LEC Slim Fit Jeans

[AnonymousJay]

This is probably more rant than review....


As everyone probably remembers, LEC Slim Fit Jeans were hyped up by many here as an affordable, quality slim-but-not-skinny pair of jeans. I was certainly one of the guys singing praises.


Having purchased several of them and being quite satisfied, I naturally jumped at the opportunity to get several more during the "All-Pants-Under-$15" sale from a couple of weeks back. I didn't give it a second thought.


I should have read the reviews.


The first thing I noticed upon opening the package was that the waist of the new pair was unlined. The previous incarnation was lined. A nice touch, but not a big deal. LEC was probably just trying to save money.


Then I noticed that the denim seemed to be of a lower quality. It felt a little cheaper. But not cheap enough to really complain; hey, I paid less than 15 bucks.


Whats really unforgivable, however, is the new fit.


These are skinny jeans.


No, not Levi's 511, a-little-more-taper-than-I-want-but-still-wearable.

I mean full-fledged girlfriend jeans, I-wear-a-scarf-in-the-summer skinny.


I'm simply stunned that Lands End could ruin such a good thing.


The previous issue of slim fit jeans were probably the best in their price class.


I'm going to feel really awkward going to Sears tomorrow to return 2 orders (over $200) of clothes. I'd be pissed if I paid shipping. Thank goodness for free shipping codes.

[guiltybystander]

Thanks for the review! I live near a Sears and don't feel bad at all returning clothes there (I returned the linen/cotton birds shirt and a pair of LEC "tailored fit" linen/cotton trousers which had no waist but appeared to be bootcut).


In general, I found that Land's End (not LEC) clothing tends to run 1 full size larger than normal, FWIW.

[KC]

They're...skinnier than Levi's 511? Wow.


I've gotten a few slim fit jeans from LEC before and most are definitely in the slim but not skinny territory. Weird, because I'm a pretty small/skinny dude and wouldn't even have minded a bit more taper/slim fit than they already were.


Though there is one pair of white jeans I got from them that are a much skinnier fit on par with 511's, but I've never had a pair that went beyond that into girlfriend jeans territory.

[AnonymousJay]

KC, I'm about to post pics of myself wearing them (both pair actually, the new and the old; they're the same size).

[AnonymousJay]

First, the old LEC Slim Fit Jeans:


Note that these pics are after a wash and shrink (the shrunk a little in length and waist but not too much in the legs. A good shrink)








The new slim/skinny fit

This is straight out of the bag, no wash/shrink:








I'm not sure you can see it that well in the pics but these are certainly snug to say the least.

[mixto]

wow, that's a weird fit. I have the old design (less than a year old) and it's not as slim as he 514. That new fit seems more tapered in the legs, that's for sure. I would say though that the old jean has a baggy look on you (wrong size?). Anyway, thanks for the review, I will certainly not buy them on clearance.

[Standard_Deviance]

Agree with mixto that the old jeans are closer to baggy than slim on you. Maybe part of the problem is that the new ones are slimmer than you're used to. They don't look outrageously skinny to me, but if you're not comfortable in them then it's probably time to search for a new go-to brand.

[tarmac]

Picked some of these up for $22-24 and had to return them. They weren't like skinny jeans, they were like women's skinny jeans on me. "Slim" has a wide definition throughout companies. Granted, I am a cyclist so I've got quads and butt for a little guy, I could not move.


I am awaiting the arrival of their "straight" fit to see if those fit better for an affordable pair of jeans...

[vwpokerchamp]

First pic jeans look baggy and too long.


Second pic looks to fit the category of slim fit.

[AnonymousJay]

The first pics look baggy because there's so much break in the pants. They're quite a bit too long but I order them that way so that I can cuff them. If you look at the second set of pics you can see they are also too long (judging by how much I cuffed them [note I don't wear them with a cuff that wide, just to show how long they are]); that was intentional.


Like tarmac, I'm also a cyclist so I do have bigger quads/thighs that can fill a pair of jeans. The really aggressive taper below the knees give the new slim fits a really hip-y,feminine silhouette on a guy with bigger thighs/quads/butt.


But besides the overall slimness, there's a real 'weirdness' about the fit that I just can't pin-point. They get tighter and looser at weird places. Almost like they didn't sew the pieces together correctly.

[splitplug]

The second pair look like they fit fine, in my opinion. The first ones seem frumpy.

[greg_s]

AnonymousJay, I get what you're saying. It doesn't translate to photos well, but some LEC pants are really starting to get a weird fit if you have quads. They just don't move well and feel weird.

[jake89]

The jeans in the last post are not flattering.

They look like they are for women.

Im curious to know if both pairs that you have are made in the same location. It could be that they changed manufacturers (like alot of their other items).