Like most it seems that I found the forum here after finding Ned's blog posts about STF 501's during a web search.
I am interested in denim jeans now, but I have to admit that during my teenage years I largely rejected blue jeans, along with most of the other values of my generation. I spent most of my time as a teen in twill cargo pants, camo army fatigues, or kahkis(for dressing up).
It was only after a while after highschool that I came to appreciate jeans, outside of my previous experience. In high school what I knew as jeans were poorly fitting, generally light blue, washed out, baggy pinstripe pants, often times with a horrible fake whiskering on them.
A few years after highschool I realized I could keep the few pairs of jeans I had darker and closer to the nice indigo of a new jean simply by only washing them inside out, only did I notice and start to appreciate the more interesting aspects of denim. The genuine fades and whiskers(and lack of pinstriping) you get when jeans are properly cared for and of at least a certain minimum original quality, such as the Levis 501's. Even if some have said the quality of Levi's has gone down over the years I must say there are certainly far worse choices.
I've had ridged jeans before, but I'm certainly looking forward to getting my hands on a real pair of shrink to fit 501's. Unfortunately the local stores here primarily stock washed jeans, along with a smaller selection of ridged jeans. So it will be a bit longer before I can make a trip to a store with a decent selection.
Size-wise from what I understand I might want something in the range of 30x33 for STF or maybe 30x34, In the rest of my wardrobe a 32 inch waist is far to large, 30 inch fits well but is still just a bit roomy, if I wanted to go without a belt, as many seem to do, I would guess a 29inch might be an option. However I am concerned that after a soaking a 29inch waist it might be just a bit too small. For length 30inch is generally just a slight bit too short and I wear anything with a 30 inch inseam lower on my waist to compensate, 32 inch inseam seams a bit too long, and even when wearing them natural I tend to destroy the hems quickly. I've never cuffed a pair of jeans and generally wear them true to size(or as close as possible), I'll have to see once I get my first pair of STFs how I feel about the cuffs while wearing them raw.
My best estimate of my true current size is 29 1/2 x 31, a bit hard to find a decent fit. I don't seem to find many pairs of anything with a 31inch inseam, it always seems to jump from 30 to 32, but it maybe its just a side effect poor local selection.
Outside of my intro post and talk of STF 501's I'm looking forward to making another post concerning my recent denim interests/activities; Small teaser, they are Levi's, and they haven't been discussed on the forum as far as I've seen.