Levi's Vintage Clothing

[devilish]

33 x 34 with a cold soak.

[attackwithstones]

Roy6, would you say that you love the quality and details of the Workman Shirt? I'm about to buy one and wanted to ask you before hand as I haven't seen it in person yet.

[Stratos]

O right, I see, thanks, that does actually sound like something one'd put on a whish list :-)

[colgems1966]

regarding the 53.... what attack said is correct, but there are also some subtle differences on originals. the early 50's had slightly different details with regard to pocket shapes and arcs as well as the leather patch. sort of a hybrid between a 47 & 55. fifties cut while retaining some 40's era details. Levis Japan made these though they are scarce, but i think they would be a very popular model if released and would fill a gap for people who liked the 47's features but wanted more of an anti-fit.

[Stratos]

regarding the 53.... what attack said is correct, but there are also some subtle differences on originals. the early 50's had slightly different details with regard to pocket shapes and arcs as well as the leather patch. sort of a hybrid between a 47 & 55. fifties cut while retaining some 40's era details.

I actually like that idea, I love the look of the '47's but the '55's fit me better. Having a 55 with leather patch and '40's details seems very attractive idd.

[roy6]

Roy6, would you say that you love the quality and details of the Workman Shirt? I'm about to buy one and wanted to ask you before hand as I haven't seen it in person yet.

Yes & yes.

[attackwithstones]

Thanks Roy6! I searched back through this thread to find your fit pics yesterday, but I didn't come across your close up detail shots. Now that I see those and you do in fact like the quality I'm def. picking it up. I love the fabric close up, it looks like a great texture and the indigo stripes are awesome.

I would like to say that I am VERY interested in someone posting up details of a 53' 501 now. I guess I never knew the arcs were different.

[devilish]

I have that shirt also and it's definitely worth getting. It's the nicest shirt I've seen from LVC in awhile. Much nicer than the 2 pocket indigo Sunset I picked up from Gilt.

[colgems1966]

Thanks Roy6! I searched back through this thread to find your fit pics yesterday, but I didn't come across your close up detail shots. Now that I see those and you do in fact like the quality I'm def. picking it up. I love the fabric close up, it looks like a great texture and the indigo stripes are awesome.

I would like to say that I am VERY interested in someone posting up details of a 53' 501 now. I guess I never knew the arcs were different.

i'm not sure the arcs were different on the repro but on originals they are more asymetrical like 40's arcs are.

[kit99bar]

makes sense. cuffing a tapered leg will roll the taper up, causing a fold in the leg.

In my experience tapered jeans cuff better than the wider legged ones. There's probably a law of physics governing this, but when a hem is cuffed back against a leg that is wider than itself, it seems to hold neatly whereas cuffing wider hems against straight legs can sometimes appear slightly sloppy; it's easier for a straight/wider cuff to lose adhesion and fall out.

Hope that makes a little sense and doesn't seem like utter b*shit!

[Guest rusholmeruffian]

those pantaloons look the fucking business on you devilish

[Guest rusholmeruffian]

Thanks for the reply Roy, I am a bit wary of buying LVC from Turkey.

I know that Turkish manufacture is excellent in some places but it also is the cheapest place in Europe to get clothes made.

That coat looks awesome though, perfect for the pantaloons.

I love the stripey shirt, the curved placket is ace, why haven't they produced that I wonder ? I imagine a curved placket is a bit expensive to do, only ever see it on premium Japanese brands. It looks so good you'd have thought it would have been copied a bit more.

[Paul T]

Re 53 vs 55. Altho the Japanese version had subtly similar arcs, slightly more pointed, you can't really say that's how the originals were, because arcuates were produced on wooden tooling that became worn and the shape probably varied from one pair to another. THe main difference was in the rivets, which changed to a slightly more rounded copper backing (inside the jeans), which the Japanese version replicated. I guess the Japanese shape was identical to the 55.

Roy6, that shirt does indeed look fab.

[beautiful_FrEaK]

some pics of the bespoke pair. there was a pair available on eBay one year ago.

fit:

[Paul T]

Thanks for posting... very interesting. The pair from 2001 looked pretty different to these, especially the pockets. Hard to say from those photos, but that pair doesn't look like a 55 cut.

You can see how th einterior of the rivets is a flat disk with distinct edges - the 55 are much more rounded - it's a good way of dating the originals.

