I’ve worn designer jeans in my youth but always preferred my Levi’s. They’d come off the shelf dark indigo blue and had to be washed several times before wearing them. By the time you wanted new jeans the old jeans were soft, faded and ripped.
But now my favorites are Dickies, slim fit through the thighs, hugging the hips and slightly flared.
Levis, 505’s
Duluth Ballroom Jeans.
The “ballroom” means just that…they have an extra diamond shaped gusset of fabric in the crotch. As a large man with thick thighs–regular jeans–unless overly baggy–scrunch up my nethers, these provide…room.
Since first getting them, I literally cannot bring myself to wear regular jeans.
For some reason at some point I got into carpenter-style jeans. I just like all the extra pockets. And they’re usually cheaper than other styles. I found some on sale on Amazon years ago for like $15 a pair so I bought like 10 pairs. Off-brand, Key. They’ve held up just fine over the years.
Finding good pants is both easy and hard for me. Being a short man, nothing ever just fits off the rack, so I just buy the waist size that fits and hem the legs myself. Bought a sewing machine just for that purpose. Those four semesters of Home Ec totally paid off! I like them loose fitting anyways.
Lee boot cut flare, tho I never wear boots. 
They last forever and cost less than $20 a pair. I buy a couple pairs every 10+ years, usually because the knees start to wear out from gardening. Jeans with holes are garbage or occasional cut offs.
Only my least favourite pair come to mind.
They were big in the late 70s, called Le Coullotiers.
No back pockets, with a super-teensy green, white and red “flag” label on the right hip, with three “pleats” running down, IIRC.
Went well with the clunky, sad North Stars.
Being petite but curvy, jeans haven’t generally looked good on me. I have found a pair on Amazon Try before you Buy that are called Signature (by Levi) Totally Shaping Bootcut. They’re slightly high waisted with just a bit of a flair on the leg. Really flattering for my shape (or as least as flattering as I can achieve in jeans that I can actually afford).
Remember when 501s were the cheaper choice, and places like The Gap and Miller’s Outpost would have tables of jeans, all dark blue and stiff. The mantra was “they’ll shrink two inches in the length and one in the waist”.
Not jeans, but for going on 10 years I’ve been wearing cargo scrubs from Cherokee. I don’t know what they’re made of, but I’ve never had a rip or tear, or even a worn spot, and they just get softer and softer.
In the 70s they finally started making jeans for women that were just a different cut of men’s designs, usually with a lighter fabric. And about the same reasonable price. Like you, I wear men’s now.
When I was a little girl what they passed off as jeans were capris with a side zipper and snap. Front pockets only with little scalloped flaps. Yeah, I didn’t get it either. I just waited for my cousin to outgrow his Levi’s.