Choose Your Levi's Jeans

Find Your favorite. Start here with selecting your fit preference, then continue to explore the range of leg openings and colours as you shop

Slim - Cut close through the hip and thight, these are the slimmest styles. a ange of options from trim to tight

Original - The most worn, best-loved jeans in the world. This is the ultimate straight leg, button fly jean. The one-of-a-kind 501@ Original fit gives you just enough room in the seat and tighh, then wears to fit your body perfectly.

Regular - A classic fit, cut straight through the seat and tight, in straight leg or boot cut options

Loose - A range of roomier jeans that fit more loosely through the seat and thigh. Choose from truly loose to more trim and relaxed

Levi's Basic Fit Guide

501 - 'Origanal' Straight Fit, Loose - Best For People who, for whatever reason cannot fit into anything slimmer. These are as baggy as you ever want to go

514 - "Slim Straight" 511 with more room - Best For Weight lifters and those with bigger legs. These are slim in their own right, and adequately 'skinny' for those with skinny legs, these will be as baggy as 501a

511 - "Skinny" - relatively skinny jean - Best For Guys with relatively slim legs that do not 'sausage' (bulge) out when wearing these. Some say these have a wider seat than 514s when stretched, but that is hard to prove.

510 - "Super Skinny" - truly Skinny -  Best for truly skinny people. Like, rail thin people. If these fit you like above, then go for them. Can look really good or really bad

Levi’s 501 (Original Jean)
Sometimes jokingly called the “Obama Jean” nowadays, 501s are the very classic Levi’s jean offering that has been around for virtually forever. 501s are as baggy as a fashionable person would ever want to go — they are relatively loose and relaxed and perfect for a look trying to exploit that, but really often too loose for most guys otherwise. Unless you have huge legs or are trying to pull off something retro (or just have no other choice), 501s are probably not an ideal choice.
Levi’s 514 (Slim Straight Jean)
These are pretty much the perfect balance between straight and skinny — 514s are neither skinny nor baggy straight, making them a “slim straight” that works fairly well for most people, particularly those with bigger thighs (i.e. weightlifters). 514s don’t work very well for those with super thin legs (they just manage to look baggy), but for those with muscle tone, 514s are a godsend.
Levi’s 511 (Skinny Jean)
The canonical “skinny jean”, though admittedly they are really only skinny in name. 511s differ from 514s in that they have a more drastic taper and try to achieve a more skin-tight look without trying to be too skin tight, making them a good choice for most guys with relatively thin legs. You can find a ton of variations on 511s, from ones with wild colors (like hot purple) to material additions (like spandex to make the jean material less constricting). These allegedly have a wider seat than the 514s (which is really not something I’ve personally seen), so be wary.
Levi’s 510 (Super Skinny Jean)
510s are the honest-to-god Levi’s skinny jean. These can look amazing on guys with very thin legs, or very horrible on guys with anything but slim legs — if you don’t know if you could wear these, chances are you shouldn’t wear them. 510s are skinny to the point where they look ridiculous unless you are skinny all throughout to the point of looking emaciated, so be careful — these are wonderful jeans only in the right hands.

Some General Tips

• If you live in the United States, Levi’s can be purchased at a huge number of department stores. However, I personally feel one of the best options is the Amazon.com Levi store, which sells virtually all types of Levi’s for around $30/pair, which is an incredible steal.
• Consequently, if you live in Europe or outside of the US, Levi’s will be much, much more expensive, and you may find a better brand. Be wary — this guide is really meant for American users, as Levi’s business model intentionally cuts the price of the jeans stateside.
• As with virtually every other jean brand, waist size is directly correlated with the bagginess (or slimness) in the legs. Thus, focus on determining your waist size, and then experiment with the different styles listed above. You can have drastically different leg sizes and fits with a size 32 waist — some people can wear 510s with a size 32 waist, others have to go up to 514s, and so on.
• In the slimmer cuts (particularly 510s and 511s), the waist can and likely will stretch ever so slightly, as will other parts of the jean if they are really tight. This is not to imply you want to buy jeans you have to use a shoehorn to get into, but in some cases small amounts of tightness in the waist fix themselves after a little bit of wear. The same rule applies to the thighs.
• Darker wash Levi’s — particularly the raws (obviously) and the “rigid” brands — do develop fairly nice stacks, whiskering, and general signs of individual wear. Obviously, the “rigid” Levi’s are not going to develop effects as nice as raws, but it’s a great alternative.
• No matter what people on other fashion websites/forums may say, there is no inherent status involved with waist size or the style of jeans you wear, pending they fit well. You don’t get fashion benefits for wearing 510s or anything like that.

How to identified Levi's 501 Original

Steps to identified Levi's 501 Original

Step 1

Check the buttons. Levi's manufactured in the mid-1970s and prior will have a single digit stamped onto them. Newer versions (as well as fake ones) have three digits stamped on the buttons. The most popular numbers on vintage versions are 2, 5, 6 and the letter W. New Levi's have "501" or "555" stamped on them.

Step 2
Look at the rivets. Older styles from the mid-1960s to the 1980s feature flat silver rivets with L.S.&CO-S.F. indented on them. Newer styles feature aluminum or copper rivets with circular patterns and L.S.&CO-S.F. indented on them. The circular patterns on the rivets are a sure sign that the Levi's are relatively new.

Step 3
The vintage Levi's red tab.
Check the red tab. This is a small red fabric tag that has "Levi's" written in white in all caps. Prior to 1971 the "e" in Levi's was capitalized and referred to as the "big E." After 1971, the "e" was written in lower case while the other letters were left capitalized.

Step 4
Read the care tags. They first appeared on Levi's in the 1970s. The tags from 1970 to 1985 were plain white with dark blue writing and contained an instruction that read "Shrinks about 10%." Newer jeans (after 1985) have care tags that are white with red writing and the Levi's logo placed prominently at the top. The older versions do not have a Levi's logo on the care tags.

Step 5
Inspect the inseam and back pockets. The style of inseam on almost all Levi's before the mid-1980s featured a single felled inseam, which is a single stitch running down the inner thigh. The back pockets on vintage Levi's have a very pronounced arcuate design. An arcuate is denoted by two wide arcs joined together in the middle, similar to the top part of a traditional heart shape. On newer Levi's the arcs are much more shallow.


Step 6
Check for bar tacks at the corners of the pockets. Bar tacks are a method of sewing that involves using extra thread to reinforce a thicker fabric such as denim. Levi's that contain bar tacks on the corner pockets are at least 20 years old and may be even older.