My biggest beef with this wardrobe staple is that most jeans are too heavy to wear in warm weather (which is when I dress the most casually). My solution is to buy blue jeans whenever I’m traveling someplace like South America. Not only do they have some edgy designers you won’t see everyone else wearing, they’re lighter weight and (depending upon the exchange rate) less expensive than most jeans in the U.S . A few of my favorite brands:
From Colombia: Jon Sonen
From Israel: Castro