Samurai Denim

[Guest]

So I finished soaking my 710s, and I'm wearing them damp right now. The silhouette is a little slimmer/tighter than I had hoped for, although I'm still very happy with the jeans overall. I know the waist will stretch; should I expect the overall silhouette to stretch to a somewhat looser fit as well?

BTW, a big thanks to everyone who's posted advice in this thread. The thread has been an enormous help, and I'm sure many others feel the same way. I'd be totally clueless about what to do with my Samurais if I hadn't read all this. So props for that!!

[Knugget]

Mmmm. I wouldn't suggest wearing your denimz damp. It causes them to stretch out early, but it seems that is what you want.

[jselvedge]

some shitty pics with a dirty mirror. s5000bk sz 28 (sized down 2). post soak (45 min hot) and worn for 2 days.

[dino might]

^soak those longer and take better photos, but from what i can see not bad

[jselvedge]

thanks dm. i'm planning to give these another soak in a couple of weeks. i was thinking of doing an hour hot soak. i want to try and have as little shrinkage in the waist as possible

[dino might]

id go longer than that, samurai takes a while to fully shrink down, much longer than less than 2 hrs. stick something in the waist or button them up wet or something is my advice for the waist. i personally like getting the most shrinkage out of the way asap, to try to avoid headaches down the road, but thats just how i do things.

[jselvedge]

yeah i'd like to get all of the shirnkage out too. i'll go for 2-3 hours on the next soak then. bring on the pain

[chantheman]

ask i was telling someone else a few days ago. you might want to hot wash them instead of just soaking them. for some reason they seem to get more shrinkage when washed vs. soaked

[Guest spazzz]

i'm a 30 and bought a pair of 28 samurai blacks. so i sized down 2. you really need to hot soak them a lot more than that. mine look much slimmer than yours. run them in the wash without detergent. believe me, you won't lose any color on these.

[whatjones911]

jselvedge, what did the 28 measure pre wash?

[Guest jeffvyain]

jselvedge, just my opinion, but i wouldn't wear them still damp either. i personally would throw them in the dryer, get all the shrinkage out and let the creases form on their own, rather than forcing them in by wearing them wet.

[jselvedge]

jselvedge, what did the 28 measure pre wash?

30" in the waist

[SLAB]

ask i was telling someone else a few days ago. you might want to hot wash them instead of just soaking them. for some reason they seem to get more shrinkage when washed vs. soaked

seconded; only after a hot machine wash I got rid of most of the shrinking of my s5000bk jeans

[dino might]

jselvedge, just my opinion, but i wouldn't wear them still damp either. i personally would throw them in the dryer, get all the shrinkage out and let the creases form on their own, rather than forcing them in by wearing them wet.

i wasnt saying wear them damp to set creases, i said to because he said he was afraid of the waist shrinking.

i hate how pussy a pair of machine dried jeans feel in contrast to a nice hung dried pair, so i never use a washer. when i belong to a global internet fashion message board you i can use all the manliness i can get out of mah' jeanz

[BBC]

I got my lot 10, S5000VX's on supermarket here because they are too big:

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=47700

I went into Americaya in Shibuya and asked the dudes advice. He said size up and they will shrink down two sizes. I did this, give them a hot soak (about 1.5 - 2 hours) then a drip dry, a cold wash and they dried in the dryer and then another cold wash (I thought it was hot, but I'm pretty sure it was cold, I can't work these freaking washing machines in Japan!) and another session in the dryer, but hardly got any shrinkage. I really can't see them shrinking any more, they are feeling nice and like they will stretch a little more actually. I could wear them but it's not the fit I am after.

So do you guys think they have got more shrink in them or I am better off selling and getting my usual size which is what I think will be best?

They wont take them back will they, even after the dodgy advice?

[gimmegimme]

^ that was crap advice. sure, they shrink a few sizes, but he failed to mention how much they stretched after.

you should have sized down 1...maybe even 2, although 1 is safer.

I would see what they can do for you...tell them that you got bad advice, and that they're too big. you might get a new pair, or at least a discount off your next pair.

[Qwest905]

so gimmegimme would u say it was a bad idea getting my regular size on the USAs??

[gimmegimme]

so gimmegimme would u say it was a bad idea getting my regular size on the USAs??

