Levi's Vintage Clothing

[the_serkis]

Semi-intresting read about a vintage levi hunter who discovered the "Nevada's"

http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200901/brit-eaton-hunting-for-vintage-denim-1.html

[Dr_Heech]

Semi-intresting read about a vintage levi hunter who discovered the "Nevada's"

http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200901/brit-eaton-hunting-for-vintage-denim-1.html

I'd say VERY interesting. This guy has a unique and very envious job. Makes my 'denim hunting' days from the 80's/ 90's seem paler than white in comparison to this dude.

(Although can certainly empathise with 'sweaty hands' before entering a thrift store!)

Many thanks Serkis ..+Repped

.

[airfrogusmc]

Yikes! Please don't do that. Soak them twice and figure out a way to stretch that waist if you have to.

I agree Airfrog.

12oz is 12oz Oak denim. Cone Mills has a deserved reputation. So does Levis. Why would LVC suddenly revise sizing or denim on their true repro. Their reputation could be destroyed easily.

We shouldn't under-estimate these forums and their memory. LVC has been working hard this year on all the bricks-and-mortar shops to sell LVC, and they know it's a denim-purist market. Tough audience.

A friend of mine was highly courted here in Philly by LVC to carry them. They know their market well Web/blog hype would destroy them if they suddenly changed the Coke formula.

Well the sizing on the 47s has always been to trim less boxy as compared to originals and still seams to be. The 55s and 44s are real close to the proportion of originals from the era. I think Paul is the one that has said LVC and Cone have been working really hard lately to get the denim right.

[crownzip]

Hey Allen, For what it's worth I noticed the red tags on my LVC Japan denim do not have the circle R. Guess the Japanese are more on top of it than west.

Yeah I know. Don't know why they do that either especially when they went through the trouble of taking circle R but they tags are still better than before.

[airfrogusmc]

Hey Allen, For what it's worth I noticed the red tags on my LVC Japan denim do not have the circle R. Guess the Japanese are more on top of it than west.

Grant like whats been said here many times with some things yes and not with others.

One big thing for me is LVC Japan doen't make there stuff big enough. I think Paul said they're all going to be made in the same place moving forward. The raw stuff in the US and the other stuff pre-age or finishes will be made europe.

[cheapmuthafukr]

had an exciting day at the thrift store today... picked up some levis selvage jeans.... no back patch, only the circle r on the back tab, 4 button fly with 50s style buttons, redline selvage, inside tag that has 00504-0303, blank back of top button, and made in the usa. no hidden rivets, with vintage style bartacks, and 66ish arcuates. no v-stitch. my camera has no batteries right now... but they are the same as the jeans on this guys blog page

http://erelicadenim.blogspot.com/2009/01/for-sale-levis-504-tab-selvedge.html

i got them for 3$!!!!! and they fit perfectly, in a kind of generic 50s cut. waist seems about 2" oversize, since im really a 32 now and they are tagged 30, and the length seems longer than the tagges 34. really cool jeans, and cant beat the price. ill get some pics in the next couple days.

are these some pre-lvc models, or just a generic non lvc selvage jean from levis?

[chris_n]

man, thrift stores outside of california seem great.

[the_ming]

man, thrift stores outside of california seem great.

you're telling me. nyc thrift stores are picked over and employees are taught to look for the good stuff. when i was visiting my grandmother in the middle of nowhere the one thing i was hoping to be able to do was get some cool stuff at the thrift stores. no luck at all.

cheap seems to have some real skill at this, and know where to go.

[cheapmuthafukr]

i just live in a place where they cant tell good from bad in the thrifts. the good stuff is usually cheapr thn the bad. these were priced less than some washed out made in mexico 560s.

[fashunhor]

Hey guys. I got a pair of 36 inseam 1947s because I wanted some length to play with. But now I am thinking that it might be time to hem them a bit. I have only done an initial hot soak. How much more shrinkage in the inseam can I expect with subsequent washes?

[airfrogusmc]

Hey guys. I got a pair of 36 inseam 1947s because I wanted some length to play with. But now I am thinking that it might be time to hem them a bit. I have only done an initial hot soak. How much more shrinkage in the inseam can I expect with subsequent washes?

I would go by what Levis says especially when it comes to length. 10 wet to dry cycles or you could be sorry and wind up with flood jeans or capris. Not a good look on guys.

[chris_n]

haha, what airfrog said. it is safe to bet that you will get at least ~3" total.

[the_serkis]

I'd say VERY interesting. This guy has a unique and very envious job. Makes my 'denim hunting' days from the 80's/ 90's seem paler than white in comparison to this dude.

(Although can certainly empathise with 'sweaty hands' before entering a thrift store!)

Many thanks Serkis ..+Repped

.

I enjoyed it too, check this out................pretty sweet 5 min video abt his denim hunt.

http://current.com/entertainment/wtf/89604893_vintage-carpe-denim.htm

[rufio]

^Yeah, great article.

And Dr Heech, I hear ya on the thrift store anticipation. It gets to be like a drug and you need bigger and bigger hits. I know this one record collector who is banned from all Goodwills in Washington State for hanging around the donation area and taking stuff.

[M1stral]

First of all, sorry for the picture heavy post...

I got my 1947 501's yesterday from cultizm.com.

The usual stuff, a pair of jeans some cards, tag and the leather patch. But I don't know if the next thing is part of all LVC garments/jeans... But I found a letter in the backpocket, mentioning some things like denim characteristics.

