I tried on a pair of wide leg jeans in a changing room that had clearly been designed for someone six inches taller than me, took one look in the mirror, and nearly walked out in them because they made my legs look like they belonged to someone else entirely, in a good way. That's the thing to tell a friend holding a pair: they're forgiving in a way skinny jeans never were, but they need a bit of care to get right, and the wrong pair just looks like you've borrowed your dad's.
Dark, uncomplicated washes are the easiest to live with, a proper indigo or a near black, because wide leg already does a lot visually and you don't need the denim doing cartwheels as well. Pale washes can work but show every crease from sitting down, which with this cut you'll be doing a lot, since the whole appeal is wearing them loose and sitting in a way that doesn't feel like negotiation. For fit, the waist is where most of the disasters happen, not the leg, so try the next size down from what you'd expect and check it sits properly without gaping at the back when you bend forward, because a wide leg with a gaping waistband is a miserable combination. The length matters more than with any other jean shape I own, you want them skimming the top of your shoe or just grazing the floor at the back, and if they're too short you get an odd cropped, flood effect that nobody's asking for. In the shop, do the sitting test and the walking test both, because a pair that looks architectural standing still can suddenly feel like a tent once you're moving, and check the pocket placement too, high pockets on a wide leg can make your hips look wider than you want, low ones can look like an afterthought.
Where this goes wrong is if you're after something neat for a packed train or a job where you're ducking under desks all day, the volume just gets in the way and you'll spend the whole day gathering fabric in one hand like you're presenting a magic trick nobody asked to see. They also don't love being paired with anything equally voluminous on top, I made that mistake once with an oversized jumper and came out the other end of the outfit looking like I was wearing a duvet with legs. A fitted top or something tucked in gives the jeans somewhere to be the statement rather than fighting with the rest of you.
Reach for these on the days you want to look pulled together without actually trying very hard, when you've got somewhere to be but no patience left for anything that pinches.
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