Jeans are an everyday staple. We’ve become inseparable from them and learnt to love the way each pair develops its own individual character over time. But if you’re confused by the perplexing terminology used by denimheads, then our comprehensive guide to men’s jeans ought to come in useful the next time you’re in the market for a pair.

“I am a big advocate for denim shorts,” says Zak Maoui, style director at Esquire UK. He usually wears his with long socks and sneakers or classic penny loafers. “Don’t pair them with a blazer, because they will just look daft.” For more advice on, if you will, “jorts” and other denim essentials for summer, see our guide.

Let’s get straight down to brass tacks – or, indeed, the metal rivets that traditionally held your denim together (likely more of a decorative detail these days). Your jeans are very probably one of the workhorses of your closet. And of your jeans, the straight-leg variety is about as dependable as you can get. But, even within this bracket, there is variation in terms of colour, wash and even cut – different brands have different ideas of what a regular fit should be. Here’s our curation of straight-leg jeans to stick straight on your Wish List.

Double denim is one of menswear’s great dividers. The sartorial soulmate of pineapple on pizza. “I both condone double denim and also quite enjoy the scathing attitude it sometimes evokes,” says Amy Leverton, author of Denim Dudes. “Double denim works in the same way that denim does in general: through its versatility and universal appeal.” Whether you want to evoke the ruggedness of a Wisconsin ranch hand or channel A$AP Rocky, there’s a plethora of ways to do it. Here’s how.

“White jeans possess an unfathomable mystical force,” writes David McKendrick, creative director and white-jeans advocate. “When you put them on, magic can happen.”

“Most of the white denim I’ve seen in the wild over the years has not given off a ‘scion of an Italian industrial dynasty summering in the Mediterranean’ vibe,” writes Finlay Renwick, MR PORTER’s Head of Content. “More: ‘There’s a guy over there wearing really, really white trousers. Wait, why are his trousers so white?’”

Who is right when it comes to wearing white? MR PORTER presents two polar-opposite viewpoints on optical denim trousers.

If you’re in the pro camp, even once you make the decision to don white jeans, there’s still a lot to think about. Like avoid children. And condiments. And children with condiments. “Friends, we can be better,” writes Lili Göksenin. “We can wear white without publicly shaming ourselves, I promise you. Not because we won’t spill anything – let’s face it, that’s a pipe dream – but because wearing white successfully is all about how you put the outfit together, as well as the tools and accessories you bring along for emergencies. Also, sheer chutzpah. Here’s how to get white right.”

“We cherish dry denim because it is a blank canvas upon which you can paint your story,” says Kevin Gelsi, the circular product manager at Nudie Jeans. “Denim is perhaps one of the most grateful garments in that sense, where the wear, tear and care are allowed to become aesthetic attributes in a successively ever-changing item.” Here, he offers his advice for keeping them in good shape. Spoiler: “wash them seldom,” he says.