Levis 501 new fit - Page 14

It is the same principle as people from Coca Cola going to restaurants that don't serve coke and ordering a coke. If the waiter doesn't say "Is Pepsi OK" and just brings it out, they will do a chemical test to determine if it is actually coke and then use the law to protect their trademark (they are a little more tricky than "Can I have a Coca Cola please"...picture "I'll take a rum and coke and a bottle of bud light and a glass of water"). Levi's wants to keep the red tag as a trademark so that other people cant use it. This requires A: Actually using it themselves and B: Going after people who use it (japanese brands).

As to the starch, do they actually have a lot? My Khaki STFs were able to stand up by themselves post-soak but after 2 wears were completely soft

I think the old fit was fine. I have some 4 yr old pairs of 501s that still hold up.

Well, based upon my initial pair of 501's, I think 34" inseam is too long for me. I was hoping for 2" of shrinkage down to a 32" which would give me a little bit of stacking, and fit great. However, I got probably more like 1.5" of shrinkage, so that's a bit longer than I had anticipated.

Therefore, for my next pair, I will try 32" inseams. If I only want to get 1" or so of shrinkage, will I get that with about a 1 hour hot soak? Of should I just try a longer cold soak, say 2 to 3 hours?

Would love to hear from people who were able to achieve just 1" shrinkage in the inseam.

^ A couple more washes/soaks will get 'em down another half inch. I highly doubt you're gonna be able to achieve only 1" of inseam shrinkage with any kind of water contact. And keep in mind shrinkage will vary from pair to pair; it's not an exact science. Honestly, I wouldn't stress about half an inch, but if you don't plan on any more washes/soaks and it bothers you that much, just get them hemmed.

Yeah, but the waist is already so tight, I think that would shrink up along with the inseam, which is why I don't want to do any more soaks (at least not right away).

^ The waist will eventually stretch out, though, while the inseam won't.

No so sure about these, may return them. The waist (rise) is a lot higher than my other jeans (1" below belly button) and once they shrink a little I may be prone to muffin top. Fit is very wide from knees down, so not sure they'll stack well (more likely to trip over them).

These are 36x38, may try them again if I ever get down to a 34 waist.

^ The rise and leg width will both shrink some, for what it's worth, but then again, so will the thighs, where it already looks quite fitted considering they're pre-soak. You shouldn't worry about the waist though; if you can actually fit into it pre-soak, then it'll eventually stretch enough to fit you post-soak as well. The only issue I see is that the thighs are probably not going to fit, unless you like them almost painted on and can deal with the discomfort for a while.

Some update on my Mynudies 501 contest pairs. 76 total days of wear, 3 months in. Not even considering a soak yet, these babies are no where near. The honeycombs are turning out to be a REAL slow wear area for me.

I'm OK with that, most jeans stretch in the thighs too. But on me straight leg jeans end up looking like boot cut since the thighs are so snug that the rest looks like a tent.

I don't think I'm going to wear them enough without washing for the jeans to get any personality, so I'm afraid they'll look 90% similar to jeans I already have. At least Sears has a 90 day return policy, plenty of time to think about it!

these jeans tend to stretch a lot so widthwise so i dont think you have a problem. They will be snug but def not tight.

So how much shrinkage will I get total? Although I didn't measure, I'd guesstimate the inseam shrunk perhaps about an inch and a half at most. I was hoping for about double that.

So if I do a second hot/warm soak, will that get me the full three inches of shrinkage in the inseam? Has anyone been able to achieve a full 3" of shrinkage? It seems like most people only get about 2" of shrinkage in the inseam, even with a very hot soak.

say ocean, those look good for 3 months.

Again, it's hard to tell, as the amount of shrinkage will vary from pair to pair. If you lost 1.5 inches with the first soak, I wouldn't expect you to lose more than another half inch from here on out. In my experience, 2 inches of inseam shrinkage is fairly typical, even though the Levi's estimates 3.

I read of people on other forums hot soaking the pants then putting them in the dryer for the full cycle to get maximum shrinkage. They took 3" off that way.