H...crimper

19 hours ago, JohnM said:

As an old guy, who grew up with shrink-to-fit Levi's from the '60s, I just saw them as pants to wear to school.  Interesting pants, since they came flat and stiff and soaking them was almost a science experiment in the backyard.  Once they were shrunk, and if I got lucky enough to pick the right size, I'd wear them and am reminded of Roy Slaper's comment that jeans are an ill-fitting garment.  They hung sort of low on the hips and went straight down.  In truth, I was happy when the GAP came along and made jeans that fit a little better.

While I feel a nostalgia for youth, I don't look back on those 60s Levi's as anything special or particularly well made, though they were thick and tough, which was cool.  I didn't know who Marlon Brando was, had no familiarity with post WWII Japan, and Steve McQueen was just entering the scene, so Levi's was nothing more (to me) than a company that made denim pants.

When I started looking for something better than GAP jeans from Sears, I discovered the same brands that b_F mentions, including Samurai, TFH, FC, and Iron Heart.  These were heavy duty, much more expensive, and included interesting arc designs that I liked then and still appreciate.  Removing threads to make these jeans look like Levi's never crossed my mind.

Only since joining this group did my appreciation for Levi's' history begin to grow.  It's an old company by American standards, with ties to history and culture.  I think what I appreciate more than Levi's (honestly) is the dedication and enthusiasm that the Osaka 5 (and others) brought to denim, as well as the knowledge and appreciation for history and detail that are shared here.

Its a bit like the british blues boom of the 60s that the British blues bands made you appreciate what you had on your door stop, so did the Japanese with there love of American denim.

19 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Where did i get up to...? who knows

Nether Edge today.. (en route to buy some tennis balls) the leafy burbs between the previously mentioned Abbeydale Road and previously mentioned Kenwood

Sugar Mountain was brought up around here, remember him? i think he moved to HK

Anyway, here goes.. heading to Montgomery Road

An old Robin Reliant.. you could drive these 3 wheelers on a motorbike licence because they were considered a trike.. most working-class folks did in the 70s

Zeds Wholefoods.. on the same row of shops is Bench and Cafe9

..past some red brick

There is a strong climbing community around Nether Edge.. a few of my friends live around here, they used to live in shared houses/bedsit land.. with no actual income or proof of.. they got self-cert mortgages in the early 90's and just rented rooms out to friends to cover their mortgage costs allowing them to live rent free so they could climb every day in the Peaks. It worked and they went on to buy 2 or 3 more houses (which other folk paid for) when Nether Edge was a bit more down at heel.. now they've almost retired, f'kin wankers!

Sheffield Bridge Club est 1936

..past lotte an urban beach coffee shop?? ..i know right!

..back through Kenwood

..and off home

Seen Ben Moon around there a few times, good cafe there as well.

First WAYWT from the Elizabeth line

They definitely shrunk but couldn't tell you by how much, they are quite stretchy thought.

12 hours ago, Mr Black said:

I found this pair of Full Counts languishing in the top shelf at Son of a stag. My initial thoughts were perhaps these were wrongly labelled as, detail-wise they're clearly an early 30's style jean rather than a 55', but the inner label states '55 aswell. I've tried to do a search on the style but have come up with nothing apart from links to the SOAS listing. Is anyone able to shed any light on this model??

 

Fit pics to follow in due course once i've hemmed them a bit.

I brought a pair of them from Soas about 3 years ago, really nice denim and with the rear belt loop stitched on the different from the rest.

21 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Neal, do you remember when we had that meet up with Geeman and MJF9 at your local?

How did he get that phone in that pocket?

18 hours ago, cultpop 0217 said:

Bittersweet day

Same old hat

RRL zip

LVC T 

Dirty USA 501 xx (gratuitous photos posted in EVO thread earlier) 

Polo socks

Vintage Horween Shell longwings ( branded and sold by Hanig's Chicago, probably 70's Florsheim)

Nice sweat

17 hours ago, Flash said:

Anyone else hate starting a new pair of jeans ? 

I've tried the new warehouse i got on a few times and every time I wear them I'm missing my old worn in Conners ( don't worry I'm not going to sell them ..... again ) . I love the warehouse but its just I prefer wearing faded denim 

it was so much easier when I was young, one pair of 501s that you wore to death usually a year back then, the more distressed the better, there was nothing less cool than a brand new pair of jeans. Also you could then buy a new pair exactly the same as they never seemed to change the cut.  

15 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

When i was a young apprentice i used to periodically maintain/replace all the wooden machinery at the local snuff mill at Sharrow on the river Porter (just around the corner from where we currently live ) the mill was modernised in the late 60's incorporating steam power along with the waterwheel (wtf!) all the machinery was made of wood so i used to replace it when it wore out .. some of the old fellas who i used to work with would scrape the solidified snuff from the frames of the sieve boxes and re-stock their own snuff boxes... sounds like something from the Victorian era but this was the mid-90's  the mill is still producing snuff today, albeit all the wooden machinery has been replaced with modern machinery.

https://sharrowmills.com/pages/our-history

 

 

Good to see its still working  

Buzz Rickson Real McCoy’s Toys McCoy’s Fullcount 

8 hours ago, freshwater said:

Used to visit London regular mid 80's to mid 90's, originally looking for old Levi's and mainly 50's styled attire. Would visit all the markets, vintage shops, walk the length of the Kings Rd up to American Classics, Kensington Market, Camden on a Sunday. Decent inseam length was always hard to get. Back then never had the budget for the really old good stuff so ended up with mainly 70's Levi's. Often stayed the weekend as generally there was someone I knew living there so there was a sofa to crash on or if we were lucky a student house party to go to.                                      

The purpose of these trips changed in 1989 from daytime shopping to nightime driving around the M25      Normal service and style was derailed for a couple of years and then settled on a mix of vintage denim, skate & 80's old skool.

