Talk about meeting the parents. We’ve only just learned to act polite around the mum-jean, and now the New York Times is heralding the comeback of dad-denim, hoisted high on the waists of irony-hungry hipsters the world over. 

The mum-jean and dad-jean are a smugly compatible couple, sharing a light stonewash hue, a high waist, and a crotch that’s roomy like a paper grocery bag. But the dad-jean differs from his other half by having a leg silhouette that’s more ‘loose-fit’ than ‘tapered’ and a creepily long zip. He is butt-shirking rather than butt-hugging. And he comes with the non-optional extra of a brown leather belt. Think Jerry Seinfeld circa 1991, Barack Obama in 2011, and any Top Gear presenter yesterday, today, and for evermore. 

Forward-thinking (and backward-looking) labels like A.P.C., Acne and Earnest Sewn are all moving towards lighter washes and airier legs, in what menswear blogger Brad Bennett describes as ‘a backlash against the now-ailing Americana-urban woodsman trend’. 

You can see the allure of a dad-jean, for women as well as men; done right, it’s a refreshingly no-nonsense, boldly androgynous and undeniably comfortable take on denim, a huge two-fingers-up to the tyranny of the skinny. You COULD feel like you’re channelling badass chicks like Maggie from Northern Exposure, TLC in that Waterfalls vid, or Elizabeth Jennings in The Americans. 

Our problem is that denim is meant to be a friend. It’s supposed to be a reliable, flattering, comfortable basic that you can throw on unthinkingly and then jazz up, if you can be arsed. Dad-jeans take a LOT of work to not look, well, like you’re wearing your dad’s ancient Burton jeans. And we also question the validity of a fashion rebellion that involves simply reverting to the status quo that was in place right before the current status quo – ironic, given you'll also look like Status Quo, the ultimate dad-jean proponents, in yours. Like, Vive La Revolution.

So we're open-minded girls. We’re just not ready for THAT open a crotch.