The pocket shape, looking at pics of quite a few early 50s pairs I've seen, look really exaggerated, in terms of the curved stitching around the rivets. This was characteristic of early 40s jeans, but many Japanese manufacturers seem to exaggerate this. I'd say the arcuate are too symmetrical too - lots of early 50s pairs have quite swooping, generous, assymetrical arcuates.

And yes, the selvage looks strange, no idea why, I don't recall seeing this on originals.

[beautiful_FrEaK]

those seems to be from 2009. and for 21,000 Yen quite a bargain.

any reason why the selvage line looks so different? hardly any red visible

[ThomasK]

I think that 53 501 on eBay also had more of the greenish 'lemon' stitching like a 47 model, right? I definitely prefer that over the pale yellow on 55s

[entertainment!]

Photos of my LVCJP 1953s. The denim is much closer to the US made 47s than the 55s. The fit is somewhere in between. The denim has a distinct red cast. These are one of my favorite pairs.

I love the asymmetrical crossover on the double needle arcs and the stitchover at the concealed rivets.

[entertainment!]

I went by the Levi's NYC store in the Meatpacking district hoping to see the stripey shirt. The only LVC they had were the raw models (which was good) and some t-shirts. Pretty disappointing. A salesperson told me they might be carrying the "fashion" line in the near future.

[not too tight]

I went to Stock Vintage a few weeks ago and she had a few pairs of Levi's from the 50's that she let me look at. The selvege color was not red but that lighter pinkish color. I thought this was strange myself but these were smaller in size and only had a 3 button fly so I thought maybe they were kids jeans.

[zissou]

1878 Pantaloons. Best I could do with self timer. I think I like the way they fit but I'm definitely going to put suspenders on them just to keep the waist up more.

Thanks for the photos! Those look much better sized properly, rather than oversized. I really like the rivets on them as well...

[Rob]

And yes, the selvage looks strange, no idea why, I don't recall seeing this on originals.

Its a selvage that LVC have used before. These are the wife's 1947 from 1999

[colgems1966]

that selvage pops up on japanese models. my 1966 LVC/japan appears to use the exact same denim/selvage line etc.. as was used on the 1953. BTW anyone have any pics of the japanese 1971 501? that's a desirable and elusive model also.

[ThisSunday]

I haven't worn these as much as I'd like

LVC 33

[lawlercon]

i just picked up a pair of 1966 501s - did a little write up & took some photos of them over at simplethreads

i went tts (34x34) and they were tight in the waist at first but already they've given a bit.

[aho]

Shout outs to my man in Union Square Levi's....I stopped by and am sold on 55's, not sure why I still haven't bought a pair, but definitely my next to buy! Also got to tour Levi's HQ and saw all the samples, swatches, etc. but unfortunately no access to the vault...An acquaintance designs men's and I had the privilege of getting a behind the scenes tour...

[marineabilly]

Here's some pictures of the 1878s. I soaked them two days ago and wore them to dry, then wore them to work today to loosen them up a little.

They acted pretty much like a typical pre-Cone LVC during the soak- they shrank hardly at all, bled more indigo than Cone models, and the buckle bent and almost broke the first time I fastened it.

Finally...a true fit pic. Other online pics are so detracting. This makes me want to buy a pair. Thanks for posting! Must Spread.

[ThomasK]

One thing I wanted to ask for a long time: Some of us even have 5 or more pairs of LVC or other raw denim in the wings. How do you store them? Just put them i the closet? Do you protect them from say moths?

I actually have most of my unworn jeans in kind of a bag that looks like this :

http://static12.moebel-profi.de/media/catalog/product/w/e/wenko-wenko-unterbettkommode--liberta-verschiedene-sets-m-wk-sbe-0453-1.jpg

It might be totally overdone.....i know. B

[flatpattern]

thanks for posting fit pics of those 1878, been wanting to see those actually on someone. this is a very interesting fit that I haven't seen before. i like the fitted legs and the way it fits in the seat. i agree it will be interesting to see how they wear in the seat and knees with the double layers. hmmm jealous.

[Happy Hooligan]

My son just discovered the joy of vintage jeans and I'm teaching him about what to look for. Since he's still growing, I didn't want to get the expensive versions for him, so I just ordered Levi's 201 in selvedge. He's thrilled they're coming. Levi's is having a sale on these at the moment, but only smaller sizes which worked out well for him.

But if you call customer service, be warned you'll get the most un-interested girl to answer the phone. To the point I thought she would bore herself to death...