i keep seeing this
By Brenley Goertzen, a writer at the Strategist covering clothing basics and bath and body. She joined the Strategist as a junior writer in 2022 after interning at the site.
Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Danielle Spurgeon, Brenley Goertzen, Winnie Yang
A few months ago, my friend Danielle wore a pair of wide-leg jeans to a fundraiser we attended with our significant others. I immediately noticed the pants— I loved the wash and drape — but as I looked more closely, I realized that her jeans weren’t actually jeans at all.
The pockets, belt loops, seams, and rivets were all meticulously printed onto a material that was smooth, almost like a pair of sweatpants. Even the wash — medium with faded thighs — was printed on. It was like a trompe l’oeil painting …. except they were jeans. Or not jeans, since they were technically sweats. The illusion was starting to make my head spin when Danielle told me the pants were from Rag & Bone’s Miramar collection — a line that is made to look like denim but is cut from a cotton-terry that feels as soft as a pair of leggings. It turned out that Danielle owns six other Miramar styles too, including joggers in three different washes, the same wide-legs but in a lighter wash, plus two Sofie wide-legs (which have real buttons). As we were talking about the pants, another friend overheard our conversation and told us that she’d just placed an order for the same ones.
Within a matter of days, my FYP page exploded with more stylish people — one being L.A.-based content creator Sydney Silverman — wearing the so-called “sweatpant jeans” (and as I scrolled, I also saw them here, here, and here again). They genuinely looked like other sturdy (and pricey) pairs of full-length denim. Across the board, the people who were posting said they wore the pants in more professional settings, like their offices, which, I thought, implied that the jean print was as believable in person as it appeared on my phone.
@sydneysilverman_ Jean sweatpant is the life hack
♬ original sound - Sydney Silverman
I’m fully remote and struggle to wear anything other than athleisure most days, so I knew I had to try the Miramar pants for myself. I ordered them, and when they arrived, I was immediately impressed with the fabric: It is soft, lightweight, moves fluidly, and never clings to my body. It is basically the ideal silhouette I look for in a pair of slouchy jeans but that’s practically impossible to find in a denim pair. The wide leg makes them versatile and easy to pair with sneakers or dressier footwear like kitten heels or ankle boots, and the comfort level is unparalleled. I’ve worn them out to dinner, for Zoom calls at home, and to run errands around my neighborhood — I truly never want to take them off — and the friends who’ve seen them have been floored by how “real” they look.
I recently wore them on an early-morning flight, and they felt just as comfortable as my favorite worn-in pajama bottoms. They didn’t wrinkle, the ultrastretchy waistband never felt too tight or too loose, and they kept me warm despite a chilly airplane draft. And, it turns out, I’m not the only one who swears by them for flying. I spotted them on fashion influencer Morgan Riddle, who wore hers on a 17-hour flight; meanwhile, my colleague, senior editor Winnie Yang, wore the Miramar pants on a total of four flights this past week.
“They’re so comfortable, but I don’t feel like a total schlub wearing them,” Yang told me. She appreciates that they keep their shape, plus the elastic waistband doesn’t dig in or sag, even after sitting on a cross-country flight. The side pockets might be the only true giveaway that they’re not jeans, but Yang says they’re deep enough to hold her phone, a crucial feature for travel. (Yang’s sister and sister-in-law were also impressed with the “verisimilitude of the print and construction,” and said the pants reminded them of the trompe l’oeil denim snowboard pants that Team USA wore at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.)
I am by no means a jeans hater, but these Miramar pants add to my closet in a way no real pair of jeans could. And after trying them myself, I can understand why my friend has now accumulated seven pairs. Our friends who’ve not yet joined the sisterhood of the faux-denim jeans have told me that the pants are next on their list. I’ll be wearing mine straight into summer — and maybe I’ll even try the sweatpant jeans shorts.
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