How much did your 1947 STF Levi's waist has shrunk ?

I was trying to forsee how some 1947 Levi's Shrink to fit / Rigid jeans ( 475010117 , 475010167 and 475010200 ) would shrink , based on this website infos :

https://www.ropedye.com/2013/06/lvc-1944-1966-size-guide/

They say their W36L36 1947 shrank about 4cm in the waist but their other Levi's vintage clothing jeans (W32 or W34 for 1944 , 54 , 55 ...) shrank about 6cm , so i wouldn't like to make a mistake about size to buy !
Levi's recommands to buy 2 sizes more in the waist and 2 sizes more in the length but it is not so simple !
If they shrink about 4 cm in the waist , then buying W32L34 instead of 30/32 ( my real size for sanforized or one wash / rinse model ) would be ok , if they really measure about 40,5 cm or a bit more in the waist ( but W34L34 would be too big and W33L33 just slightly big ) but if they shrink 6cm in the waist , W32L34 would be too small whereas W33 /L34 would be ok !
Also , i measured some 31/34 measuring the same size as 32/34 in the waist whereas some other can measure as much or more than a W33/L34 in the waist , so the specified measurments written on the jeans do not always represent the true measurement of the jeans , to make it even more complicated ( especialy when buying online , you can receive 2 of the same jeans model and sizes with differences of waist size !) .

How much did your 1947 STF/ Rigid jeans shrank in the Waist , After one wash and after a year ?

Don’t own the LVC 47 model but in general with Levi’s STF I go up 1” in the waist and 2” in the length and it works out fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

By the experience of some people who have had some ( and mine ) and measured the sizes before and after shrinkage , 1 size up is not enough for many of the levi's vintage clothing , knowing they shrink 4cm to 6cm in the waist ,unless you like them very tight !
I was advised to buy a 1947 in W31 L34 (so one size up in the waist as i am usualy wearing W30/L32 ) but the true measurment of that jeans is about 40,5cm (x2 ) before shrinkage , so once it will have shrunk , it will loose 4cm to 6cm and if it is 6cm , it will be too small for me ( i have it for a few years , still brand new andi necer dared wearing it not washing it ,fearing it would shrink too much !).
I will wash some that are 2 sizes up in the waist and see how much cm they shrink , if it is only 4cm ,then i might try to wash the W31L34 i have .
Also ,even some specified W32L34 , can measure only the same size as a W31L32 ( i measured one W32L34 in a shop this week , it is exactly the same measured waist size as my W31L32 , so even 2 size up might be too small for somee once they shrink .
That's why the link i posted above ,where they experimented with several vintage clothing 501 jeans before and after washing , even advise to size up 2 to 3 inches ( 1 inch is 1 size in the waist unless i am wrong) for the waist for some of these 501 STF vintage clothing , especialy for the 1947 !

I can’t comment on what size to buy as I’ve personally never wanted the risk. I can however sympathize with the narrow margin of tolerance smaller waist sizes afford. To aperson typically wearing a 38” waist a few centimeters one way or other is unnoticeable. At 28” it is not the case.

For what is worth the latest LVC I bought were the 1915 501 model and I went up 1” (normally a 31” and got a 32”). They are absolutely fine and bear in mind they shrink back a lot after a few hours of wear so the initial 4-6cm lost immediately after the first wash might well become 2-3cm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for your answer .
I understand but although i have not had the 1915 in hand , i would suppose it is not a slim fit , whereas the 1947 , is slim , nearly as slim as the regular 501 ( not vintage clothing ) .
All the vintage clothing 501 jeans , depending on the year , don't fit the same , some fit larger than others depending on their cut / style .
I have a 1955 , i was told to buy it exactly my size for the waist and 1 size up for the length ( so W30 L34 nstead of my regular W30L32 size ) .
I bought it at one moment I was quite thin , just eating one meal per day (although i have always been slim ) and once i ate just regularly 2 meals per day and gain a few kg s ( but still quite slim ) , i could not button the top button anymore !
Now that i lost a few kg s again i can just put it on ; really tight when out of the washing machine and once i wear it a few days , it stretches a bit , enough for i can wear it but if i was to do it again , i would buy one size up .
Usualy , they stretch about 4 cm after worn a few days but i prefer they fit a bit tight but ok once out of the washing machine and get a bit large once they stretch , for i can still put them if i put on a couple of kgs or so ! If i buy them for they are really tight once out of the washing machine and just my size when they stretch after a few days , if i put on a few kgs , i won't be able to close the top button and i will have to throw 230 euros by the window ...

I Machine washed (30° Celsius ) an LVC 1947 , model 475010167 , size W32L36 , It measured about 41-41,5 cm on the front in the waist ( multiplied by 2 if you want the whole Waist size ) and about 90,5cm on the Inseam .
It shrank to about 38,5cm( x2 ) for the Waist and 84 cm for the inseam , what makes about 5 to 6 cm in the Waist and 6,5 cm length on the Inseam .

The Hem shrank about 0,8cm , down to 20,5cm , about 0,7 cm under the knees , down to 21,8 cm , 0,5 cm on the thigh (20cm lower than the crotch ) down to 23,5cm ; all measured flat , so double each of these legs measurments to have full circumference .

It depends where you sit in your sizing bracket. I can slip comfortably in a 29" waist but not 28", so I buy 30" jeans. When it came to LVC 1947s, I went one size up, washed and they fit, but are still pretty loose around the waist and can slip under my belt if it's buckled too tightly. I doubt I'll go with LVC stf again, tbh. I prefer Lee's archive jeans. A bit more expensive but the denim's more solid and it's pre-sanforized, so it removes the roulette wheel of washing.

There are some LVC that are already shrunk , like the one wash / Rinse model , that is like the STF model cut ,dark blue color , but usualy barely shrink ( although on the few i bought , one shrunk a bitmore than the others ) .
Except that my STF 1947 still keep the sort of gray color they have when new, after one wash and doesn't become dark blue just after one wash but later , although if i remember well , the 1955 STF became the same dark blue color after being washed ( but the twill seems slightly different than the 1947), as the 1947 Rinse .
I don't really like the left hand twill used by Lee jeans , i prefer the right hand twill.
There is a good website which really helped me choose the right size for my jeans , it's the one i put the link of in the first post .
The problem is that you really have to go based on the true measured waist size of a particular jeans pair , cause for the same specified waist size , there can be a few cm difference ( i'd say 2 to 3 ,sometimes more ). Also , i measured some pairs of one size difference ( like a W31 and W32 ) which had the same measured waist size .
So it's better to go in a shop and try them and even bring something to measure their Waist and length which can also vary ,especialy between two 501 years model , like a 1947 and a 1955 i have which had different measured légth for the same specified length .
I' ll make a topic about the LVC quality vs regular 501.

I was wondering what the person did in the end. Go up just 1 or 2 inch from original.