Thrifting

[Chicken]

i'm in the school of thought where if your jeans don't fit you they aren't really worth having them. they will be more fortunate owned by someone else who can wear them the way they were meant to be.

if i were you, i'd consider a trade or sell them at a good price so that you can buy something just as nice that actually fits you. i don't think you want to wait until you are four sizes larger, and hopefully that won't happen to you any time soon.

just my opinion.

[insomaniac]

very true. maybe i will do a waywt with this pair and see how much people would hate the fit

[Ralff]

okay i was taking pics of my new old orange tabs and i was thinking, we should compile some of the info floating about the forums properly. cultpop has a good collection of vintage levi's too, as do a good number of other people. and there's paul t and serge and ringring and etc.

what i'm thinking is when you post info up try as much as possible to back it with pictures to demonstrate what you're saying. for example i had no idea what CMF meant for awhile by the "batwing" and "inside tag", i thought i should've been looking for another tag or something along the outseam.

so to kick things off:

full length of my 505s

strange diagonal wear marks on left thigh http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7492/dscn4466a6fo.jpg

closeup of strange wear http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8545/dscn4461a5or.jpg

rear patch

closeup of bottom right corner (CMF mentioned that the letters had some significance)

Talon 42 zipper

closeup of rivet http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/2457/dscn4425a5du.jpg

inner tag (front)

inner tag (back) on this note, i read on the 501xx site that levi's classified their jeans by A, S and F - does this have anything to do with the A on the back tag?

if the pics are in the way let me know and i'll replace them with links

BTW, i use the term "vintage" very loosely. i'm not even sure how old this pair is, i picked up just the other day. anyone who could venture an educated guess please do so!

Edited by tweedlesinpink on Jun 10, 2006 at 01:31 PM

Edited by tweedlesinpink on Jun 10, 2006 at 01:45 PM

Are those selvage? I saw about 5 pairs of those same 505's with same exact tags yesterday at a thrift store, i passed on them because they weren't selvage, so i figured they diidn't have much value. lol Im a noob to this.

[theguppie]

Hi,

I'm new here, I'm a vintage clothing dealer who has handled a lot of vintage denim, as well as LVC over the years. I thought I knew my stuff, but it seems that there are some true denim experts on board here and I humbly ask for your assistance on a pair of Levis.

I have acquired a pair of what I believe are genuine levis 505 big E redlines from the late 50's-early 60's. They have no labels or tags, and do have the hidden rivets, the black tabs, gripper zipper and all the details that I've seen on other vintage Levis. The thing that is throwing me off is that the back of the metal waist button has a "K" stamped on it. I've never seen the K stamp. Has anyone encountered the K stamp and know what it indicates? I want to confirm that these are or aren't really, really good repros. I can post pics later if that would help!

Thanks in advance for any advice or assistance,

T. Gup

[hawkeye]

Like this?

This is from a pair of 502's that I have, which I believe are kids jeans, so my guess would be that K stands for Kids. Just a guess though, but I believe that womens Levis have letters on the back of the buttons as well.

More photos:

[theguppie]

Hey thanks for posting some pics.

Yeah, that's the same K...mine are definitely man sized and male cut though.

[Dogfarm]

Maybe they are for this kid?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saI4ff95TVc

[Bijan]

theguppie, Seems like zip fly Levi's with hidden rivets would 501Zxxs, or whatever the hell those are, can't remember at the moment. Didn't 505s appear in 1967? Hidden Rivets were gone by then. Can you post some pics?

[cowed77]

about someone's comments earlier abt the big Es being on only the front...

i've got a 201, leather patch, cinch back, 555 on the top button, hidden rivets... seems like they are worth quite a pretty penny.

any idea on an approx value? if sizes matter, i cant really remember wat the tagged size was, but i believe it was 34. stretched out a couple inches though i guess.

[theguppie]

Here are the jeans I was asking about...they have redline selvedge, black bar tab & hidden rivets.

[hawkeye]

theguppie, Seems like zip fly Levi's with hidden rivets would 501Zxxs, or whatever the hell those are, can't remember at the moment. Didn't 505s appear in 1967? Hidden Rivets were gone by then. Can you post some pics?

I think Bijan is right, though they could be 551ZXX's. Both have hidden rivets, I dont know how to tell the difference, it might just come down to the measurements or something like that. Really nice though, thanks for posting pictures. Here are some pics off some auctions on yahoo Japan of the two:

501ZXX

551ZXX (LVC)

[theeteetotaler]

The kicker for distinguishing between 501zxx and 551zxx is the top button fly. silver colored zinc button fly is the 501zxx and the copper colored more modern button fly is the 551zxx. also i believe 551zxx came out in the mid 50s so if you have a zipper with a jerky leather tag you definitely have a 501zxx. i had this same problem a few weeks ago when i found a pair of 501zxx and was trying to accurately date them, still having trouble since the red tab is worn mostly off...but its still partly there and appears to be single sided, which may make it late 40s. they are also entirely stitched with yellow and have athe off centered rear belt loop, if anyone has any idea about them, let me know i'll post some pics of the 31x31 badboys.

[blm14]

Found two pairs at housingworks today. Before I list them in the supermarket I wanted to find out a little more about them since I'm hardly a levis expert. Any help ID'ing these would be greatly appreciated...