I remember going to Knebworth 1979 there was a stall there selling old levis< there were so many pairs with cut of cinch's which id never seen before should have brought a few pairs, but was more interested in bootlegs.

49 minutes ago, Flash said:

Got a visit from the postman today 

 

 

 

 

 

Sized up about 5 years for maximum comfort

 

 

Little man has style though ....

 

There was something else in the package that I'm really excited to show and tell you guys all about , been working on it for close to a year and finally have something physical to show . Still need a bit of time before I'm ready but hopefully I'll be able to show something in a few days 

Some one must have loved that jacket to be so faded, or must have been handed down a lot.

2 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

I bought my first pair of selvedge 501s in a Nordstrom in the Bay Area in 1984.

You could still buy salvage Levis early 80s but you had to hunt them down at least in the south east.

52 minutes ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

Great comparison! Coin pocket and belt loops have the biggest differences? And the back pockets as well?

the back pockets often look wrong on Japanese repros for some reason.

34 minutes ago, dotcomzzz said:

 

Yeah I agree 100%. Btw if you or anyone know where to score a pair of 78 501s that would be appreciated. Atm I'm watching ebay like a hawk, but also realize anyone who knows what they have will try to sell them for a bundle. 

Ive got some orignal 78s on ebay at moment.

13 hours ago, dotcomzzz said:

To echo @SF2Turbo,that price is crazy for any non Cone version. Very steep for what you get. I grabbed two pairs of 84 501s from American Rag and used a code last week, which brought the price down to somewhere around $220 each. And while I'm super happy with them, in my view it's still pricy for denim that's nowhere near Cone quality. But the fit is perfect, so I can hardly complain.

Anyway, it would be super sweet if Levis started making their jeans in the US again. At the very least the LVCs. Like through Railcar or something. It would be interesting to see what happens if that came about. I'm sure the denim wouldn't be exactly the same as Cone's, but it would def be light years better than where they're making LVCs now. 

LVC not made in the USA kind of defeats the concept of LVC, its kind of Fake Levis.

10 minutes ago, Dr_Heech said:

^'Gobbing' for the south in the late 1970's.

Well in and around Newbury/Reading area anyway..

one of the hazards of going to gigs in the 70s.

Big old 1940s

3 hours ago, Dry said:

1937 501 XXc 555s.

Has anyone got these? I presume the c stands for cinch. They look the same as 1937 201s except for the patch. The inner label defines them as 201s.  I like the 1937 201s but always thought they should be 501s so were not as 'authentic'. The design of the cinch is not right but then it doesn't break so I can accept it.

I have some size 32 201 555s, so I decided to go for some size 32 501XXc's at about £205 before duty etc only for them to be unavailable by the time the order was processed. As I have some 1955s in size 31 I thought I could squeeze into some size 31 501XXc's.

In frustration over the purchase procedure I ended up putting in multiple orders from different sources but wasn't worried as I thought some would end up as unavailable.  However, to my surprise all the orders have now been completed so I will now end up with 4 pairs!

I had a job getting the waistband of size 32 201s done up today after a 40C wash so getting the waistband done up on the size 31s will be a struggle. I may break my luck of always being able to get into any jeans I have bought. I once took 30 mins to get some 25 oz Ironheart buttoned up. If I can't get into them, unless anybody can swap them for size 32s, I may have to put them up for sale when they arrive . The 1937s seem to have less give than 1955s probably because of the cinch.

https://item.rakuten.co.jp/birigo/levis-37201-0003/

Im wearing a pair of them over on what are you wearing today. Great jeans I brought them in 1996

What I would like is for the actual cut of a 1940s or 50s to be copied not the tweaking of the cut. Really what I'm saying is make em like they use to.

10 hours ago, Sansome1877 said:

This must be one of the new owners of Cerro gordo, sketchy planks he’s walking on, I know a guy- who’s partner was killed walking across planks like this...I sure as shit wouldn’t do that- cool video

thanks for posting

You have to know what you are doing very easy to dislodge rocks with your rope as you descend which can kill you easily even with a helmet on.

9 hours ago, aho said:

Definitely incredibly risky and it doesn't seem he or his partner are the most professionally trained, etc. to be doing things like this! Honestly got a bit of an adrenaline rush watching, but hopefully they keep it safe moving forward. I'd love to hear some of your stories some day @Sansome1877, I'm sure you've seen some sketchy things as well!

I didn't realize there are actually a few videos out there, here's another with Levi's, Stronghold, etc. found in case anyone hasn't seen it (my first time watching). Funny that it seems all of them know of Brit:

 

Love this stuff!

2 hours ago, Dry said:

I too love the soft denim, patch and stitching (apart from the closeness of the stitching to the fly edge - I prefer it further away). I also love the large close together rear pockets. Not fussed about the offset rear belt loop and would prefer the loops at the side to be stitched to the seam and a wider coin pocket. Not sure if the black stitch bar tack at the bottom of the fly is right either.

I got a pair of size 34s very early on from the flagship store. They had 2 pairs in my size. I bought 1 pair and decided to return a few minutes later to grab the 2nd pair but they had gone! Somebody must have been watching me! I kicked myself afterwards. They are comfy and fit OK even now I am slimmer, though might loosen up. I probably didn't wear them much as I had no spare pair to replace them if I wore them out.

I have 2 pair of these from 96, they do have a bit of hip flare but I do love the fit.

Big old WW2 TCB