Dry Levi questions. (shrink to fit?!)

**Conifurious** · #1 (**permalink**) 06-09-2007, 10:55 PM

Pictured above are the new Levi 501's that I have recently bought. I find the whole dry denim idea to be pretty interesting, but before I intend to shell out 200 something dollars on a crisp pair of Nudies, I thought I would test the waters with something cheaper, yet essentially the same thing.

My question is, first and foremost, are these in fact DRY denim jeans? Sure they feel very rough and rigid just like Nudies, and are of that particular shade of indigo just like Nudies, but what threw me off was the tag "Shrink to fit."

Huh? Now everyone keeps going on and on about sizing down because raw denim stretches so much. So what's with the whole "10% shrinkage" bit? Is this dry denim or not?

Secondly. Will Levi's get the same fading results if put through the same stresses as Nudies, APC, etc (assuming that said "stresses" are of substancial signifcance)? I would imagine that the indigo would run just the same and contrast nicely however, I have not heard of anyone really ranting and raving about Levi's dry denim fading results, probably because the company is in the shadow of other more "hip" dry denim brands. Will these fade at all/as much?

A mouthful, I know, and I bet my dry denim ignorance is showing in more places than I can tell, but if these Levi's are going to put out subpar results with the same wear and tear as a pair of nudies, it's not even worth the effort.

Thanks guys.

**treasurehoard** · #2 (**permalink**) 06-09-2007, 11:41 PM

yes those are a dry denim. Not exactly the best quality of it though. It will take a long time to make those look nice. My personal advice is spend the $$$ to find a nice pair. Why waste a 1/2 year breaking in something just because its cheap. Go right to the good stuff. You will end up being a lot happier with the finished product.

The reason they are shrink to fit is because they are not sanfordized denim. I think all or at least most Nudies are sanfordized denim. This keeps the shrinking to a minimum. When you wear jeans they end up getting loose and when you wash them again they shrink back down. Since you wait so long in between washes with dry denim they can end up being very loose.

Also its important to size down in dry denim because it can make the honeycombs and over all wash of the jeans look better since tight jeans can mean more creasing.

**Conifurious** · #3 (**permalink**) 06-09-2007, 11:57 PM

Yea, I figured there would be problems with short handing the quality. What would be the difference between these and a higher-end pair in terms of results?

I also wonder; You say most Nudies are Sanforized to minimize shrinkage. So would that include length as well as waist? I ask because I found a very good deal on ebay for a 30/32 ES, the popular fit it seems. I usually wear a 32L in most jeans I wear, so will the length be a problem with dry nudies? If so, would wet stretching be an option (I have had great success with it in the past, 1.5-2 inches sometimes).

Thanks a lot, you really seem have a wealth of knowledge, so thanks a lot for taking the time to answer. Rapid-fire Dry denim questions from ignoramuses such as myself must get awfully tiresome I would imagine.

le sigh...

**treasurehoard** · #4 (**permalink**) 06-10-2007, 10:13 AM

The length will shrink. Its definitely possible that stretching them out will work. Just do it when they are wet from the first washing and you would need to be careful not to rub the fabric and indigo.