For downtown nightlife and even casual Fridays, stiff, dark, high-end jeans are something of a uniform – if an expensive one, with designer cuts running at least $100 and up to $600. For further proof that the luxury retail business has embraced garb that was once the province of cowboys and pioneers, look no further than Prada, which this month introduced a line of denim, with prices ranging (for men) from $295 to $695.

This most ubiquitous and American of garments has one disadvantage, however. Jeans are a drag in the steamy days of summer, when the thick denim acts like an incubator and doesn’t breathe. While women have plenty of recourse when the temperature soars – wrap dresses, gypsy skirts, pedal pushers, and open-toed shoes – men’s casual choices are abysmal. Shorts won’t cut it if you have pale, spindly legs like mine (and, of course, are not appropriate for the office), khakis are too middle-management (and too light for night), and the whole madras-pant preppy revival never really gained traction, judging from the kaleidoscopic clearance racks at J. Crew and Bloomingdale’s.

Thankfully, this summer, labels such as G-Star, Marc Jacobs, Theory, Commes des Garcons, and A.P.C. have released so-called “summer jeans” made of a markedly lighter denim that allows its wearer to weather the heat without wilting. (Designers and retailers are always looking for ways to extend the reach of the $6.8 billion jeans market without diluting its core identity.)

The “summer jeans” development is fitting, considering the garment’s provenance. In 1873, when Levi Strauss was developing the patent for his metal-riveted “overalls,” he had to decide between two fabrics: heavy denim (allegedly named for its origin in Nimes, France) and the lighter fabric, jean (which came from Genoa). Because Strauss thought his prototype would appeal most to workmen, he opted for the more rugged and durable denim. But “jeans” had already entered the vernacular and the name stuck.

Ironically, this summer’s new, lighter jeans are in fact more jean-like than the original Levis ever were. And since the roughest work most jeans-wearers in the city are likely to face these days is getting past the velvet rope at a Meatpacking district club, consumers should be willing to embrace a lighter jean. With this in mind, I took a look last week at some of the various summer jeans for men, some now on sale.

Along with the late, lamented Helmut Lang, French fashion purveyor A.P.C. was key in making denim a high-end staple in the late 1990s. It’s fitting, then, that the company is pioneering the lightweight-jean trend as well. In the store last week, a straightforward, somewhat bell-bottom pair in “Leger” denim, which normally retails for $143, was on sale for $71.50 – although something indefinable in its mixture of color, cut, and fabric reminded me of the T.J. Maxx jeans my sister wore when pregnant with her first child. Better were the subtle stripes and straight legs of the “Engineer’s Pants” ($77.50, from $155), an homage to the garment’s proletarian roots.

At Bloomingdale’s SoHo, a Junya Watanabe summer “jean” (50% cotton, 50% polyester) was so light and so decked out with zippers, needless pleats, and darts, it reminded me of parachute pants – those nylon creations that had a brief period of popularity in the 1980s ($615, on sale for $368).

More elegant and to my taste were jeans from Theory, which has built a loyal following by knocking off and domesticating high-end minimalists such as Jil Sander and Helmut Lang in higher quality materials than what you’ll find at, say, Club Monaco. Theory’s “Jim” jean in “Oklahoma” denim had that classic dark, straight-leg look that is a Conde Nast staple ($155). Also among my favorites was a version from the revamped Pringle of Scotland line ($150, on sale for $90). Softer and fuzzier than the other pants available, they were also light gray in color, as if the pants had been turned inside out to show the lighter cross-stitch within. I liked them so much that I bought a pair.