The boyfriend jeans, Girlfriend jeans, ' better half, wins denim’s battle of the sexes

It’s time to break up with your boyfriend jeans.

Stylish sisters are now slipping into “girlfriend jeans,” the sexier better half to the broken-in, relaxed-fit pants that have long been marketed as the jeans you’re dying to steal from your beau.

Gwen Stefani has been rocking the more feminine “girlfriend” pant, which sits higher on the hips, is slightly tighter, and has a slim, straight leg.

“I love the girlfriend jean style,” raves celebrity stylist Nola Singer, who dresses Sophia Bush, Katherine Heigl, Ireland Baldwin and Naomie Harris in the look. “It’s a more classic and flattering fit.”

Express is the latest company to join the denim-wrapped battle of the sexes, releasing its ladylike blues this month. The company’s “Mid Rise Girlfriend Jean” ($88) is part-slouchy, part-slinky — or, as Express calls it, “the perfect companion for a day of shopping or checking out some live music.”

Unlike boyfriend jeans, which are based on menswear, these pants are decidedly feminine and designed with ladies in mind.

“It has that subtle slouch to it, but you’re definitely wearing a woman’s jean,” explains Charissa Kinley, the senior designer of women’s denim at Express. “It’s more slimming through the leg, and it makes your butt look very cute and perky.”

Both pants are also worn differently. The girlfriend jean is shown with the cuffs rolled up well above the ankle, and paired with sexy high heels or ballet flats and slinky tank tops, while the boyish version is pictured with boots and a chambray workshirt.

The girlfriend jean is a more flattering than the baggier boyfriend jean, which is a harder style for women to wear if they have curves or aren’t tall.

 

“The boyfriend jeans, I wear only around my apartment,” admits Kinley. “I like the girlfriend jeans much better. It’s more flattering, and it looks more put together when I get dressed.

“We wanted to offer something that women are comfortable in, but they still look great and they feel sexy,” she adds.

Retailers like The Gap, H&M, TopShop, ASOS, White House Black Market, Zara - even Tommy Hilfiger, Frame Denim and Brand jeans - have also rolled out girlfriend pants. They mostly stick to the same slim silhouette with cropped, cuffed bottoms and faded or distressed fabric, although some are roomier in the leg.

“I’d definitely go try them on to see how they fit,” says intrigued shopper Chelsea Qualls, 24, from Garden City, who favors skinny jeans and leggings, but likes the look of the girlfriend jeans’ slightly relaxed fit. “It’s definitely more about comfort.”

Gramercy resident Kerry C., 23, enjoys the twist on the classic men’s fit. “They’re more of a tailored boyfriend jean, but not so high-waisted," she says.

But some ladies are wondering which girlfriends’ closets we’re raiding, here: same-sex lovers, or the BFFs you chill with on the weekends? After all, if boyfriend jeans are plucked from boyfriends, and mom jeans are modeled after mothers, then where do girlfriend jeans fit in? Is this the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” for adults?

“I would say it’s you and your best friend sharing clothes,” Kinley weighs in. “This is what girlfriends wear when we do brunch together, when we spend Saturdays together.”