No man’s wardrobe is ever complete without a great denim selection.

This durable, versatile fabric has been a staple of casual menswear for as long as we can remember, providing the perfect attire for laid-back dress codes, relaxing at home and adventurous nights out.

In fact, there’s absolutely no reason why denim can’t be a feature of smarter occasions, too.

However, the denim game is continuing to evolve in unexpected ways, and you’d be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer range of styles, colours and cuts you have to choose from.

In the face of so many options, it’s often hard to keep track of which denim styles are currently considered the most stylish while learning how to style your denim in summer can prove even more challenging. Fortunately, we’ve put together some top tips just for you:

Tear Up Your Jeans

When we’re starting to bake under the intense heat of the summer sun, most guys will banish their jeans back to the confines of their wardrobe.

After all, when you’re struggling to cool down in the middle of a heatwave, the last thing you want is a pair of tight jeans trapping the sweat trickling down your legs. When that happens, things start to get very uncomfortable indeed.

By wearing a pair of men’s ripped jeans instead, however, your legs will obviously have much more room to breathe. These super-casual designs usually feature tears on both knees, although the severity and extent of these rips will obviously differ between designs; with some also featuring destroyed sections on the thigh. 

Either way, ripped jeans provide you with the ventilation required to stay cool in the summer heat, while also letting you enjoy the familiar feel of high-quality denim.

Stay Cool with Straight Leg Jeans

During the summer, skinny jeans quickly become public enemy number one. These restrictive pants make it very difficult to cool down when the sun’s blazing overhead, particularly when you’ve chosen to wear a darker pair.

Although you can always cool things down with some stylish destroyed skinny jeans, these ripped designs certainly aren’t for everyone.

Instead, you should consider opting for jeans which offer a more regular cut, with straight-leg jeans offering much more room and allowing your legs to air themselves out a little.

Of course, these are by no means the most sensible pants to wear at the height of summer, but they provide a fantastic option for people who want to remain a little cooler while avoiding having their legs out on display. 

Go Bold in Denim Short-Shorts

Short-shorts (or “microshorts”) were all over the SS19 catwalks last year, with these super-cropped designs typically cutting off in the middle of the thigh.

Of course, these bold, almost outrageous, shorts allow you to soak up even more of the sun this summer, further exposing your legs and ultimately keeping you comfortable in the heat.

If you want to wear denim and stay as cool as possible this summer, then denim short-shorts are certainly the right way to go. The only question is: are you brave enough to pull them off?

Double Denim

The return of double denim is, to be completely honest, a little unexpected. This particular style has always been notoriously difficult to pull off, leading many of us to instantly dismiss it and, in some cases, downright ridicule it.

However, double denim has continued to evolve since those controversial days, gradually erasing the memory of Justin Timberlake’s all-denim suit from back in 2001.

Now almost 18 years later, double denim is now considered an essential summer style for 2019. Of course, although Brad Pitt makes it look so easy, double denim is still incredibly hard to get right, with the wrong shade of blue or clothing combinations having potentially disastrous consequences.

But when you get the proportions, fit and wash absolutely spot on, you’ll achieve a distinctive style ideal for those cooler summer nights.