Can someone help me identify these 501s?

[Landy]

Hi I'm new here. I've pretty much been a lurker on this board and I've been very much impressed by the knowledge you denim gods have. I was wondering if you could help me identify this pair of 501s I bought. I am currently in HK right now and I found these over the border in Shenzen, China. The paper labels identify them as some 1955 501s, but the inside label sewn into the jeans is conflicting by saying 66501. There are no other labels sewn on the inside. Most of the accompanying paper tags as well as the insides are in Japanese. The back label on the jeans is that paper leather material. Are they a factory reject ? There are no visible flaws from what I can see. When I first bought them, they were rigid. They fit comfortably and the denim feels great. Do they even make Levi's in China? What kind of machines od they have in China? I've already started wearing them for the past 2 weeks, so pardon all the wrinkles.

I'm very much aware that they could be some outright bootlegs, but since I paid about $25 USD for them and they fit great; I'm really not mad.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[tweeds]

is that even selvedge?

[cheapmuthafukr]

those are the 33556606 model,also known in denim circles as "the fakes". incorporates design elemnts from many different years, and adds some extras, like the DOUBLE REDLINE SELVEDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

simplicity we use to survive, do what you doing properly, thats the way thru life

Edited by cheapmuthafukr on Apr 3, 2006 at 12:00 PM

[Landy]

yeh the selvedge is real

[vinz]

man that's a pretty decent price.

www.youngestincharge.com

[BumbaClot]

I'll have to agree with cheapmutha for the same reasoning.

and how someone can ask if those are selv. with such a clear picture is beyond me.

[Seething Tortoise]

They look decent for $25, fake or otherwise. The double red-line selvage is a litle strange though.

Edited by Tabris on Apr 3, 2006 at 02:19 PM

[ikidomari]

who cares if its fake if its good quality and selvage material. it fits well doesn't it?

no one near you will ever bother that its fake. jeans are jeans

fashion changes, style remains

[Phrost3]

Yea, I agree they are fakes. You can tell by the double redline on the selvage. Also, the coin pocket is on the waistband and the belt loops are off, especially the middle back one. Anyway, for $25, if they fit well, its a good deal. They denim looks pretty nice to me.

Edited by Phrost3 on Apr 3, 2006 at 06:26 PM

[rnrswitch]

It looks like they use blue stitching for the bar tacking on the back pockets... I don't know of any levis that would do that.

[Thorns]

If nothing else the arcuate doesn't look right... too sharp or something. However, for 25 bucks, why not?

[BumbaClot]

Agreed with all the above.

Arcs seem shallow, bartacks should be black, 5thpocket should be lower if they're 501's, and the loops seem a bit misplaced.

Either way... the material looks great and they are well worth $25.

If you dont want to be seen in fakes perhaps you can take out the acrs with a seam ripper and just have a great quality pair of non-disrcipt jeans.

[cheapmuthafukr]

yeah... i wonder why the people making these fakes dont just come up with thier own clever name and brand the jeans that way.... theyd make a killing off of this site alone

simplicity we use to survive, do what you doing properly, thats the way thru life

[Landy]

well i find the word 'fake' to be debatable when clothing items like this most likely come from the same factories the 'real' stuff comes from. it's no big secret that many large clothing retailers have moved production overseas in order to lower production costs. in hong kong and china, you can often find goods in shops that are priced slightly above production cost. i've seen diesel, seven, true religion jeans, etc all go for about $30-35 USD in HK and they're about $10 cheaper in china. when i was in shenzen, i also bought a pair of the studded g-star jeans for $15 USD and i'm a 110% that they are real. there's stores upon stores in HK and china with stock ranging from rock & republic to levis itself. although i'm not entirely sure where their stock comes from... whether they're excess product made for extra side profit or simply factory rejects. i think it's a little bit of both. most bootlegs you see like nike shoes are simply excess product (made with materials of lesser quality in order to maximize profit)... hence bootlegs being of a lesser quality.

when it comes to these levis in particular, i'm pretty sure they originated from the same factories as 'real' levis jeans are made. sure the belt loops are off and the coin pocket is a bit high, but i'm not a complete newb with denim and the quality is all there from the cone denim material to the double redline selvedge. so for $25, i'm not complaining. i love my mutant frankenstein jeans .

[cheapmuthafukr]

well... they might be quality, but levis has never made jeans like that. and never had selvage that looks like that.

simplicity we use to survive, do what you doing properly, thats the way thru life

[Paul T]

Cool they may be, but they're not from a Levi's factory. I think they're cooler jeans if you don't pretend they're levi's or any close relation - after all how many people here were into the Uniqlo selvage jeans for $25?

