The 5 Best High End Athletic Fit Jeans, From $ to $$$

The highest quality jeans are usually selvedge, meaning the fabric is woven on a shuttle loom that tends to make stronger, more textured denim.

Historically, most selvedge denim brands come in billowy straight fits and maybe a skinny fit, but neither are ideal for guys who squat heavy or are simply thicker than average.

My genetics happen to only put muscle on my butt and thighs, so getting into the world of nice jeans has been a little heartbreaking. But after many years of exploring different brands and factories, I’ve found some good options both for guys who lift and don’t prioritize a six pack, and guys with the dreaded big-thighs-small-waist problem.

How Do Athletic Fit Jeans… Fit?

• Look for descriptors like “High Rise,” and the word “Relaxed” before “Fit,” “Taper,” or “Straight”

You have a big butt, big thighs, and a waist that’s either big or small depending on your diet.

No matter what, you should get a high rise.

What’s a High Rise?

Men who squat have large butts, and damn it, that’s something to be proud of.

The glutes are the largest muscle group in the body and they’re responsible for every one of your athletic movements, so they need a big denim house to live in.

A high rise means a high waist: the jeans sit closer to your belly button than most modern fits, keeping any unusually large butt cracks from peeping out.

If the description of your jeans says “medium rise” they might fit, but it’s less likely.

In the 90s and early 2000s, everyone thought high rises were goofy and grandfatherly. Fortunately, everyone has since realized that they’re flattering on anyone.

[Further Reading: The Best Selvedge Denim: 8 Solid Brands for Quality, Value, & Weirdness]

What’s a Relaxed Fit?

That means there’s a lot of room in the thighs, which you want.

You might want relax tapered, relaxed straight or relaxed wide. This depends on how close fitting you like your jeans to fit at your ankles. Throughout the 2010s, I was a relaxed taper guy — after all, legs themselves are big up top and small at the bottom, why shouldn’t my jeans be? — but these days, relaxed straight is more popular.

Vintage Fits Tend to Be Athlete-Friendly Too

“Vintage” usually means high and wide. You won’t love it if you’re a taper guy, but they’ll fit a muscular guy well. And remember that if you have a small waist, “wide leg” pants that fit you off the rack will probably look pretty normal on you.

Jeans for Athletes vs Jeans for Guys Who Are Just Big

A lot of “Relaxed Fit” jeans that fit muscular thighs and butts are also made with large waists — in other words, they’re low key made for overweight guys who don’t work out.

While that sounds like they won’t have enough room for a muscular butt, the fact is that most “relaxed fit” jeans typically fit athletic guys who don’t prioritize small waists. (I’m thinking of powerlifters and strongmen, industries I worked in for many years.)

Guys with smaller waists will have a harder time, but I’ve found some options for jeans that open up for big thighs and then taper back inward.

With that out of the way, here are the brands that I wear the most, in order of price.

[Related: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Raw Denim]

Best for Small Waists and Big Thighs: Left Field NYC’s Atlas Fit

• Atlas is the rare athletic fit that works for big thighs and slim waists
• Wide leg Smokestack would be great for huskier athletes, and even their straight leg Greaser is good on me
• Made in USA by a cool small brand

Left Field NYC is a hidden goldmine: they’re made in the USA by a cool small brand from materials that are both super high end and super durable. Given all that, and the prevalence of Japanese selvedge, it’s genuinely surprising that they aren’t charging over $300 for their jeans.

The Atlas is the best fit for guys with big lower body muscles and a smaller-than-usual waist.

But what’s crazy is that I have big thighs and a small waist, to the point that I usually have to get my pants altered, but I also enjoy Left Field’s wide leg Smokestack and straight leg Greaser (above). The latter also has a pleasingly high waist for what’s meant to be a conventional straight fit.

The waist is a little loose on those fits, but not the point that I want to get them altered, so I’d say they’re good for lean athletes and regular athletes.

See also their banger “wide fit” canvas pants: they’re the kind of “wide fit” where if an athletic guy buys them to fit the waist, they look like normal-fitting pants.

