What Is the Ultimate Pair of Forever Jeans?

A reader, tired of chasing the latest fad in denim, asks for guidance in finding jeans that will last a lifetime.

The fact is, we are living in the era of everything-goes jeans. They are skinny, wide, boyfriend, flared, distressed, stovepipe, acid-washed, upcycled, jegging. Whatever you want, there’s a jeans style for that.

On one hand, this means that every trend is available all the time. On the other, it can mean a closet full of denim and a feeling of confusion about exactly what to wear. This is generally known as option anxiety.

One idea: Cherchez the role model. For that I can offer no better idea than Princess Diana, circa the 1990s. That’s not just because she is having a major cultural renaissance, between “The Crown,” the new “Diana” musical coming to Broadway in November and the much-buzzed-about “Spencer” biopic starring Kristen Stewart. It’s also because she was really the first royal to make wearing jeans a public thing, and in doing so, she managed to bridge the tradition-contemporary divide her position demanded.