And count yourself lucky, I checked out Urban Outiftters for the THIRD time yeasterday and found them STILL SELLING THAI FAKES FOR THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS! And yeah, I like your jeans better. THat weird coin pocket is kinda of copied from the Leiv's Nevada jeans.

[vinz]

About the frankenstien clothes from Asia. Before Nike moved a lot of their production out of Korea. I had a buddy who's aunt worked at a Nike factory. She would take leftovers from various shoes and put them together and mail them off to him. He would get crosstrainers with tennis soles with a different tongue etc.

I don't know if Landy's jeans were made in a Levis factory but there are factories out there that put together frankenstien stuff and rebrand them or others just sell them in a grey market.

www.youngestincharge.com

[denimdestroyedmylife]

^^^ that's the inspiration of the adidas "all odd" line, yeah? next levi will be copying Frankenstein levis

Edited by denimdestroyedmylife on Apr 4, 2006 at 11:21 AM

[triniboy27]

Actually, the Adidas oddities line is just using different mismatched materials..the style of the shoe remains the same...ie, the sole, tongue, etc remains original.

[Phrost3]

Quote:

Cool they may be, but they're not from a Levi's factory. I think they're cooler jeans if you don't pretend they're levi's or any close relation - after all how many people here were into the Uniqlo selvage jeans for $25?

And count yourself lucky, I checked out Urban Outiftters for the THIRD time yeasterday and found them STILL SELLING THAI FAKES FOR THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS! And yeah, I like your jeans better. THat weird coin pocket is kinda of copied from the Leiv's Nevada jeans.

--- Original message by Paul T on Apr 4, 2006 10:18 AM

What Thai fakes are you talking about? A pair of Levi's?

[cheapmuthafukr]

search for it... been discussed many times... basicly really nice jeans but fake levis.

simplicity we use to survive, do what you doing properly, thats the way thru life

[__3xL]

And levis did make double line selvage - in their Lot 53 jean line ..

I have two pairs sitting here - one had one redline removed by me when it started unraveling .. This was a pair of jeans I just thought " felt good " and I have been washing them every 2 months or so for the past 4-5 years .. I pulled it out to the top ..

The other pair is still fairly new .. both redlines still exist in the selvage ..

They both were made in Mexico

[donkaiser]

they look like jap 1955 LVC. but a lot of things look supicious. and again for $25 who cares. For a big E, double redline (better than one), dark denim it's doesn't matter it's fake or not. even labor wise worth more than that.

[captain5640]

I am usually very opposed to "fake" items. Especially when it comes to shoes, because as was stated they use materials of lesser quality. With these jeans though,because they look to be a quality pair, I find myself thinking that I would probably purchase them and wear them. I would simpy remove any of the branding that identifies them as Levi's and call it a day.

[Lars]

well i find the word 'fake' to be debatable when clothing items like this most likely come from the same factories the 'real' stuff comes from. it's no big secret that many large clothing retailers have moved production overseas in order to lower production costs. in hong kong and china, you can often find goods in shops that are priced slightly above production cost. i've seen diesel, seven, true religion jeans, etc all go for about $30-35 USD in HK and they're about $10 cheaper in china. when i was in shenzen, i also bought a pair of the studded g-star jeans for $15 USD and i'm a 110% that they are real.

The notion that fakes are made in the same factory as the originals are a myth fabricated by people that want to appear as if they got the inside scoop on things rather than just being plain cheap. I'm sorry to say, but I'm 110% certain that your studded G-star is 110% fake.

[steven]

AHAHAHAHAH

LANDY

HF

i remember your avatar

[poly800rock]

yeah... i wonder why the people making these fakes dont just come up with thier own clever name and brand the jeans that way.... theyd make a killing off of this site alone

simplicity we use to survive, do what you doing properly, thats the way thru life

thats what justin jeans did in thailand.....they just renamed the fakes and put out adverts saying they were from NYC...which is horseshit....they sell the fake selvedge raw ones (levis) for like $5-10 depending on your bargining, and the same ones with justin labels for ~$50....a real difference..so just get the levis fake..its the same fucking thing

[hkboy1019]

hey landy, i have a few questions:

what brand of jeans have you seen in shenzhen?

how much do evisu jeans go up to?

do they let you try it on?

[Spacetrucker]

That is some funny ass fakes..... gees.