BLEND IT LIKE BECKHAM

As Becks steps out in jewelled and sparkly denim, GQ's editor explains the new rules for men's jeans - it's all in the mix AS he's the most fashionable man in Britain, it's not exactly surprising that we take an inordinate amount of interest in what David Beckham chooses to wear when he takes his family to see a West End musical. Well, the musical was The Lion King, and the jeans - customised Levi's - in case you hadn't noticed, were covered in flowers fashioned from jewelled studs.

Some jeans, huh?

Until the mid-Eighties jeans for men were about as fashionable as Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is right now. It took Nick Kamen and that famous Levi's Launderette TV ad to make them cool once again, forcing every urban hipster in Britain to buy a pair of 501s, a black nylon MA-1 flying jacket and a pair of Bass Weejun loafers. Levi's hegemony lasted until the mid-Nineties, 10 years in which they forced all their competitors to ape their classic American branding.

But then it all went horribly wrong. Pop culture went baggy and men followed suit.

Rappers began wearing jeans around their knees (R Kelly and Usher are still doing it), and the bottom fell out of the jeans market.

Suddenly looking like an Eighties poster boy, complete with Brylcreemed hair and designer stubble, was way off beam. Jeans were - gasp, shock, horror - old fashioned.

Things hardly improved when, just 18 months ago, BBC petrolperm Jeremy Clarkson gave them a ringing endorsement.

In fact, there is a certain type of 30-plus man who will always think that wearing jeans will shave a few years off his middleaged spread. Take Simon Cowell, for instance, who insists on wearing his jeans pulled up to his armpits; Richard Madeley, who always wears them too tight; or Peter Stringfellow, whose fascination for snow- washed denim is so worrying it borders on the insane.

And as for Clarkson, when I asked AA Gill recently to nominate someone for GQ's "Worst-dressed Man in Britain" award, he leapt at the chance to vote for the former Top Gear presenter. "It has to be Clarkson," said Gill, "but he's not just the worst-dressed man in Britain, he is by far and away the worstdressed person drop a gear in the world."

RIGHT now, though, jeans couldn't be more fashionable.

They are the cornerstone of collections by Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, Versace and Roberto Cavalli; Bond Street shops are full of them. For women, Juicy and Earl are the very epitome of cool, while men are wearing everything from the new baggy Lee jeans to Levi's amazingly successful Engineered jeans.

And all this in spite of the fact that our Prime Minister wears jeans.

The reason that David Beckham can get away with wearing jewelled Gone are the days when jeans were thought of as purely casual clothing. The most popular style item in Bond Street this season has been the denim suit, while torn and jewelled jeans, like those worn by Beckham, are being produced by everyone from Paul Smith to Dolce and Gabbana and Giorgio Armani. These days it's perfectly all right to wear a pair with a dinner jacket and dress shirt, or a blazer and crisp white shirt. Of course, you can wear them with trainers, but you can now wear them with brogues too.

In style terms, here are a few pointers.

Although the likes of Guy Ritchie have been wearing jeans with turn-ups, these are officially so over. As are very dark jeans.

Of course, the fashion at present is for knowingly weathered jeans, those with manmade irregularities, and now every high-street store has a ringspun, broken twill or cat's whisker denim range. In fact, there's so much faded denim around that, by the autumn, a change is going to come.

And everyone here at GQ is putting their money on dark denim - and not just ordinary dark denim, but ironed dark denim. That's right.

The crease is back.

Some men spend their entire lives looking for the perfect woman.

Others devote themselves to getting the perfect shave, but for me, it's always been jeans I've flirted with Evisu, toyed with Gap, and even had a disastrous fling For me, Diesel make the best-fitting jeans in the world; they have the feel of a classic pair of Levi's, but with a narrower cut. They are to men what Earl jeans are to women. They look good with a T-shirt or a blazer. You can wear them with a shortsleeved, untucked shirt or with a formal shirt.

Wear them with your loafers, your Tods, your trainers To be honest, Diesel jeans are so cool you can wear them with just about anything.

And if you're in any doubt, ask David Beckham. He owns a pair just like mine.

And he's ironing his right now.

Dylan Jones is the editor of GQ magazine.

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