Most Premium Athletic Fit Jeans: Iron Heart Denim’s 888 Fit

• This selvedge denim brand is perhaps most celebrated for their fits
• Famous for consistent fabric and heavy weights

Iron Heart is an absolutely legendary Japanese brand, celebrated for their extremely sturdy, tightly woven fabrics. The 888 fit was finally released in the 2020s as their “relax tapered” fit, but I’d definitely call it Relaxed Straight.

In a niche where denim is celebrated for being slubby and neppy, Iron Heart makes very consistent, comfortable denim — which is extra impressive when you remember how hard it is to get smooth fabric from chattering vintage shuttle looms. They bounce around like a vintage Oldsmobile.

I have a well worn pair but they’re black, so they don’t photograph well. But my review is: the rise is nice and high and while they call it “Relax Tapered,” it barely tapers at all. I’m pretty sure I’ve got an 8-inch leg opening.

Anyway, watch Troy’s 4-year review of 4 pairs of Iron Hearts.

Best Value Athletic Fit Jeans: Brave Star Selvage’s Strongman Fit

• “Athletic Taper” style cut
• “True Straight” might work if you want a bigger leg opening

No one offers better value than Brave Star. If the jeans were only made in the USA, their prices would be impressive. But they’re made in the USA from premium Japanese selvedge denim. I’ve seen them selling 20oz jeans for under $150!

Relaxed Straight: Naked & Famous’s True Guy ($130-$220)

• True Guy is a Relaxed Straight, my preferred fit
• Easy Guy is a Relaxed Taper
• Strong Guy is just wide all over, but the rise is low
• Huge range of fabrics
• They have an inch or so allowance in their measurements, so make sure you don’t risk the thighs being too small.

Naked and Famous’s jeans are made in Canada with Japanese selvedge denim and usually cost like $150. They’re really good value and they make really cool fabrics.

Their bestselling starter jean is Left Hand Twill, but throughout the years they have sold a tremendous number of weird and wonderful fabrics like Scratch and Sniff, Rainbow Core, milk yarn, and more

If you’re reading this you’ll want to take a look at two fits: Easy Guy is their relaxed taper, Strong Guy is their relaxed straight, which is a harder fit to find. It’s not often you get a brand with as many cool offerings as Naked & Famous selling jeans in a good relaxed straight fit.

Their bestselling starter jean is Left Hand Twill, but they’re always selling something wild. Throughout the years they’ve sold denim that’s Scratch and Sniff, Rainbow Core, milk yarn, and more — they’ve even created the thickest jeans in history.

[Shop Naked & Famous’ Easy Guy here]

Best Athletic Fit Japanese Jeans: Oni Denim Co Relax Straight

• Legendary OG Japanese brand
• Considered a ‘must buy’ for selvedge purists
• Their large-thigh fits like this don’t have very slim waists

Some consider this the top of the mountain.

Here we have Oni, an Okayama-based brand. Legend has it the founder is the son of the man who imported the denim that made the very first pair of Japanese jeans in the 1960s.

Oni is one of the very biggest players in this scene. My favorite fit is their Relaxed Straight, which I got in their 20oz Secret Denim from Redcast Heritage.

But when I was more of a relax taper guy, I wore their aggressive “Spike Taper” (above) on a pair of lovely ecru denim jeans for many summers.

Oni’s not super cheap, but are normally priced for Japanese denim, which usually runs over $300. My pairs have all cost less.

[Redcast Heritage’s Oni collection — “STRIDEWISE5” gets a 5% discount]

Honorable Mention: Studio d’Artisan (The G-003 fit)

• Sturdy, durable, thick denim
• Partly lined pockets
• Good for cold weather
• Great and unique fade potential

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to Studio d’Artisan for their G-003 fit, which was my first pair of raw denim. I had to shrink them in a garbage bag of hot water because I didn’t have a bathtub.

It’s got a high rise and very roomy thighs, and they’ll always have a place in my heart. Of all these brands, they’re the hardest to find and you can’t buy from their website, plus they have fewer people stocking them than Oni and Pure Blue Japan. So they’re here more as a bonus entry in case you happen upon them, because they can be tough to source. (If you really want to try, start at Denimio and Self Edge.)

Wrapping Up

That’s it, guys. If you’re a bigger and/or athletic dude and you want a durable pair of quality jeans that will last for years and look better with each passing day, one of these brands will definitely work for you. Leave Levi’s and American Eagle behind and get some jeans that are made like they used to be.