Thanks To Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra Is Fully On Board With “Husband Jeans”

Trends emerge, fade, and return with a vengeance faster than most people can keep track of. But when they do, one thing's for sure: Everyone's got an opinion. In Elite Daily's Style series IMHO, we'll serve you the details, along with some not-so-humble opinions, on the viral style trends lighting up the Internet. Below, actor, philanthropist, and style icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas gives her hot takes on one of the most divisive articles of clothing in fashion history: the denim jean.

The glow that radiates off of Priyanka Chopra Jonas is almost otherworldly. I’d expect nothing less from a former Miss World, but seeing it up close, even over Zoom, is overwhelming. (Honestly, I don’t know how her husband, Nick Jonas, manages.) The 40-year-old actor and new mom is warm, friendly, and open. During our call, she wears a relaxed, collared Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda shirt and a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, or her “GVs,” as she likes to call them. The topic of discussion is denim, specifically jean trends, and Chopra gets animated when discussing her faves and least-loved styles.

Sharing her takes on mom, skinny, high-, and low-waisted denim, the Quantico star is clever — her styling tips are bomb, y’all — and relatable, but most of all, she’s funny. A throaty laugh bubbles out of her when she talks about raiding her husband’s closet, and she employs a faux dignified austerity when we discuss the serious issue that is the denim-on-denim Canadian tuxedo. (Spoiler alert: She is a fan.)

For someone who’s walked red carpets in gowns designed by the world’s top fashion houses, including Dior Couture, Roberto Cavalli, and Salvatore Ferragamo, Chopra is surprisingly down to earth when it comes to denim. She’s been photographed dripping in diamonds, but as the face of the new Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans “I Have Needs. Fit Them” campaign, she’s wearing jeans priced less than $50. Naturally, she looks stunning in a casual ’fit, but her latest fashion venture is about more than looks to Chopra.

“Women have been told for a really long time to conform to society’s skewed versions of their lives, from what they wear, to what they say, to who they are,” she tells Elite Daily. “We’re told how to be a better version of a woman at every turn. This campaign is taking back the power and encouraging women to think about themselves. That really resonated with me.” In line with a philosophy that prioritizes women and takes back their power, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans are emphatically opposed to pinching, squeezing, or restricting.

“They fit you where you need them to fit you, and they stretch. They’re comfortable. I can wear them all day and I feel confident,” Chopra says of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. Comfort is important to her these days. Yes, she’s a former Miss World and one of the biggest international movie stars to even take on the American market after becoming a household name in her native India, but these days she’s more likely to raid her husband’s closet than pour herself into couture.

Hunker down into your high-waisted skinny jeans because Chopra is not pulling any punches when it comes to the jeans trends she loves, likes, and wishes would go away.

Mom Jeans

“They’re fun,” Chopra says of the style born from the ’80s and ’90s and made popular again by Gen Z. “I like mom jeans, and I’m not embarrassed to be one.” (Chopra and Jonas welcomed daughter Malti in January.) A close cousin of high-waisted jeans, mom jeans aren’t as fitted throughout, falling halfway between boyfriend jeans and skinny jeans territory. In terms of styling, Chopra loves “a good mom jean moment with a little crop top.”

Low-Rise Jeans

The Y2K denim trend Gen Z loves and the rest of the world lives in fear of is not one of Chopra’s favorites. “I hope [low-rise jeans] never come back,” she says. “I don’t have the pelvic bones for that anymore.”

High-Waisted Jeans

Of all the jeans the actor has been spotted in while out and about in NYC, this style is the one she’s most photographed in, for good reason. High-waisted jeans are the antithesis of low-rise jeans and are one of Chopra’s favorites. “At this point in my life, I love them,” she says. “[I’m] a big fan, big fan.”

Skinny Jeans

Temperature-wise, Chopra is cooler toward skinny jeans, but isn’t as cold toward them as she is to less-loved styles. “I’m a pretty big fan. I wore a lot of them for a really long time,” she says of the jeans that took up space in everyone’s closet throughout the aughts. That said, times are changing for Chopra. “I prefer to be a little bit more comfortable now,” she explains of her lukewarm response to the skinny jeans trend.

Wide-Leg Jeans

“I’m a big fan of wide-leg jeans,” says Chopra, before laying out exactly how she’d style this type of denim for a full-on fashion moment. “I love a wide-leg jean with a wedge heel, a very ’70s vibe, big sunglasses, [and] Farrah Fawcett hair.”

Boyfriend Jeans

This one is an unequivocal fave of Chopra, who calls boyfriend jeans “the best.” “I love a good boyfriend jean. I mean, now, I guess, [they’re] husband jeans, but I wear my husband’s clothes all the time,” she says. Naturally, I want to know what ’fits she’s worn lately that, like her legal last name, are 50% Chopra and 50% Jonas. “Everything,” she replies when I ask what clothes Chopra steals from husband Nick Jonas, with one caveat.

“I just don’t fit into his shoes, otherwise I would take all his shoes too. He wears cords and sets, and I’ll wear his jackets. I steal his sunglasses,” she admits. I’m mentally rifling through Chopra’s Instagram, trying to remember the last picture she shared of herself wearing sunglasses when she adds, “You can’t tell sometimes which ones I’ve taken. He just has really great clothes.”

Canadian Tuxedos

Chopra’s sense of humor really shines when we arrive at this admittedly eccentric denim trend. Layering a denim top on a denim bottom isn’t for everyone, even if it’s a look Chopra has pulled off herself on occasion. “Look right here,” she says. “I’m a fan of the Canadian tuxedo, right there. I do love a denim moment. I mean, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake wore [them] on the red carpet, so there you go.”

Regardless of how high the waistline or how trendy the style, Chopra has only one completely nonnegotiable rule when it comes to wearing denim: “You can style every type of jean in a really different way, which will give you personality and add your personality to it,” she says. “That’s how I think jeans should be styled.” Whether you’re pairing a crop top with mom jeans or an oversized shirt with your husband jeans, a personal touch is key for Chopra.

A hefty serving of your authentic self and a dash of confidence really does transform any look, as Chopra herself proves in the latest Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans campaign; she even rocks a Canadian tuxedo. You can view the “I Have Needs. Fit Them” campaign on the Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans website, where you can also use a store locator to find your nearest CV retailer.