I'm done with Levis (Rant)

[dragoneggs]

I wouldn't have believed it had I not read some of the posts, but there was thread a few months ago in which sandal enthusiasts discussed their preferences.

Steve

Hey! Just because some of us are inclined to be DIYers and probably don't look presentable a significant percentage of the time... doesn't mean we can't have a taste for the suave! BTW, is it okay to wear socks with sandals?

 

[lexluther]

I used to think levis wore out prematurely, so 20 yeara ago, i did a little test...bought unwashed levis, wranglers and just for kicks rustler (i think) from walmart to see what wore and lasted best. Tried my best to wear tyem all evenly...sure enough levis wore out first, followed by wrangler and rustler was a distant third...

 

[Bird]

My mother worked in a blue jean factory in Oklahoma City for awhile in 1947, sewing blue jeans. She said they then sewed the labels of whichever company they were going to; all were the same blue jeans but some went to companies that sold them cheap, some to companies that sold them with high prices.

Of course everything is changing all over the world. I started buying Dickies short sleeved coveralls in 1972 when they were called "jump suits"; good quality, good fit, good price, easy to find in lots of department stores; made in USA. They're not make in USA anymore and have the same quality problems as others have with the blue jeans. But I usually wear them about 98% of the time.

 

[Thomas]

I hear what your saying,seems all they become high end fashion jean least to me,Wrangler still good fit for a far price wish they still offer boot cut.

 

[SJay]

We have an outlet mall about 10 miles from our house - I have bought all me jeans (Lee, Wrangler) from them. The nice things is they have about 20-30 styles that you can try on

The store is called VF Outlets. If you order Duluth Trading jeans, get a few of their styles to try on, that will help you decide.

 

[riptides]

Hmm... always wear levi. They suck now. My issues are, the cut from jean to jean is different. Same size, some fit, some don't. Odd. And ALL the jeans I have worn, I get a hole right in the upper corner of the right butt pocket area. Right next to the pocket in the upper left pants area. And I don't ever carry a wallet. And I have no metal in my butt or back in that area.
It's a WTH thingy. Only with Levi's. WTH. LOL.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I've bought my last pair of Levis jeans. I've worn Levis 505 'regular fit' jeans since I was about 15 (I'm 54 now). Back then it was 33x34s, now it is 34x34s. For decades I could go into the store grab a few pairs of 34x34 505 regular fit jeans and they'd fit just fine. No dressing rooms. No trying stuff on....which I hate. I find something good and I stick with it. I don't wear them to work or to church but other than that I'm usually in Levis. I wear them on the farm, working on my car or to a nice restaurant with a white button down shirt and sport coat and a pair of dress boots. And that makes them, or used to make them, the perfect clothing for me. Very happy for decades.

Not anymore. I won't buy them again. Why? See below:

1) The quality has gone down. Rarely do I get a pair with straight seams. They often come apart in unstressed places. And that's just sad. They've had the formula for success for a long long time and they've apparently thrown it away. I don't know where they are made. If it is in out of the country sweat shops, that's sad for such an inherently American product. If they are made in the USA that is even sadder because they are junk now.

2) Fit. And I don't mean that the 34x34s don't fit me. The problem is that some do and some don't. And the problem varies. Some don't fit in the waist, some don't fit in the crotch and some don't fit in length. And this happens when I pick up two pairs from the same stack in the same store. There is no consistency. This is also a quality issue.

3) Price. It has gotten ridiculous. Still, I'm happy to pay it if not for the two problems above. I just can't see paying higher prices when the quality goes down.

4) Advertising. Let's just say that Levis no longer markets to my demographic and leave it at that.

5) Too many options. I can go into a store with a wall of Levis 505s and still not find my size. To many 'relaxed fit' or 'distressed' etc etc. Takes an hour just to find what I want if they even have it at all. On line isn't much better.

So, sorry about the rant but to me this is sad. A great American product, maybe one of the greatest, down the tubes. Sad. Sad. Sad. But they cannot have any more of my money. I will not reward a company for trashing a great product and charging more for it.

I may try Wranglers. I would not expect much from them but at least they cost less. I might look at Duluth Trading Company too.

I wear wrangler. Just pick up my size, always fit. Last pair i bought on amazon have a totally different fit. I think they are counterfeit.

 

[N80]

It seems to me that blues jeans would be natural topic for those who use tractors. It also seems a bell-weather for the times we live in. I mean, when Americans can't make decent blue jeans for people who work in them, there is a big, big problem in America. So for me, this goes well beyond a fashion topic.

As for colognes etc? I do not wear perfume, make-up or jewelry.......not that there's anything wrong with it..............if you get my drift.

 

[rswyan]

Went to Wranglers about 30 years ago ... no complaints from me about the fit or quality.

However The Woman does complain because I buy their "Relaxed Fit" (comfort is waaaay important at this point than style) ... apparently she wants to see my butt in a pair of tight-fitting jeans ...

Ain't gonna happen ...

 

[rswyan]

It just occurred to me that there is a bit of humor in tractor guys talking about clothes. Maybe we should discuss what aftershave or cologne you all prefer.:laughing:

Grandpa's Old Spice ... and personally, I prefer the aftershave to the cologne, although I do have both.

