it depends on what jeans and what brand ur going for...make sure if the jeans is either unsanforized or sanforized..sanforized means that the jeans has been treated so when u do ur first wash there wont be much shrinkage...may be 1-3% shrinkage...but if the jeans is unsanforized than there's a chance..well there will absolutely be shrinkage...could shrink up to 2 inches esp in the waist area and the inseam length...

so if u buy jeans with unsanforized denim then u should buy two size up or may be ur actual size...coz certain brands which has unsanforized material, would have, for example, tag size 30 but has actual measurement of 32..then if u are a size 30 then u should follow the tag size coz as u buy unsanforized jeans u might wanna soak it for at least one hour or so in hot water without any detergent or soap etc, before wearing it to let it shrink..the best is if u wear ur jeans and soak u and the jeans together so the jeans will shrink according to ur lower body..alternatively if the jeans has a tag size of 30 and has the actual measurement of 30 as well, which means the jeans has measurement true to tag size, then in this case u should size up at least 2 to compensate for shrinkage

as for sanforized denim u dont have to worry about shrinkage...although there might be a slight chance of shrinkage once u had ur first wash but it will be minimum shrinkage, unlike unsanforized denim. sanforized denim, like i said earlier will have 0 to at least 3% shrinkage only but it will stretch out again once u wear them again. as for sanforized denim, when u buy them u dont have to soak them before wearing. u can wear em straight away. And for sanforized denim u might wanna size down 1 or at least 2, depending on the brand to give in for stretching as certan brand can have stretching, esp in the waist area about 2 inches.

as for care advise..if u buy unsanforized ones, well after u had them soak, take em out, massage away the water, hang em dry. make sure when u take em out from the tub or anything u straight away brush off all the dripping water or water on the denim carefully as these water carries out the indigo of the denim. then hang em dry straight away..may be under a ceiling fan =). then as it dries out go put em on and rock em straight away everyday. alternatively u can do ur own search on google about how to care for ur denim. and as for sanforized ones well..cut off the price tag and wear em straight away!! dont worry about sizing down..u may have trouble buttoning them at first but as u wear em..try to sag them jeans down bit by bit as it will stretch out with the heat from ur body..wear em to sleep if u want too =)..and the rest of it..just wear em, break em, and dont wash them untill u can see all the visible fadings normally after 6 months minimum...

do ote that this only applies to raw dry denim and not pre washes =)

PS...nudie and APC are amongst the brands that produces sanforized denim..the rest like samurais, or evisu are mostly unsanforized...as for evisu..the selvage no1 is the unsanforized one and the rest like no2 or no3 and sanforized..not too sure about no4 though...or no 0.

good luck

even steven would be a good start..where r u planning to order them? lemme let u in for a secret..go get them nudies from this guy in singapore

http://cheapnudie.blogspot.com/

contact him through email or msn as his pricing is lower than those retail price sold in singapore...i buy my nudies via him actually and his is sourcing from cultizm. just mention my name Afiq, his buyer from malaysia, as i think i am is his only malaysian buyer hehehe...payment is done through bank transfer. u can contact him straight away for more info..i reckon u try getting average joe dry selvage size down one or may be 2..or big bent..the best bet is if u can size down 2..if u cant barely button up ur jeans as u get them that is the perfect fit for u..it may be tight at first..and u cant even sag them but as u wear them everyday it will stretch out nicely and u'll get the perfect fit..like me i'm a size30 but i bought my APC in a size 27..down size 3...i have to hold my breath trying to button up the jeans...i received them last wednesday and untill today it has strecthed out fairly and the fit is perfect..(the APC i bought is a new standard which is a more straight-slim cut with slight tapper from the knee down..not a skinny type)

so if u were to get even steven try sizing down 2 as it has lower yoke and such which makes the top area a tad baggy...but its ok to size down 1 in average joe...but i reckon u get the latest fit which is big bent...nice fit =) and do get them size down 2 or if u want u can get a pair of slim jim dry japan...ne of the best fit ever!!  and u can ask the nudie seller from singapore for more fit advise...anyways his name is sherwin and u can get hold of him via phone at +6593666707

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Added on November 15, 2009, 6:05 pmbut yea..down sizing 2 is ur best bet...=)

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Added on November 15, 2009, 6:09 pmand do try to find out if its possible to get big bent in selvage...but the best would be getting either slim jim dry japan size down 1 or2 or average joe dry selvage size down 1 or 2