The first pair is I think an LVC since it lists a website on the tags and all. They have hidden rivets (not pictured). These are tagged size 28x36 501s:

[blm14]

And this second pair is definitely vintage. No hidden rivets on these and it looks like the tags are kind of contradictory - it's not clear if these are 501s or 524s? Anyways CRAZY roping on this pair...

Anyways like I said - any help appreciated.

[mopar_jj]

The first pair is a pair of 1955 series 501 LVCs, some LVC experts on here can probably give the year. As for the second pair. These are a pair of Double stitch Redline 501s. These are the last in the line of vintage levis - Made between Mid 70s to Early 80s. They have 524 stamped on the top button

[the_ming]

thread necromancer here, i know.

my question is about thrifting in the midwest, especially smaller cities and towns... are these as picked over as the nyc/la stores?

i go to southern illinois every year to visit my grandmother, and am bored as hell in her one-horse town, so i was thinking that going thrifting might be a welcome distraction. even if i don't find anything that fits me i can sell/trade it. plus i'm pretty sure that NO ONE there cares at all about vintage clothing, as most people get their clothes at the farm supply store.

aside from vintage jeans, what else should i be looking for? pendelton shirts? particular brands of boots/shoes?

[salaami]

i go thrifting all the time. cheap old T-shirts with random bullshit on them are a must...i've noticed that stores in DC an NY are better than most of the stores here, cause people dress better there. but you all are some lucky fuckers, cause i always look to find a old pair of levis with selvage, but i never can.

[denimotaku]

Recently found these jeans in a vinnies store. they're not really vintage but they have some sweet evo going on

[Vampyrvargfesten]

yeah about thrift stores charging $$$ when they realize what they recieve...

i saw some marked up some 70s big e type 3 jackets at $60++ ...

but its a thrift store !

do those old mines still exist? i was reading about die-hard dudes actually breaking into ghost town mine locations and digging for buried denim treasure.... this would be the ultimate thrift

[Dead_Wizard]

thread necromancer here, i know.

my question is about thrifting in the midwest, especially smaller cities and towns... are these as picked over as the nyc/la stores?

aside from vintage jeans, what else should i be looking for? pendelton shirts? particular brands of boots/shoes?

I've been thrifting in the Southwest for about a year and you have just as much shit to pick through as you'd find in major cities, possibly more due to the shit ton of Walmart stuff that winds up. That said, I've had some awesome success in Colorado. Tons of old Woolrich, Pendleton, Nike, Northface, and Polo winter stuff. Smaller the town the better the odds you'll find a gem is my experience.

Other than jeans, I always check out the coats and flannels. Usually find one or two decent ones in a batch amidst the 9,999 Faded Glory flannels.

[Vampyrvargfesten]

I've been thrifting in the Southwest for about a year and you have just as much shit to pick through as you'd find in major cities, possibly more due to the shit ton of Walmart stuff that winds up. That said, I've had some awesome success in Colorado. Tons of old Woolrich, Pendleton, Nike, Northface, and Polo winter stuff. Smaller the town the better the odds you'll find a gem is my experience.

Other than jeans, I always check out the coats and flannels. Usually find one or two decent ones in a batch amidst the 9,999 Faded Glory flannels.

any town that doesn't have those bullshit "vintage clothing stores" or a Target/Walmart store are basically are gold mines...

i wanna go on a cross-country thrift tour now...

[aho]

Went thrifting today and found this exact pair...Small "e", black bartacks, red line, 524 stamp on button....but asking price was $49. Worth it? Pretty much how much they'd get for them on ebay so I guess someone has done their research...Still not sure if I want them for myself, but I also saw a bunch of 505's and 517's all with Talon 42 fly's on the cheap...Left them all however!

[cheapmuthafukr]

not worth it... if you wear any of the jp stuff youll hate em. OE denim, thats kinda fluffy and bland indigo color because of the sulfur top that washes out quicker than indigo would.

[baron von korff]

post pics of your sweetest thrift scores! i will as soon as i get my camera working again. selvage roebucks denim western shirt, selvage foremost denim jacket, filson coats, pea coats cool shoes "that look better with age" too....

[cheapmuthafukr]

dont feel like taking pics right now, but a good part of wht i wear on a day to day basis is thrifted.

[baron von korff]

dont feel like taking pics right now, but a good part of wht i wear on a day to day basis is thrifted.

ME TOO! haha well it used to be true. before i worked at RRL, i worked at a polo store, 90% of my "preppy shit" came from thrift. rep ties, oxfords, brooks bros...such an easy style to pull off completely from thrift stores.

[Headmut]

xpost from shoes that look better with age....

got these for $15 at VV a few weeks ago....vintage florsheim? the style is different than the model they offer now...maybe knockoffs? or just older? anyway, the creases were minimal when i got them...i need a shoe tree.

[thedoad]

I usually get great scores every now and again. The latest few were a really nice Woolrich heavy Longsleeve and a nice pendleton western shirt that I have sufficiently chunked up to not be able to wear. For now. But it was 2 bucks and in awesome condition. One really Pro repair on it only noticeable on the inside.

I actually got a really nice Jacket that was either Eddy bauer or some other mall chain, but Its really heavy cotton / poly and Pretty much the exact same cut / style as a barbour International. That was like 8$.

[aho]

Pictures of some randoms I found (and actually mentioned above in past posts)...Nothing really noteworthy but interesting fades nonetheless for pre-80's etc. Levi's...

I swear, all the Japanese have everything pre-70's! But the search goes on...

[dawei69]

cop those aho.... just wait 5-10 more years... you'll make BIG bux