ChuckO

by the way there are some nice pics from cinch on the continous lean page. not as nice as pauls but still, here is the link

http://www.acontinuouslean.com/2010/02/10/shopping-london-cinch/#more-13905

and oki ni has some pics of the duck cotton closed fron jumper ( the color is so beautiful)

http://www.oki-ni.com/Brands/Levis-Vintage-Clothing/icat/levis

There's an amazing old picture of an indian wearing some jeans with what looks like a striped union suit on that the continous lean page. It is super cool.

It seems better for the world also. Get off of this awful treadmill we've gotten on: buy cheap crap, crap breaks, throw away, repeat. It would be great if more people wanted their job to making something with pride that wasn't just more crap to be thrown away.

@ChuckO, you can see many new shops comin around that sell raw denim jeans, on of the best is 14oz by the way... also there has opened a red wing shop... there is demand on that and you can see many guys wearing newboy caps and fedora, but i don´t think it´s an americana thing, people just like the time between 1918 and 1933, there sepcial parties whith a strict dresscode where you can feel like beein on gangsters movie and so on... you know there was a lot goin on in the roaring 20s in berlin, i was told

Interesting. I need to go listen to "Mack the Knife" and the "Alabama song(whisky bar)" now.

Boots, jeans and Buzz Rickson are timeless. But think about the dudes decked out head to toe with MFSC. I think some of them (I said some) will look back and say, "What the fuck was I doing." Especially when the debt collectors are knocking on their door.

There seems to be a certain kind of guy that you find in every country practically that will go through life in jeans, work boots or sneakers and a flight jacket in his free time. That's what I love about the workwear thing is that there are people making quality versions of that stuff.

I can almost cry thinking about the time I went to buy a new pair of Dr Martens and found they had moved manufacture to China. I got them home and they squeaked and they fit all wrong. Man that was heartbreaking.

My take on this is that in 10 years everyone will be wearing Snuggies. It will look like some holy order of futuristic monks.

I know we're all derailing the LVC thread here, but this whole conversation is interesting as hell. Love to have a beer with you guys and shoot the shit, lol.

Every six months or so I hijack the thread with something controversial. I think last time was last summer I threw out my theory of what Levis should have done back in the 80's instead of battling JC Penney and the like in a race to the bottom they should have went up market and become a premium brand. That went pretty well and was an interesting discussion. It's one of the things I love about this thread the folks in here are pretty thoughtful and aren't thin skinned.

just came back from watching fritz langs "metropolis" open air at brandburg gate, i wore my red wing boots, s501xx a long double breasted herringbone coat and a newsboy cap... along with smoking my pipe, i need to because it was damn cold... i think nobodys was looking at me like i was wearing a costum and i don´t give a f*** i have been addicted of 1890-1940s fashion since i first saw "once upon a time in america" imo my favorite gangster movie, i´m 31 and it´s at least 15 years ago... so no one should judge me being not authentic etc...

What's the Americana scene like in Berlin? Is it rare to see other people with similar taste?

we all wear costumes... from the business suit to work to the ball jersey to a game....

It's what you're comfortable wearing that matters.

If you worry about what people think, then don't wear it, you're not ready.

if you wear it cause you like it and don't give a damn what "other" people think, then you're ready.

if you wear it to get people to look at or notice you... then you are wearing a costume.

Sort of. A newsboy in 1937 was dressed in the style of the day which WAS authentic whereas somebody emulating that style today is in fact dressing up. Nothing wrong with that but that's what it is dressing up.

I think most people past their mid-twenties couldn't be so cavalier and\or high minded about disregarding the opinion of others. I struggle with it and tend to err on the conservative side because I have kids and have to think about how it effects them.

I have to admit, after almost two years of lurking (before I registered) I still don't understand some of the more costumey aspects of the sufu mode workwear style. Not judging anyone, just professing my ignorance as to the motivations and appeal of it.

By the same token, I probably appear to the man on the street as though I'm affecting a costume when I go out in 875s, 47s, and a Pendleton shirt. It's all degree and perspective I guess.

EDIT: Completely agree with everything RRL posted while I was writing my post.

Yup I agree. I'm a 45 year old dad in a rich Connecticut town and I can tell other Dad's don't know why exactly but think there's a little something off about me. "Why isn't he wearing overly faded LL Bean jeans and a Polo button down shirt and these weird laceless sneaker like things like the rest of us?" and all I'm doing is walking around in 47's, a J Crew flannel shirt and PF Flyers.

