lukec

Washed, as well as soaked I think. You're better off with a new pair.

Thanks, I've managed to convince myself of that now! Too many disappointments with the Bay, probably just avoided another.

Link?

10char

Me?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/repro-501xx-levi-jeans_W0QQitemZ190349936363QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMen_s_Clothes?hash=item2c51bd86eb#ht_500wt_1182

Actual measurements were w34xl35

Yup, they're 55. Pomata on this board found a stash and sold them to various posters, including me - look around and you'll see Leonard Leroy modelling a pair, looking very fetching. Once soaked, they're worth less. obviously. Good luck, and post pix when you get them/find them.

Thanks for all the comments & advice - unfortunately before I could get my bid in on the Bay, the seller changed from auction to buy-it-now without letting me know (despite my obvious interest!) and someone else got a bit of a bargain at £40! They were exactly my size too, grrr.

Cheers for the clarification - will look out for those Leonard Leroy pics!

Hmmm, I aready own a newish pair of 55s: is there any truth to the myth that early Valencia St lvc denim is significantly better than later lvc?

Anyways, I suppose you can't have too much of a good thing...

555 means they were made at the old factory on Valencia St; the only clue is 1097, late 1997, whichwould mean it's one of the first reissues - either the first Capital E reissue, which was a generic erissue with fatures from different years, or more likely the first 501 reissue which was issued alongside the '201.' I believe that was a 55.

Thanks a lot Paul, that's very interesting.

I had got as far as realizing that 1097 referred to the date, so these are pretty old!?

The one crappy pic (which I don't have right now) shows the jeans folded in half, back pocket facing and turnup at leg to show selvage (which looks to be white with no apparent red listing - but the photo is fairly bleached by too much flash). The tag is paper, has 'Every garment guaranteed' & Lot 501xx, the pockets have arcuate and hidden rivets like my 55s. No other discernable features.

Seller claims that he's had them from new and that they are unworn (no tags), and they look fairly dark indigo to me, but probably no longer raw as they've shrunk considerably from tag size.

Thanks again for the excellent info & detective work!

Cheers,

Luke

Just wondering if any resident LVC experts might be able to draw any conclusions about a pair of unknown jeans from the label info?

Some guy selling his jeans doesn't seem to be able to answer any of my questions, but he gave me the codes from the label. They mean nothing to me but I was hoping someone might know which cut they are from this:

501 0003 MADE IN USA 555 58635-4 1097 WPL423 0212co 11

These are repros but he says he bought them ages ago and can't recall anything about them!?

Any clues would be most appreciated before I decide whether to pull the trigger on these.

Cheers,

Luke

No.

Can we criticise LVC for what they've really fucked up - the kind of details DR Heech mentioned - and not fantasise?

LVC denim for the US and Europe comes from Cone, as mentioned. Not Turkey. THey make a big deal of it, and it is mentioned in all their catalogues. THe dry jeans are still made in the US. LVC are made in too small quantities to bother shipping them out to China, and anyone who has any involvement with them will know their schedules would not allow the time for this.

There are many issues around distressing, It's hugely polluting, and wasteful, to make jeans with indigo, then sand and wash most of it away. It's probably done in TUrkey because they have lower environmental standards. You might want to slag off Levi's for this, not fantasise about where they are manufactured.

blm was winding you guys up.

Ah, ok. Didn't realise I was having my leg pulled there?!

And I understand that they make a big deal of it in catalogues etc, but I was referring really to the labels in the jeans themselves - easy to have something like 'Made in Turkey from Cone Denim', or something.

And no fantasies - all I wondered originally is why 'Made in Turkey'?

If LVC is such small batch production, why ship Cone all the way to Turkey for jean manufacture? And these are broken raw - practically the same as one wash as far as I can see, so no hard washing here.

Just so you know, manufacturers put "made in" for the LAST country that a product was worked on. So if the denim is manufactured at cone, then shipped to china, where the jeans are assembled, then the completed jeans shipped to Turkey for distressing, then the product is "made in turkey"

Thanks for the replies.

And that's interesting about the 'Made in _____' referring to the last country to add work to a garment - you'd have thought they'd make more of an issue of the denim being from good ol' USA for authenticity/marketing reasons?

As it is, one might (as I did) assume that the denim for these lvc will likely have come froma more anonymous and possibly inferior cotton mill in Turkey?

And as for transporting denim to China for distressing, then to Turkey for finishing - the cost of moving freight by container ship is incrediby cheap and is probably far outweighed by savings on labour costs - should be outlawed in my opinion, given the high costs of the final product!

Thanks...seem to recall that the booklet that comes with them mentions Cone denim, so would be a bit cheeky if they used a different denim...?

...long time listener, first time caller...

My lvc 1955 501s are 'Made in Turkey'...guess I was expecting it to be USA?!

But do they still use Cone xx denim, or will it be something else? Seems strange to make them in Turkey out of imported denim?

They still seem really good quality, just wondering really.