If you can find anything on TikTok like you can on any other social network, a few tips are worth checking out. Sometimes, the techniques in question are nothing new, but seeing them illustrated in video on the Chinese platform where the audience is particularly young, and the exponential virality, allows you to reach a wider audience, beyond the insiders.
And when it comes to jeans, the most worn pants in the West, all generations combined, inevitably, are emulated.
This hack for making jeans that are too small go viral on TikTok
This is the case of user Lily Schoknecht, aka @bug318_ on TikTok, who regularly shares tips and tricks for a more responsible and ecological life, even in the fashion department. She just posted a grandma’s ultra-accessible technique for making too-small jeans fit her size:
” I bought this pair of jeans in size 10 (40). It was a second hand item, so there were no other options. I’m more of a size 12 (42). I ordered it anyway […] It was very tight and created a small bead on my hips. […]
I told my grandmother. And she asked me if I ever showered in it. I replied: what, no, I didn’t take a shower in jeans, what are you talking about !? She said, “Trust me, take a shower, wear it around the house, do some stretches, then let it air dry, especially not in the dryer.”
Since I was desperate and in love with these pants, I tried them on last night, took a shower in them. After a night of air drying, I tried it, and now… It fits me perfectly! Now I also have a small room, whereas before I could barely button it! »
Like taking a shower in jeans that are too small to stretch
Lily Schoknecht explains, in commenting on this video that has gone viral and which is approaching 5 million views, that she took a ten minute shower wearing pants.
After, he wandered about the house, taking big strides on purpose, and some exercises like squats, lunges and stretching, to loosen the fabric of his still soaked jeans. To provide even more slack, she added a towel between the waist and the pants. After thirty minutes of activating it when it was wet, he ended up removing it to let it air dry. And abracadabra!
As he explains in other videos posted on his TikTok account, the result survives machine washes at low temperatures, but not in the dryerso it’s important to continue to air dry the affected garments (which is always best to prolong the life of any garment, by the way).
Very simple (except when it comes to taking off your jeans that are still wet and therefore very sticky), this technique works well for jeans that are a size or two smallerbut definitely not to go from 34 to 44.
An old trick already well known to denim purists
Actually, this hack is nothing new, as it affectsa tip from grandparents and naturally aged jeans lovers (and not purchased pre-washed and pre-worn).
Denim purists tend to avoid washing their jeans in the washing machine (to preserve its original indigo tint), and take a bath after wearing it for several weeks (so that it acquires a nice patina and signs of wear reflect lifestyle habits, gait, storage in pockets, etc. .).
This bath allows you to best adjust the jeans in question to your body.because cotton canvas will soften when it comes into contact with water and won’t be able to shrink too much when it starts to dry against your body, especially if you do a few squats on it.
Levi’s bosses have long recommended the denim shower technique
It’s a trick tested, approved and recommended by Chip Bergh, the CEO of Levi’s himself, who shared it with the Washington Post in March 2019 (except that a rarely written article goes as viral as a TikTok video…):
” Do not put [vos jeans] in the washing machine, do not destroy them, do not put them in the dryer. Wash them by hand. OR jump in the shower with themsoak them and rinse them: I do that too.
[…] It will probably end up on my gravestone when I die. No one will ever remember what I did for the company: they will only remember me for this crazy quote. »
In 2015, Levi’s design chief Paul O’Neill shared the same advice with HQ :
“First I buy my jeans the right size (rather than undersize) and a little longer (an inch or two). After, I wear them for a few days before stepping into a hot bath and soaking for 20 minutes.
Once I’m done soaking, I take the jeans off and let them dry in the sun. This narrows the jeans to your body shape. […] Since you wore it while shrinking it, it shouldn’t shrink any more than your size. I tend to check if they still fit when they’re nearly dry by putting them back on and squatting with them. [pour les re-détendre] if necessary. »
There you have it, if you still didn’t know, jeans purists rarely wash their jeans in the washing machine, and therefore prefer to shower or bathe in them so they fit their body best. And this technique also works to make jeans that are too small a size larger! Thank you Grandma!
A photo credit: TikTok screenshot.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