Chuck O - the whole work wear craze scene as a fad IMO sucks I would hate to see it become mainstream like the whole ed hardy/true religion crap. The flip side to that is I see folks as well on SUFU who come off as walking billboards for Mister Freedom, Iron Heart, et al. Seems some folks have lost the notion of moderation. It's either one extreme or the other. Of all the folks I've seen who genuinely represent the classic spirit of how to wear workwear is Cheep and Bill. These guys have an understanding of how to present classic work wear without going overboard. What made Steve McQueen cool is his ability to sport classic work wear / denim effortlessly. I realize a lot of us here want to stay true to the spirit of classic Americana but it kinda turns my stomach when I see folks wear the denim, workshirt, boots, wallets, all brand new just to pose. I say wear the damn thing to death and don't worry about how to get the right fade, honeycombs blah blah. Folks who wore these items back in the day just wore the and they got the results because they just wore the for utility period.

Back in McQueens day and really up until the late 80's or 90's the McQueen style was the NORM! I'm 45 and growing up that was mainstream and people like McQueen or Newman were just wearing what was cool. There was the rich squares who would have been down on denim and then the vast majority who wore clothes just like those guys. Then in the 90's I guess as we got fatter and lazier style got pushed out of the way for comfort and now everything is fitted for blobs.

If someone can drop $285.00 - $325.00 on a Samurai 5000vx/710 why complain about dropping $200 on say a LVC 47 or 55? - Personally although I have a significant collection of LVC's , in terms of price/quality ratio my Sammies, Sugarcane, Fullcount get the thumbs up. The only reason I'm still into LVC is because of the Levis History. But it seems the Japanese repros have out done Levis in terms of quality. My 2 cents.

I love my '47's and 55's and am about to buy some 66's. I'd rather pay less for them of course. I just have found the work wear "craze" an interesting thing especially since I come more from the "classic" pop culture side of denim freakdom. I love the whole rock and roll side of it from The Wild One to The Ramones. So I was trying to get a better sense of what people thought of the whole work wear thing.

It's like getting a woman to sleep with you. You just ask flat out and there's a good chance you'll get slapped. Lay a rap on her to make it about some romantic bullshit and you have a better chance.

$200 jeans!!!??? That's crazy but associate it with something romantic from the past and now that's different.

I take your point. And my love of that jacket is primarily, as I said, for it as an object rather than clothing.

But compared to the endless, identikit Japanese jeans that resemble a skinnier 501, with a lower rise, and quicker-fade denim, I applaud the eccentricity and attention to detail of the Duck Diggers

I like that both options are out there unless they're keeping the option I prefer from happening which is someone make reasonably "authentic" jeans for a reasonable price that aren't a pain in the ass to get a hold of. LVC's as close as it gets right now.

The more positive side of the work wear trend is it shows there's a base of people who are fed up with the highly processed crap that's available.

The workwear worship is similar for me to the "Greatest generation" worship we had a few years back (Sorry to any non-US who don't know about the huge "Greatest generation" trend we had here). It get's a little unseemly for us modern day wimps to romanticize situations were people paid with their lives or large parts of their lives or lived with misery day after day by wearing clothes. I get it when something is good looking and functional but when it was something that worked in situations that no longer exist I'm off the script. That's imho anyway.

As a life long jean freak I'm glad the workwear fetish has come along. I went a long time not being happy with the jeans I bought but I don't really get the interest in stuff like the Great Western Chief jacket EXCEPT as a work of art. Do you guys actually want to buy and wear it? It looks like stuff designed by Mao for the proletariat to wear.:-) Extremely sexless. In that sense it makes a lot of sense to me that it's popular in Japan as there's something very Asian looking about it to my eye. For me though it's all about the western wear.

Couple of questions:

1. How different is the fit between the 66 & 67?

2. Should I wait for the new LVC version?

Oops, never mind. I just saw another photo that makes me think it isn't a flight jacket at all.

I hadn't been to the US Authentic site in a long time. They've expanded their lineup. Can anybody tell what Eddie Cochran is wearing in this:

Thanks a bunch Doc. I sold this killer RMNZ duo tone B-3 a couple years back with the intent of buying another sheepskin right away. THis winter has been pretty cold. The Monarch 422 is warm but I really needed some sheepskin. It took a whole 2 weeks to get this CUSTOM jacket. I couldn't be happier with the build, sheepskin and fit. Its always nice to get something that exceeds expectations.

Whoa, that's cool. Where is that from? Custom made in 2 weeks?

Chucko

I think the jacket is made in turkey. It's ok, although the leather label states small/med/large, rather than 36/44..etc. I've seen originals exactly the same, but wish Lvc would have put the earlier two prong buckle on it.

You gonna buy one?

What about the stormrider?

The good Dr.! Yea, I think I'll hold out for the stormrider. There's something about those! I also need a good pair of 101z's.

I have one. size S. bought one in a sale last year for 99 Euro. has "made in Turkey" on the label. Denim feels a bit thin. I love the blanket-lining.

