Perhaps my biggest disappointment of the 501XX shrink-to-fit line is that the indigo color is 12.5oz denim and black is only 11.5oz denim. These are the most iconic pants in the world, so the Levi Strauss Company should be ashamed for using only mid-weight denim. I would say from about 1966- through the end of American production, 501XX jeans used 14 to 14.75 or possibly 15oz denim. When production shifted to third world countries & Antarctica, not only did Levis Strauss save mightily on wages, but also saves on production costs. One of the ways Levis saved on production cost was to use lighter weight denim. If you want heavier weight 501's, I suggest that you visit jeans-direct.co.uk. This web site is in England. In Europe, offical Levis stockists do not sell shrink-to-fit jeans. Jeans-direct sells European 501 preshrunk jeans at the lowest prices in Europe. They sell preshrunk 501's in black-14oz, One Wash-14oz, Stonewash-14oz, Light Broken In-14oz, hard Beat-13.5oz and Old Bill-13oz. Jeans-direct is still selling the last of the true European Levis. European levis are what the American prewash 501's were like 10-20 years ago. Under the 'live unbutton' campaign, levis is standardizing all preshrunk 501's across the world, which are the same inferior preshrunk 501's that have been selling in the USA since early '04. The European preshrunk 501's are 12.5 to 14oz. denim. The 'live unbuttoned' 501 preshrunks usually range from 11 to 12.5oz denim. If you desire 14oz denim 501's, you now know where to get 'em.
14oz denim
(3 posts) (3 voices)-
Steven, I have to agree with you that LS&Co is saving at the wrong places. The brand will suffer from that in the long run. I will always be a Levi's fan, but I too think they deserve to go down when not producing quality.
Thanks for the link. This is great information for those how like the 2003-2008 fit. I don't. The good thing is that the new, slim fit is better than the previous. Then again, the medium weight denim is the bad news...My new stonewashed (Made in Haiti) have wide belt loops, do you know why that is? I have seen them on some European models, but some have the usual loops. Is it possible that I have got a pair that was actuall be sold in Europe? It could well be, as the arcuate sits lower on the back pockets, a lot of European 501s do have this feature.
Is the STFs 12.5 oz denim before or after shrinking?
I would welcome the "live unbuttoned" campaign if ALL 501 were made in the U.S. and then distributed worldwide.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks for the information Steve, great stuff! I have added the jeans direct link to the FAQ article with an explanation of the heavier weight european options available there.
Good question Klaus about the weight/oz rating being pre- or post-shrinking. I'd be interested in the answer to that as well if anyone knows.
Posted 2 years ago #
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