Literally - it was my Grandfathers, who passed way some 50 years ago ... which tells ya how often I wear it ... :laughing:

Probably hand it down to one of the kids when I expire.

 

[dmccarty]

I stopped wearing Levi's years ago for the very same reasons N80 and others have mentioned. Also, I needed more pockets to carry my cell phone and Bluetooth ear piece so I switched to Duluth shorts and Fire hose pants. I buy my shirts from them as well. Duluth is expensive so I wait until they have free shipping and at least 20% off. I think I have gotten stuff 25% or 30% off as well but that does not seem to happen much.

Two sets of the lighter Fire hose pants did eventually wear out. Kind odd in that they wore out very close together and in the same spot around the thigh pocket. I am guessing that the pants were at least 4-5 years old but I did not create an account with Duluth with I bought them so I don't really know their age. Given how much I wear those pants, I figure I got my moneys worth and Levis would not have lasted as long. I might turn them into shorts to wear around the house. :laughing::laughing::laughing: The wife and kids HATE these pants though. They think pants with pockets look bad. :confused3::shocked: I sure don't know what is wrong with these people, I guess they bumped their heads or something. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

The heavier Fire hose long AND short pants look like the day I bought them.

Later,
Dan

 

[smstonypoint]

Hey! Just because some of us are inclined to be DIYers and probably don't look presentable a significant percentage of the time... doesn't mean we can't have a taste for the suave! BTW, is it okay to wear socks with sandals?

I'm surprised a sandal enthusiast hasn't started a thread on tofu recipes.

Steve

 

[N80]

Tofu recipe: Cover slab of wood with mustard. Set tofu on top. Put in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove slab from oven, remove tofu and throw it away, add more mustard to slab. Eat slab.

 

[smstonypoint]

Tofu recipe: Cover slab of wood with mustard. Set tofu on top. Put in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove slab from oven, remove tofu and throw it away, add more mustard to slab. Eat slab.

That's a modification of the recipe for shad -- smoke the shad on planks over an open flame, dispose of the shad, eat the planks.

Steve

 

[N80]

That's a modification of the recipe for shad -- smoke the shad on planks over an open flame, dispose of the shad, eat the planks.

Steve

I first heard it with carp. I'm afraid that in the case of tofu the tofu would ruin the slab of wood.

 

[California]

Two different wardrobes here. At home in town I still have the decent stuff I wore to the office before I retired 15 years ago.

At the ranch (orchard) where I am most of the time, daily wear is usually thrift-store Levi's, Wranglers, or whatever look-alikes I got for $4 or less. Anything I wear there will soon have tractor-grease stains, welding holes, paint etc by the first couple of times worn so it's pointless to trash new clothes.

I never thought about thrift store clothes until we bought a new, white, $90 down-filled jacket for Older Daughter for Christmas when she was seven. She had it all stained from pine pitch and belly-tobogganing in the snow before Christmas break was over, too trashed to wear to school. Its replacement was just as nice for under $10 from a big thrift store. A better alternative than yelling at the kid!

A tip on thrift store shopping here in the West: Deseret Industries, the Mormon-run thrift store chain, consistently has nice clothes at reasonable prices. Plus a lot of variety if you need a card table, binoculars, or something. Goodwill here has an as-is outlet where you wouldn't touch the junk clothes but they sell plastic bins with lids for $1.99 and they often have useful hardware. My last purchase was 20-some feet of pool skimmer hose to make a watering wand for my watering trailer. Cost 1/10 of the Home Depot equivalent. Also a tall heavy government-surplus filing cabinet for tool storage in the barn, under $10. That's on my way to Harbor Freight so I can't resist stopping in there once in a while.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

My wife's a good seamstress and can usually fix my Levis 505's, but lately I have gone to buying Carhartt.

 

[robbyr]

Switched from Wranglers to Levi's 550 bout 25 years ago. Tried a couple pair of Wranglers on in the years since but can't stand the way they fit. When I wore 34 x 34 they were easy to find. Bumped up to 35 x 34 many years ago and got hard to find. Academy was only place I could find them. Now my wife orders em online. She just got me seven pair couple months ago. I haven't noticed the quality being poorer. They do end up with several holes and my phantom place for holes is the crotch. Go figure. I'm guessing I get maybe two years out em on average. Thought that was pretty good. But my gripe is also the inconsistency in the fit now. Out of seven pair five fit decently good but two are so **** tight I can't hardly put anything in my pockets. Tried a few other brands over the years....Lee, Arizona, some I can't remember....but none fit as well as Levi's.

 

[Sysop]

When Levis started their "Button-Fly" britches in the late 80s was when their quality went down hill. By the time they started their "STIFF WITH A VENGANCE" campaign in the 90s, they were spiraling down bad. I'm honestly shocked they still make anything and haven't been relegated to being just a name licensed to other manufacturers.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Went to Wranglers about 30 years ago ... no complaints from me about the fit or quality.

However The Woman does complain because I buy their "Relaxed Fit" (comfort is waaaay important at this point than style) ... apparently she wants to see my butt in a pair of tight-fitting jeans ...

Ain't gonna happen ...

Lol, my wife says the same thing...