And offcourse, the pre-soak fit pics... Let me know what y'all think.

[mlyngard]

Heheh...can they possibly put more tags and labels on them?

Holy crap Mistral, those are going to look great. Big difference from the Somet

Just soaked '47 501 (thanks Chris N!). 31w 34. I'm usually a 31, so can see why it's recommended size-1-up on these. But I got the waist damp-stretched after second soak back to 31, and I think it was a good sizing call. Fit is crazy-good. I think I'll need to wear these a few weeks and re-soak or wash, even with two initial soaks, to get that last bit of shrink. They still have a 32.25" inseam.

edit: 31w, tts, 5-8, 150lbs.

[roy6]

mlyngard- the '47s look perfect.

[chris_n]

matt, best fit on 47 i've seen in a while.

if you want to get full shrinkage definitely throw it in a hot hot wash and let it agitate --skip the spin cycle.

[M1stral]

I soaked mine today... Inside out, totally saturated with water. Still hanging to dry, can't wait to put them on.

By the way mlyngard, why did you go for a 34" inseam? It will probably shrink some more, don't you mind if you can't cuff?

Maybe I'm a bit taller than you, my inseam is at about 34" after soak.

I'm wondering how the fit will turn out if when they are dry. We'll see.

[ChuckO]

matt, best fit on 47 i've seen in a while.

if you want to get full shrinkage definitely throw it in a hot hot wash and let it agitate --skip the spin cycle.

Why skip the spin cycle? Does it cause weird anomalies in the denim?

[jstavrin]

Why skip the spin cycle? Does it cause weird anomalies in the denim?

Sorta. I've notice that it sometimes remove little bits of indigo in weird places, but it isn't a big deal.

[ChuckO]

I've had good luck washing in a machine but I have a front loader so maybe that's gentler. Now drying that caused the weird, little, vertical "fades" that suck.

They come out of the front loaders pretty dry also so it isn't too bad to put 'em on wet and reset the creases.

[dr.house]

Sorta. I've notice that it sometimes remove little bits of indigo in weird places, but it isn't a big deal.

I'm always wondering why spin cycling is a problem. I skip it too most times, just to be on the safe side. My machine allows different spin cycle speeds, meanwhile I'm sure that slower speeds won't do anything bad. And btw, what's so bad about some vertical creases? Isn't it part of the progress? Wabisabi for the win...:-)

Other way (if you prefer a real gentle drying of your denim) is to take them out of the machine wet and roll 'em in a big towel, squeeze the water out and leave them hang drying.

[chris_n]

for me, spin cycle has left irremovable creases (which made a line fade all the way down the pant leg)

kind of annoying and made them look like a pair of adidas track pants. luckily they were STFs. i love stfs, and luckily they are cheaply replaced.

[M1stral]

Well, they were dry this morning... So here's the fit after a 30 minute hot soak. Probably didn't get all the shrinkage out, but I'm happy with the fit.

Comments, suggestions all welcome.

[Sympathy-For-The-Denim]

they do look quite nice, maybe a touch darker than the old lvc 47s had been...

[mlyngard]

By the way mlyngard, why did you go for a 34" inseam? It will probably shrink some more, don't you mind if you can't cuff?

Maybe I'm a bit taller than you, my inseam is at about 34" after soak.

I'm wondering how the fit will turn out if when they are dry. We'll see.

31L after full shrink is the shortest I can go, and closer to an ideal inseam length for me on repros. Less stacking.

Sorta. I've notice that it sometimes remove little bits of indigo in weird places, but it isn't a big deal.

Agreed - if I machine wash I use a 'woolen' or 'delicate' cycle - longer soak, less agitation. I've had my Skulls and BSP come out of a regular cycle with streaks and denim loss in strange abrasion areas. Washed inside out too, but that may have made the problem worse.

Chris - I get that crease down the leg too, worse if I dryer dry them. It must be from the factory folding or pressing. Def. annoying. I iron that out for that reason.

Well, they were dry this morning... So here's the fit after a 30 minute hot soak. Probably didn't get all the shrinkage out, but I'm happy with the fit.

Comments, suggestions all welcome.

Awesome! Nice fit Mistral. Try another soak in a week. What inseam did you get on those?

[M1stral]

@ mlyngard

They are a size 32 waist and 36 inseam.

[setterman]

Well, they were dry this morning... So here's the fit after a 30 minute hot soak. Probably didn't get all the shrinkage out, but I'm happy with the fit.

Comments, suggestions all welcome.

Look good, though if it were me I'd cuff 'em a little higher so they aren't so baggy at the knees.

I know everyone says LVC keeps shrinking for up to ten washes. My experience is that that first wash or soak gets most if not all of the shrinkage out of the way. I had a pair of 55s from a couple years ago that were too big and I kept hot washing and drying them hoping they'd shrink more. They never really did so I gave them away to a friend.

[airfrogusmc]

Look good, though if it were me I'd cuff 'em a little higher so they aren't so baggy at the knees.

I know everyone says LVC keeps shrinking for up to ten washes. My experience is that that first wash or soak gets most if not all of the shrinkage out of the way. I had a pair of 55s from a couple years ago that were too big and I kept hot washing and drying them hoping they'd shrink more. They never really did so I gave them away to a friend.

The length is what really keeps coming down in my experience because theres nothing to stretch them back. I wouldn't alter the length until 10 wet to drys.