Today I’m showing you 14 easy outfits with straight leg jeans in a medium wash that you can copy! Straight leg jeans are great because they give you a tailored element, which means you can more easily wear looser tops without feeling shapeless. You don’t have to be as mindful of your tops and jackets being too long the way you do with wide leg jeans. And you don’t have to fully tuck your tops as often as you do with wide leg jeans to get definition.
That said, it can be difficult sometimes to find straight leg jeans that fit well. If straight leg jeans tend to make you look shapeless and you have curvy hips, just like I mentioned with wide leg jeans, look for a pair that hugs your booty and hips, curves in a bit slightly under your hip, and then falls straight down your leg.
The pair I’m wearing in this post is from Quince, and I really like them! They are sturdy and feel supportive, which I find helpful in general but especially helpful on days I feel like a blob. 😆 Yet, they are stretchy and comfortable! You can find these jeans in 3 washes, HERE. I’m wearing size 28. I highly recommend trying them! Quince offers free shipping and free return shipping and a 365 day return window, I believe. 🙌
In particular, today we’re focusing on medium wash jeans. Jeans like these are classic and timeless and can be styled in endless ways. But, they aren’t QUITE as effortless to style as dark wash jeans. Dark wash jeans can be paired with nearly anything and look good. You can also dress dark wash jeans up and down almost effortlessly. However, medium wash jeans don’t dress up as fluidly as dark wash jeans do. They are GREAT for casual outfits, though! Medium wash jeans also require a bit more thought with colors, as some colors can look off balance with medium wash jeans. For example, they might be too saturated or too muddy for the medium wash, making your outfit not look as cohesive or pulled together.
But still, you can make so many outfits with medium wash jeans. So let’s talk through a few outfits and why they work!
SIZING: I’m 5’6″ and usually S/M or 6 in clothes and 8.5 to 9 in shoes.
14 Outfits With Straight Leg Jeans in a Medium Wash
1. Elevated Casual: Printed Sweater + Medium Wash Straight Leg Jeans
Here’s an elevated casual outfit with a relaxed sweater and boots. Like I mentioned, straight leg jeans are great because they’re easy to pair with looser, slightly longer sweaters without looking shapeless. Easy!!!
Unfortunately, this sweater is sold out, but there’s a similar one HERE. I wear size S. For boots, I went for black to echo the black in the stripes. The shaft of my boots is really high and narrow, enabling them to work super easily with slim straight leg jeans like these. Find a similar pair HERE.
2. Elevated Casual: Colored Sweater + Boots
A slight spin on the previous outfit – pair the medium wash straight leg jeans with a solid sweater. Go for a neutral one, or go for a colored one!
3. Elevated Casual: Neutral Sweater + Boots
For neutral colors with medium wash jeans, I tend to like black and white/cream, certain shades of tan, and some shades of grey. This outfit with a black turtleneck is from my post 12 Outfits With a Black Turtleneck. Again, I bookended the outfit with black boots to echo the black turtleneck. If I were wearing a white sweater, I’d probably go with tan boots instead of black, as I’d feel the black would be too stark and put the white + medium wash out of balance.
(By the way, these jeans are not the Quince ones, but they’re super similar, and I didn’t want to re-take this same picture with Quince jeans — haha! 🤪)
4. Elevated Casual: Striped Tee + Cardigan + Loafers
This outfit is casual but slightly dressed up. I like how smart straight leg jeans make outfits look! I’m wearing a black and ivory striped tee, and to create cohesion, I added black loafers, which echo the black in the top. While you could pair this with a black layer, I went with a tan cardigan to mix up the tones in the outfit and make it more visually interesting. I really like how tan looks against a medium wash jean, too!
Shop the Outfit:
Top: Old Navy (similar)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Sweater: (similar)
Loafers: Nordstrom (similar)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
Necklace: Nordstrom (nearly identical—but way more affordable!)
5. Elevated Casual: White Blouse + Tan Flats
This is one of the easiest outfit ideas with straight leg jeans in a medium wash and a way to dress up the jeans. I love white with medium wash jeans! I’d almost always go for a tan colored shoe for the easiest near-foolproof pairing.
Shop the Outfit:
Top: Amazon (similar)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Shoes: Nordstrom (similar)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
6. Elevated Casual: Printed Blazer + Boots
I love pairing jeans with a blazer! Straight leg jeans work well with a longer blazer like this because straight leg jeans are more fitted, which keeps you from looking overwhelmed and like you’re drowning in fabric when wearing a longer blazer.
I wore this outfit to a school board meeting during which my daughter was presenting. Attendees were dressed so, so casually, but I didn’t feel right showing up to a board meeting in a sweatshirt. The plaid blazer with jeans worked well, but the event was so casual that I wore lifestyle sneakers instead of boots, and I was still fairly dressed up comparatively!
Shop the Outfit:
Top: Old Navy (similar)
Blazer: (similar)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Boots: Kohl’s (similar)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
Necklace: Nordstrom (nearly identical—but way more affordable!)
