Olivia Rodrigo rarely, if ever, wears jeans on stage, so when she showed up to Addison Rae’s Coachella set in vintage Diesel denim, she immediately got my attention. Okay, she would’ve had it regardless, given that she was performing her new single “Drop Dead” for the first time ever, but she specifically woke up the dormant part of my brain that considered low-rise jeans a viable summer wardrobe option.
On April 18, Rodrigo made her surprise cameo in a custom pink leather bra top with a studded bow detail, pairing the girly-punk statement piece with a distressed pair of Diesel jeans sourced by Bluey Denim. Specifically, she seems to be wearing a denim cut that dominated the early 2010s as a more relaxed answer to skinny jeans: boyfriend jeans.
Unlike current iterations of boyfriend jeans—which basically encompass any style of loose denim—the 2010s version of boyfriend jeans were tapered straight-leg denim with a slightly baggy, breathable fit. As the name suggests, the objective was to look as though you’d swiped the pair directly out of your guy’s disorganized dresser.
Typically worn cuffed at the hem, the style was particularly beloved for how well it worked with a casual T-shirt and jeans, as well as dressed up with a heels and a going-out top. Katie Holmes had a particular flair for styling low-rise Current/Elliots, which she often wore on the baggier side with ballet flats and lightly tucked T-shirts.
Now it seems boyfriend jeans are coming back amid a recent wave of wide-leg denim fatigue. Unlike cigarette jeans, a slim-cut silhouette currently having a moment among celebs like Dakota Johnson and Jennifer Lawrence, boyfriend jeans are less structured and often low-rise, but in a way that feels way less intimidating than ’90s skinny jeans that pinch at the hips…and everywhere else. But if that still sounds too low for comfort, I can personally vouch for the AGolde Mid-Rise Boyfriend Cuffed Jeans, which hit just show a hint of belly button and skim the hips in the exact right way.
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AG The Boyfriend Cuffed Jeans
Nordstrom
AGOLDE
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Rag & Bone Dre Low-Rise Slim Boyfriend Jeans
Nordstrom
Obviously, Olivia Rodrigo did not style her boyfriend jeans in a particularly casual or approachable way, but it’s not lost on me that she chose to wear this style while performing a track about the yearning stage of a new relationship. Who doesn’t love a sartorial Easter egg that doubles as summer wardrobe inspiration?
For me, that means styling my boyfriend jeans with T-shirts and sneakerinas like the 30-something single woman I am. You can do whatever you want.
