Whether you’re a raw, washed or distressed kind of man, MR PORTER has the jeans for you.

Jeans, jeans, they’re good for the heart. Wait, no, that’s not it, is it? Anyway, you know what we mean. Jeans are among the most reliable, versatile and comfortable items in the modern male wardrobe. What would we do without them? The only difficulty is when it comes to choosing which particular jeans will be yours, given the rather overwhelming number of washes, finishes and fits available. To help you in one aspect of this crucial decision, we at MR PORTER have compiled a guide that illustrates, via three complete outfits, how, why and when you might choose a particular denim finish. Which begs the question: are you more of a raw, washed or distressed kind of person? Or, though it sounds a bit gruesome, a mixture of all three?

Raw denim makes for jeans at their most formal. Yes, you can wear these sleek, indigo-dyed varieties at the weekend with a pair of boots, but you can also dress them up for the office. Here, we’ve put together a look that sits comfortably in the middle between smart and casual, the well-polished black brogues and crisp poplin shirt helping to keep it sleek. A tailored jacket worn with jeans can sometimes be a little bit tricky, so we’ve opted for a more 1950s-tinged version of smartness, courtesy of a nostalgically styled varsity sweater from workwear expert Mr Junya Watanabe.

Pre-faded jeans are most definitely more for the weekend, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be dressed up a little bit. Adding a pair of suede Chelsea boots brings a sophisticated edge to these washed jeans from Parisian brand Saint Laurent, resulting in an outfit that would be perfectly acceptable at an outdoor summer party or casual dinner with friends. Given the ascendancy of the camp-collar shirt this season, you can also get away with one here, too. Just make sure the fit of your jeans is relatively slim and/or skinny to avoid that skate-park effect.

It may seem that distressed and frayed jeans are very much for the more fashion-conscious among us, who will have been sagely nodding in the past year as Parisian brand Vetements (of eye-wateringly expensive deconstructed jeans fame) continues its meteoric rise. But the truth is that it’s not particularly difficult to buy into this trend, given that designers are now offering jeans in varying degrees of disrepair, from lightly frayed to utterly annihilated. We suggest starting with this pair from Japanese brand Chimala, which come in a slightly wide-leg fit with a cropped leg length (also very much on trend right now), and showcase the label’s characteristic rip-and-repair distressing (particularly pleasing on the underside of the cuff). There’s no point trying to smarten these up, so dress them with fun, casual pieces. A cashmere sweater and some classic Converse should do the trick.