Shares Fall $1.75 "It's really a shame," said Deborah Bronston, an apparel analyst at Prudential Securities.

"The turnaround was significant, but a lot of it had been anticipated," said Angela Uttaro, an apparel analyst for the Standard & Poor's Corporation.

If debt analysts are gaining confidence in the company's financial stability, apparel analysts are still unsure about Levi's fashion sense and its new leader.

"Over the long term, it's a positive," said Josie Esquivel, an apparel analyst at Shearson Lehman Brothers.

The apparel industry has had its troubles in the last year, said Josephine Esquivel, an apparel analyst at Lehman Brothers.

"It's a very exciting deal," said Faye I. Landes, a senior apparel analyst at Salomon Smith Barney.

For fashion, Marshal Cohen, an apparel analyst said, Chastain provided a defining moment in the trend of women wearing inner wear as outer wear.

But Jay J. Meltzer, an apparel analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Company, said most shipments were still on schedule or nearly so.

"The consumer really isn't responding to these changes," said Deborah Bronston, an apparel analyst at Prudential Securities.

Still, Margaret Mager, an apparel analyst with Goldman Sachs, said that Claiborne was not overexposed in the $32 billion market for department store clothing.