The Guide to New Men's Jeans After 50

3. Straight jeans with a looser fit suit muscular, chunky or husky bodies

Don't let subcategories of straight jeans throw you. They may say regular, classic, relaxed or athletic but are still straight, only with a fuller cut through the seat and legs and some stretch for ease. Slouchy legs are fine, but skip anything too saggy, baggy or stiff (like raw denim). Consider pairing them with untucked button-downs and tees for extra tummy coverage, and add a jacket to up your style game.

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4. The darker and more even the wash, the dressier the jean

Medium- to dark-blue and black denim are dressier than light faded jeans for a professional, businesslike or more polished look, day or night. Choose a uniform color with no extreme whiskering (prefabricated pattern creases) or shadow fades. Just add a tailored blazer or vest, a crisp button-down, and ankle boots or loafers. Treat them like dress pants or chinos, but with no ironed creases ever.

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5. Faded, slightly distressed jeans are cool on mature men

While dark, even washes have their own appeal, so do vintage washes. Forget rips and tears and go for broken-in, light to medium blues that look like you've had them for years. They may have been stonewashed or sanded slightly at the seams, knees and thighs during processing to get that exact effect. Keep the style straight and otherwise classic — no flares, bell-bottoms or boot cuts — and add in a leather jacket and your favorite tees, flannel shirts and sweaters like Bruce Willis.

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6. The right length is crucial

This is where it is easy to really mess up. How jeans "break" — where your pants hit the top of your shoe — has changed and there are options. If you're a traditional conservative kind of guy, get your straight jeans tailored to a half-break so they break and crease in front and fall pretty straight to mid-heel in back. And if you're a laid-back gent, casual and cool like Antonio Banderas, let them drape and stack up in a loose fall on the way down before fully breaking front and back. Just be aware that too much width and excess fabric bunching up at the ankles looks too long, careless and sloppy. 

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7. Keep cuffing under control

If you're hipster edgy, a half inch to an inch double mini roll looks stylish the way Jeff Goldblum does it. Big wide cuffs are best left to teens and millennials who wear skinny jeans and tapered leg styles.

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8.  You can pair jeans with a denim or chambray shirt

The "Canadian tuxedo" — doubling up denim on top and bottom — has gone from a sometimes trend to a forever "do." Fans include Ziggy Marley. Experiment by pairing old with new and shade differences or even black jeans with a blue jeans jacket.

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9. Pair jeans with stylish pieces

Keep your jeans look personal and updated with tops and footwear like Tom Cruise. Your favorite jeans can go rugged and sporty with a T-shirt, hoodie and sneakers; edgy by adding a black tee, leather jacket and black Chelsea boots; polished by doing a blazer, button-down shirt and lace-ups or loafers. Keep tees relaxed, not tight, and try half-tucking the front as you layer for less bulk at the waist. Tone jeans to tops and shoes for a longer, taller, sleeker illusion, and add a pop of color with a scarf, shirt or whimsical socks.