair amount of both, but the way I see it is that you can rest assured that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this and have honed down the ideal combos.
When thinking about what trainers to wear with jeans, the first I think about is the hem of the trousers. Are they cropped or tapered? This immediately has an impact on the trainers I’ll choose. Case in point? If you’re wearing a longer leg style, you won’t want to wear a chunky pair of trainers as it might disrupt the silhouette of the jeans. Secondly, what width are the legs? For example, wide legs, for me, just don’t work well with chunky sneakers. Finally, I’ll think about the colour. If they’re a softer, non-blue, colour such as an ecru or green, I’ll try for a sharp white or black but will avoid grey. But with blue, you can pretty much wear any trainer colour you like. I have plenty more of these insights if you keep scrolling to see which four trainer styles are best to wear with jeans.
Style Notes: Wide-leg ecru jeans are ideal with high-tops. While I’ve paired them with a Breton, I think this would work with a black or white tee and a black blazer.
Style Notes: One of my favourite style of jeans is the cropped flare. I’m 5’3” and find it’s one of the better lengths for me. To make up for the cropped hem, I like higher sneakers, so it’s high-tops for me and nothing else.
Style Notes: As these flares are so long on me, the only clear sneaker is a non-chunky Converse-style version. A chunky trainer would lift up the flared hem and the silhouette wouldn’t be as clean.
Style Notes: This is what I like to think of a the K-Mids way to wear jeans and sneakers. The crop around the ankle with a slightly tapered style works very well with white plimsolls. Socks optional.
Style Notes: Good news—if you love your plimsolls and wide-leg white jeans, then you can combine them for this nautical vibe.
Style Notes: Perhaps the most divisive of combos is the mom jeans with dad sneakers. It’s a little hypebeast for some, but I’m personally a big fan. As mom jeans usually end above the ankle, it’s nice to make a show of your more out-there trend-led trainers.
Style Notes: Whether blue or black, straight-leg jeans are great with dad sneakers. The chunkier the better, I say.
Style Notes: Unlike the above dad sneakers, the chunky sneakers aren’t inspired by vintage style and more about current trends. Wear with straight-leg jeans for a 2021 way to do the look.
Style Notes: You could go for a pair of super-baggy jeans, but mom jeans work just as well.