Thanks for the info, Ivan and Heech. I guess I'll pass. I think the next purchase is a lvc 66 or 67 which I hope I'll like as much as my 47.

Anybody have the "Levi´s® 1936 506xx TYPE I BLANKET LINED JACKET". If so what do you think? That things tempting at $200.

The 55's are back at Cultizm. Are these the new LVC line?

yes,he said he was there.i am wearing Karl-Heinz( cant type the name without laughing!)right now-absolutely comfortable,really great tip!first thing i do next monday after work is to get a black one.i was aware of this line before,but last time i looked for it at manufactum they only had the awful "bier-und-pantoffel"unterhemd( wifebeater in english).

Karl-Heinz?! Wasn't he the star of Munich TV's hit comedy "Who are you to accuse me?"?

Sorry that's a Mike Meyer's "Sprocket's" joke. The Germany's most disturbing Home Videos episode.

patch looks tasty too s3lam

I thought I'd show you guys my pair of 1967 505's.I bought them back '04 before I had really gotten in to the whole denim madness. I got them in sz 31 which I've always kind of regret since they've been too big. So anyway I washed them the other day (was going to store them 'til I get old & fat) & to my surprice they shrank just like a pair of loomstate jeans (notice the leg twist)! I'm not sure if these are just a pair of freak 505's or if this particular batch of R button, S/S 2004 (I think) were unsanforized by accident. I've always found them to be a bit too hairy to be pre-shrunk...

Unfortunately I dont have any pre-wash measurments but I'm confident they shrank at least 1.5" in waist & 2" in length

any thoughts on why they've shrunk the way they have?

I don't have any experience with LVC sanforized but from wearing sanforized in the 70's and early 80's I would need to wash and dry every week because of stretching. I used to always have two pairs so I could have one out of the wash because of stretching.

I'm kind of surprised sanforized selvedge isn't more popular. It's really not that much different than STF in terms of molding to your body. Is the fading effected by the sanforizing process? It seems to me jeans from that period faded fine. We weren't going for the same effects back then, you just wore 'em and washed 'em all the time and they faded and softened up.

LEvi's are suprisignly vague about when some features appear, perhaps becuase they didn't switch over instantaneously. They tend to choose the year after the change in detailing feautred in their jeans. For instnace, the red tag appeared in 1936 - so their model is dated the first full year it appeared, ie 1937. But what I was attempting to say above, probably not clearly, is that we don't necessarily know when the shape changed to the '1937' shape; I don't really think there's been a huge amount of research into this. Likewise, I would bet the arcuates re-appeared by 46, maybe even late 45. So 1947 is a conservative estimate of the first full year the jeans appeared with all those features. Now Sugar Cane and others have simply copied Levi's own names. You might notice that Evisu even call their own early jean the Nevada, after the Levi's name.

They had multiple manufacturing sites, correct? If so it would make sense that back in the day it took time for the changes to roll out across sites and that some hybrid jeans were created while using up items (patches,thread,denim) in stock during initial change over. Probably some of the mistakes people find disappointing in LVC might be more authentic than they realize.

LEvi's are suprisignly vague about when some features appear, perhaps becuase they didn't switch over instantaneously. They tend to choose the year after the change in detailing feautred in their jeans. For instnace, the red tag appeared in 1936 - so their model is dated the first full year it appeared, ie 1937. But what I was attempting to say above, probably not clearly, is that we don't necessarily know when the shape changed to the '1937' shape; I don't really think there's been a huge amount of research into this. Likewise, I would bet the arcuates re-appeared by 46, maybe even late 45. So 1947 is a conservative estimate of the first full year the jeans appeared with all those features. Now Sugar Cane and others have simply copied Levi's own names. You might notice that Evisu even call their own early jean the Nevada, after the Levi's name.

They had multiple manufacturing sites, correct? If so it would make sense that back in the day it took time for the changes to roll out across sites and that some hybrid jeans were created while using up items (patches,thread,denim) in stock during initial change over. Probably some of the mistakes people find disappointing in LVC might be more authentic than they realize.

Half selvage, incidentally, seemed to mark the point when Lee's denim moved to wide (selvage) looms.

Levi's were among the last to keep the narrow ones, for wider looms first appeared in the 50s. The selvage definitely varies across examples for Lee, I have seen photos of 1958 Lees with no visible selvage at all, from the time they slimmed the fit radically.

This is one of those things I have a hard time getting my mind around. So regardless of the visible selvage, Lee's half selvage and no (visible) selvage were still the same fabric as when they were visible selvage just cheaper to make on wider looms? I hope that makes sense. Also since they both bought from Cone and Lee and Levi went to wide at different times that means Cone was transitioning technology and probably Levi had a quality or tradition issue with going wide?