No...USA's use a different denim that doesn't stretch as much as the VX denim. I got my true size in the USA's, and down one on my 5000VX's. The USA's also have the benefit of a cinchback if you find them too big.

[Guest spazzz]

I got my lot 10, S5000VX's on supermarket here because they are too big:

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=47700

I went into Americaya in Shibuya and asked the dudes advice. He said size up and they will shrink down two sizes. I did this, give them a hot soak (about 1.5 - 2 hours) then a drip dry, a cold wash and they dried in the dryer and then another cold wash (I thought it was hot, but I'm pretty sure it was cold, I can't work these freaking washing machines in Japan!) and another session in the dryer, but hardly got any shrinkage. I really can't see them shrinking any more, they are feeling nice and like they will stretch a little more actually. I could wear them but it's not the fit I am after.

So do you guys think they have got more shrink in them or I am better off selling and getting my usual size which is what I think will be best?

They wont take them back will they, even after the dodgy advice?

They gave me the same advice a long while back, it's not true.

[Qwest905]

ok ok thanks gimme for the quick reply

[BlueOctoberFan]

what kind of jins do you have?

S0110XJ, currently at almost 3 months. I'll take some pics once they hit that point (another couple of days).

[Guest]

For those wondering, I got a pair of lot 10 size 32 710s from Tyler Durden (now banned) with red tabs and arcs. Pre-soak waist was 32.5". I stuck a hanger in the waist, and it shrunk to 32" post-soak.

Also, if anyone knows, I'd appreciate an answer to:

The silhouette is a little slimmer/tighter than I had hoped for, although I'm still very happy with the jeans overall. I know the waist will stretch; should I expect the overall silhouette to stretch to a somewhat looser fit as well?

I'm debating selling my pair if they don't loosen up.

[gimmegimme]

For those wondering, I got a pair of lot 10 size 32s from Tyler Durden (now banned) with red tabs and arcs. Pre-soak waist was 32.5". I stuck a hanger in the waist, and it shrunk to 32" post-soak.

Also, if anyone knows, I'd appreciate an answer to:

I'm debating selling my pair if they don't loosen up.

What model are we talking about?

[islandboi8204]

^ that was crap advice. sure, they shrink a few sizes, but he failed to mention how much they stretched after.

you should have sized down 1...maybe even 2, although 1 is safer.

I would see what they can do for you...tell them that you got bad advice, and that they're too big. you might get a new pair, or at least a discount off your next pair.

even with the weird sizing on the lot 10 gimmegimme? size down 1 regardless on the 5000vx?

[gimmegimme]

even with the weird sizing on the lot 10 gimmegimme? size down 1 regardless on the 5000vx?

Mine are Lot 10, and I sized down 1.

[Guest]

What model are we talking about?

Oh yea, the 710s .

[dino might]

^tim, the legs will loosen up. i have the same problem. i need to slim my thunder thighs down. but theyll definitely stretch all over, if theyre stressed, theyll stretch. if the waist fits nice id say keep them

[BBC]

^ that was crap advice. sure, they shrink a few sizes, but he failed to mention how much they stretched after.

you should have sized down 1...maybe even 2, although 1 is safer.

I would see what they can do for you...tell them that you got bad advice, and that they're too big. you might get a new pair, or at least a discount off your next pair.

Thanks for that! Exactly what I thought, but I thought he would know what he was talking about. The advice he gave came from Samurai themselves, he had a chart there to say what size they would be post shink. Not too keen on explaining this in English to the Japanese dudes, but I will see what I can do.

[n0torious]

So is the consensus that it's safe to go true to size in the USA's? Or does the level of shrinkage mean I should size up?

[grilled cheese]

Mine are Lot 10, and I sized down 1.

This brings up a key point. I've been hearing a lot of discussion on this thread and others about "Lot 10 this, Lot 10 that." NOT ALL lot 10s have been affected by this sizing calamity. If that were the case, things would be so much simpler, as you would know how to size based on the lot. This is not the case at all, however.

For example, I bought some Lot 10s at BiG in April of 2007--almost a year ago now. They were sized "normally," more or less like lot 9s in that they shrinked to tagged size. As far as I know, this whole sizing thing is really about a rogue batch of jeans produced relatively recently that are more like LVCs in that they are tagged size raw and shrink below tag size by an inch or two depending on the denim.

The main message here is that not all Lot 10s are affected. Carry on.