I've been wearing Levi's 505 jeans for more years than I care to admit. About a year ago I needed more new jeans so I ordered a couple pairs. They didn't fit quite exactly the way I expected them to, but they were okay. Last month there was this great sale on Levi's jeans (on levis.com), so I bought a couple more pairs. These new pairs really didn't fit - they were the correct length and waist size, but they were too long and didn't feel right. I wear 36/30. I've been wearing Levi's 505's in size 36/30 for years and years. So when I ordered a couple 36/30, and they didn't fit, I was pretty surprised.

I called Levi's and asked about it. They said that they might shrink in the wash and that they would take them back for a full refund even if they had been washed. So I washed them. Several times. Though they did get shorter, they were still not short enough. And they didn't quite fit right in the crotch. So I held them up to my old jeans - they matched perfectly. I couldn't find any difference at all, and yet they didn't fit. Well, I can't leave a mystery like that alone. So I laid them down on the bed, got out a tape measure, and I measured. I measured everything I could find, but nothing was significantly different from new to old. Then I flipped them over. Ah Ha! I found that the new jeans were a full inch shorter in what is called the "back center seam" than the jeans I had bought just a year ago. This was the case on both pairs I had just purchased, even though the two new pairs were different colors and cloth weights. I then dug out a pair of 505's from several years ago and found that the "back center seam" on that pair was 2 inches longer than the new pairs and 1 inch longer than the pairs I'd gotten a year ago. That explains why the ones I had bought a year ago weren't quite right, but were okay, while the newest pairs, being of full 2 inches shorter in the back crotch really didn't fit right at all. As for leg lenth, since the inseam is supposed to be the length from the floor to the crotch, a shorter back center seam shouldnt have any effect, however, I can only guess that the short crotch was causing me to wear the jeans lower than I prefer, which somehow changed the effective the leg length. Because I wanted the legs shorter, I had to pull the pants up until they were binding in the crotch (does this make sense - not sure?)  In any case, they didn't feel right in the crotch and they were too long.

This is disappointing for a number of reasons. First of all having jeans that I could simply purchase sight unseen, pair after pair after pair, is incredibly convenient. But it's also disappointing because psychologically I think of Levi's is something unchanging. Levi's are Levi's. Coca-Cola, aside from their momentary lapse of reason with new Coke, is Coca-Cola. Etc. I don't want Levi's 505's to change. But strangely, the biggest problem for me with this change is related to the fact that Levi's numbers their jeans styles. If they are going to change the measurements and design of the 505, they should call it the 506. Or the 505b. Or the 505 v2. Or something. If they were always called simply the "regular straight fit jean," it wouldn't be as big a deal to change it as it is when the product is called "505." To me, psychologically, 505's are 505's are 505's - if they're going to change them, they need to start calling them 506's.

So I'm sending my Levi's 505's back. I have no idea what I will buy in their place.