7. Elevated Casual: Striped Tee + Colored Blazer + Flats
This is a combination of a couple of the outfit ideas with straight leg jeans in a medium wash — another version of #4 and #6. Add some color with a colored blazer! This blazer is also super old and not available in this color, but there are some other colors available in the updated version HERE. It’s a sweater blazer, so it’s comfy and stretchy and easy to wear, but it looks polished! There’s also another sweater blazer in more colors available HERE.
These Mary Jane flats are SUPER affordable at around $20 on sale. They’re fairly comfortable for how cheap they are, and they help you refresh your tried-and-true classic combos with an updated element! Find the updated version, HERE. I’m wearing size 9.
Shop the Outfit:
Top: Old Navy (similar)
Blazer: (similar)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Shoes: Old Navy (exact—wearing size 9)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
Necklace: Nordstrom (nearly identical—but way more affordable!)
8 & 9. Casual: Sweater + Sneakers
Easy peasyyyyyyy casual combo. This is the same as outfits 1, 2, and 3, but we’re dressing it down by wearing lifestyle sneakers instead of boots. It’s amazing how switching out shoes like that can dress a combo up or down, isn’t it?
If you want to elevate this combo a bit, add sneakers with a splash of color! I have been LOVING these white and green sneakers — that tiny little splash of green has given my outfits a subtle but really impactful zing! These are under $20, and I got them after several PMT Style Club members talked about them in the black/white version. I prefer them with my own shoe inserts for better cushioning, but for $20 and the pop the green gives, they’re great! Find them HERE. I’m wearing size 8.5.
If you REALLY want to add some life and make it more dynamic, go for a colored sweater instead of a neutral one! I’m wearing the same sweater in different colors in these pictures.
Shop the Outfit:
Sweater: Kohl’s (similar)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Shoes: Walmart (exact—wearing size 8.5)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
Necklace: Nordstrom (nearly identical—but way more affordable!)
10. Casual: Zip Up Sweatshirt + Sneakers
To make an outfit with a sweatshirt and jeans look stylish, first I recommend making sure your sweatshirt looks stylish, not sloppy and old. It should look tailored, structured, and polished, but totally casual. The one shown above is from Quince, but it was so popular it’s already sold out! Find a similar style HERE. I’m wearing size S.
Shop the Outfit:
Sweatshirt: Quince (similar)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Shoes: Walmart (exact—wearing size 8.5)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
11. Casual: Zip Up Sweatshirt + Sneakers
Here’s the same formula as #9 but with a slightly more relaxed sweatshirt. This one is really soft, though less structured than the one from Quince. Both are great, but if you want something more tailored, go for the one from #10. If you like things a little slouchier and more relaxed, go for this one. Find it in tons of colors, HERE. I’m wearing size S.
Shop the Outfit:
Sweatshirt: Amazon (exact—wearing size S)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Shoes: Walmart (exact—wearing size 8.5)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
12. Casual: Graphic Print Sweatshirt + Lifestyle Sneakers
Instead of a collared sweatshirt, you can also go for a printed sweatshirt! Mine is a bit oversized, which works with straight leg jeans because they’re more fitted, countering that extra volume from a roomier sweatshirt. My sweatshirt is not available in black anymore, but other colors are available HERE.
13. Tee + Vest + Lifestyle Sneakers
You know I’ve jumped back on the vest train hardcore! I like how sporty a vest like this one looks, and it pairs easily with jeans for casual outfits and with sporty pants and leggings for athleisure, which you can see in my post 7 Athleisure Outfits for Winter to Copy.
Again, I went for the $20 white and green sneakers. I mean it when I say I LOVE how that splash of green adds to an outfit! Find the sneakers HERE. I’m wearing size 8.5. By the way, I put my own shoe insoles into them.
Shop the Outfit:
Tee: Amazon (exact–wearing size L)
Vest: Nordstrom (similar)
Jeans: Quince (exact—wearing size 28)
Shoes: Walmart (exact—wearing size 8.5)
Hoop Earrings: Amazon (exact—wearing 30mm)
Necklace: Nordstrom (nearly identical—but way more affordable!)
14. Graphic Tee + Cardigan + Sneakers
This is a combo I’m sure you’re familiar with, but to elevate the style, be intentional with your pieces. If you want to look stylish in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, then start with stylish t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers!
First, choose a graphic tee that has great drape and a cute design. Second, wear stylish lifestyle sneakers instead of any pair of athletic sneakers you have lying around. Third, be mindful of color pairings. My graphic tee has white/cream, brown, and orange, so I incorporated coordinating colors with a tan cardigan that echoes the browns/orange in the shirt, white shoes, and white earrings.
These are 14 outfits with straight leg jeans in a medium wash you can copy! You can dress them up in elevated casual outfits with blouses, blazers, and boots, and you can dress them down with sneakers and sweatshirts really easily. If you’re unsure of which colors work cohesively with a medium wash like this, safe bets are white/cream, light to medium grey, black – if you bookend it with another black piece, and tan. What’s your favorite way to wear medium wash straight leg jeans?
More One Piece Many Ways Posts
Do you like seeing one piece styled many ways? Check out all of my One Piece Many ways posts HERE!
Want to see all my jeans tips blog posts? Check them out HERE.
