I had to give up on my 529s. They made my head explode.
well... sort of. They shrank. Then they developed this interesting habit of sitting very very very low. Obscenely low. It was like having a piece of popcorn kernel stuck between your teeth: not life-threatening, but definitely annoying, and something you can't help but pick at.
So I threw caution to the wind and bought another pair of beloved shrink-to-fit Levi 501s. In honor of the fact that I've gained 40 lbs since the last time I bought a pair, I grudgingly went up 2 inches on the waist size.
Magic Levis 501 Shrink-to-Fit Formula for Chickies
Measure your waist where you want the jeans to sit. (fat Knot waist = 37 inches)
Measure your hips at their widest, just for fun. (fat Knot hips = 48 inches)
Measure the inseam on your current favorite jeans, or measure your unfavorite and add or subtract length as you wish. (Knot legs = 33 inches)
Add 1 inch to your waist measurement. (or add 2 inches if you have concerns that your hips need the extra room given by the next size up. I add 2 or 3 inches when I'm not fat, cuz my waist is little then but my hips always stay lush.)
Add 3 inches to your inseam.
These are your measurements for the raw denim shrink-to-fit jeans. My fat Knot jeans are W38 x L36
Buy your jeans. ($30-ish in the men's department. Smile sweetly at the folks trying to puzzle out what size they need. You already know!)
DO NOT TRY THEM ON! Take off the tags and toss them in the washer on cold. Give 'em a little detergent and maybe another pair of jeans or two to keep them company.
Tumble dry them until damp. Put them on. They will feel like evil cardboard. They will be cold and clammy. Suck it up. We're doing magic here, remember? Pull the jeans up so the waist lands where you want it. Make a cup of tea. Pull them up again, and sit down. They may feel horribly tight in the butt. Fear not! Shrink-to-fit also stretch-to-fit! (do some squats, sit on your heels, get back in the chair) Readjust as needed. Drink your tea, cruise the internet, and sit until the jeans are dry.
Take them off, wash again in cold, dry again until damp. Put them on, make tea, adjust, sit until dry.
Wear them for a week.
For the next couple months, wash in cold and hang to dry. Only put them through the dryer when they are too stretched out or if the waist isn't shrinking fast enough for you.
After a couple months they should be pretty well "custom fit" and safe to dry in the dryer at will. If the hips ever get too tight, repeat the damp-jeans-tea-sit-until-dry routine.
Last edited by KnottedYet; 01-04-2010 at 08:06 PM.
"If Americans want to live the American Dream, they should go to Denmark." - Richard Wilkinson