Review: Vancouver-Based Denim Brand Duer Is Making Wide-Legged Jeans You Can Hem Yourself

I’ve had a pair of Duer jeans for about four years now. Full disclosure, I got them as a gift when I attended an event at their downtown Vancouver store. Fuller disclosure: I never wear them.

The pants, while comfortable and excellent quality (the structure, thickness and weight makes it obvious they’re legit denim), have one dooming feature… I don’t like the way they look. On me, specifically. In my opinion, this local brand has been more focused on functionality, durability and material than, say, what the kids are wearing nowadays. No hate to Duer–on paper, that’s awesome. But when it comes to choosing a pair of jeans to wear on the daily, style is an important factor.

And perhaps the Duer team read my mind, because this year they’ve launched a new collection of denim in silhouettes that are MUCH trendier. The women’s offerings, in particular, feature higher waists and wider legs, and a really unique approach to length: bar tacks. That means that the jeans are sold with a standard inseam, but you can shorten the length yourself by cutting just below the designated stitches.

The bar tacks are said to prevent fraying (more on that here) and allow you to decide what length of jean is right for you.

Duer offered me a pair of the midweight denim wide leg jeans to test out the new collection. Immediately, I liked the silhouette better—it’s far more stylish than the previous straight-legged design (thanks, Gen Z, for releasing us from skinny-jean hell). Using the bar tacks as a guide, I cut mine just below the second notch.

That was two months ago, and these jeans have become my go-to pair. I’ve probably worn them 40 times as much as I’ve worn the other pair, and I can confirm that the fraying isn’t a problem—you need to snip a few loose threads after the first few wears, but after that it’s all good. They’re more comfortable than the other style (likely because they’re looser and lighter-weight) and also a lot more flattering, IMHO. Here’s photos for comparison.

I wear these jeans every day (well, every day that I’m not wearing some obnoxious patterned linen skirt or dress, because it’s summer now) and can confidently say that they’re awesome—they’ve stretched a bit, which only made them more comfortable, and it’s also nice to know that they come from a local company.

They say the best athletes compete against themselves, and with these new silhouettes, Duer really kicked its own ass. The brand has always offered up great quality, but now they’re a real power player in the style department, too.