Levi's Vintage Clothing

[sneakeraddict]

Firemandgy, do you just wear the LVC or do you wear other jeans as well?

[firemandgy]

I usually wear a pair of SSLE Nuide jeans.

LVC only for collection.

[sneakeraddict]

yes I also collect the LVCs.

I have sent you a private message.

[airfrogusmc]

Fire, I'd say from the booklet that my guess is those are from the fall 03 collection. I had a pair. I would recommend clipping the cross bar from the buckle because Levis has to put that on there because of federal safety regulations. They can't do the points like would have been on the originals. I'll post some photos later.

[firemandgy]

thank you airfrogusmc,but can you tell me which year that 33501 was first reproed?

[airfrogusmc]

I have a 555 pair from 2000 but I'm not sure if that was the first time they were offered.

[airfrogusmc]

Heres the buckle after the cross bar has been removed. This would be like an original buckle.

[firemandgy]

I found some interesting things,air and paul.

Will's natrual indigo let's call it 125 ,but I found two different 125s,one has an back pocket but the other has two backpockets.

here is the link...

http://tw.f3.page.bid.yahoo.com/tw/auction/c22309202?u=:kuans2great

http://tw.f4.page.bid.yahoo.com/tw/auction/d16345662?u=kuans2great

Oh,if somebody don't know Chinese, I can translate for you.

[Charlie Delta]

Ha, first post. (spend the last couple of weeks on here reading through as much of the archive and the encyclopedia as possible)

Actually wanted to post this here to see if anyone could give me some more info on my new jeans but now I see that Paul already answered some of them. But more info is welcome.

I always thought they were the Calico mine one's but the paper tag reads "First Blue jean"

I guess that should be 1st 501 then?

Let's see if I manage to make an image appear?

[Charlie Delta]

Oop, sorry maybe a bit big? Detail pics anyone?

[Paul T]

Yup, youre are the same jeans, but the synthetic indigo version.

These jeans, and airfrog's, both of which are very nice, seem both to be guesses at what a 1885/1886 501 would look like. The guesswork, I believe, comes in when you discuss at what point the patch moved from the middle of the jeans to the side. Your jeans have the old-style, pre-1886 patch at the side. Airfrog's have the newer, post 1886 patch in the middle, I think (together with ealrier, pre-501 features such as the high watch pocket and different stitching details). Neither is identical to the Nevada mine jeans, which has the early patch, in the middle.

As far as I know, the best ealry jeans Levi's have in their collection are the Nevada Mine jeans (circa 1880) and the Calico Mine (circa 1990). The Calico Mine jeans are much like yours, but with a two-horse patch.

I bought those jeasn in the natural indigo at the time, and it bugged me back then they couldn't make them identical to the ltd edtion Nevada Jeans, but in a deadstock version. Now they've just produced a replica of the version named after you (the cotton duck levi's, essentiallty identical to the Nevada Mine jeans but in rust coloured cotton duck), so peryhaps that's an indication a denim version is on the way.

Edit: perhaps they shoudl have called yours 'second blue jean'. LEvis' started using the lot number 501 around 1890. And welcome, by the way, specially with those nice jeans!

[firemandgy]

Pual T,Could you post some Nevada or Calico detail pics here?

thank you!

[Charlie Delta]

Thanks alot, bummer to hear that these are the synthetic indigo ones.

Your jeans have the old-style, pre-1886 patch at the side. Airfrog's have the newer, post 1886 patch in the middle

Just to be sure, are you saying here that they originally had the patch on the side, then moved it to the middle for a decade or so and then moved it back to the right?

And the hangtag that came with these says 1873, so I guess that, together with the "1st blue jean" thing is just Levi's trying to trick people into believing some stuff they made up?

I saw the cotton duck one's a little while ago and liked them alot but I read somewhere on here that the quality is poor. I'd really like to own some cotton duck replica's though (what's in a name). Do you know of anyone else who's done them apart from Warehouse.

[Paul T]

Pual T,Could you post some Nevada or Calico detail pics here?

thank you!

There's a photo of the original Nevadas (plus a replica owned by the T family) on this thread...

http://www.superfuture.com/city/supertalk/showthread.php?t=9515&highlight=nevada+jeans

Plus, the replicas were linked earlier in this thread. As the price seems to deomonstrate, these are some of LVC's best-ever repros...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Levis-Nevada-circa-1880-VERY-rare-ltd-edition-LVC_W0QQitemZ260023486222QQihZ016QQcategoryZ91236QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sorry Cotton Duck, only just seen your later question.

The patch was originally in the middle, as on the Nevada Mine jeans, the earliest known (and the cotton duck). By 1990 it switched to the right hand side, and stayed there. Around 1886, the original patch switched to the 2-horse patch. But, I'm guessing, Levi's aren'ty certain whether the patch changed position before or after it changed design. Hope that makes sense.

Yes, your jeans are syntetic indigo, but I bet you get better wear on them than I did on my natural indigo ones! I'm guessing yours are 555, from 2001 or so.

I saw the last cotton duck, which came out at around the same time as the Nevada replica. Quiality back then looked great, exactly as per the originals. I haven't seen the new ones, which I believe are Europe only, yet, but there's no particular reason why there should be a quality problem. When I see a pair, I'll report in...

Oh, and that '1873' claim is hype, 1873 jeans (if they were produced in quantity, no one knows) would PROBABLY have looked like the Nevada Jeans, which are estijmated to date to 1880 and are the earliest Levi's found so far. I remember being disappointed at the time that the reissues, like yours and the natural indigo version, didn't have all the detailing from the Nevada Mine jeans...

[Charlie Delta]

555 refers to the number on the back of the buttons and on the inside label, right?

Mine says 822, hmmm? What does this tell me?

[firemandgy]

hi Cotton Duck.You must bought that pair on ebay, right?

I saw this one on ebay bid twice,but I did not join it because 822 was strange,I asked Paul T and airfrog for help,but both of them never heared of 822.

One thing is certain that 822 not means made in Valencia.

[Paul T]

555 refers to the number on the back of the buttons and on the inside label, right?

Mine says 822, hmmm? What does this tell me?

822 will almost certainly be another Levi's factory. At the time those jeans were produced, LEvi's had a lot of manufacturing facilities across the US - most of the LVC was produced at Valencia St, but not all. Check the tag to make sure they were made in the US (a few, I believe later, LVC were made in Italy) and don't worry about it, those jeans definitely come from the period when LVC was at pretty much its best quality.

[firemandgy]

Maybe I thought Levi's company should publish some authority magazines about Levis Vintage Clothing,and also uncover the code list to LVC fans.

[Charlie Delta]

No, no ebay, got them at a local shop that still has some LVC and Levi's Red old stock lying around among other things. They used to get old collection left-over's straight from Levi's. The tag says made in the USA though.

No natural indigo and not Valencia St. oh well I guess you can't have it all.

Glad to hear that they're still supposed to be good quality, they sure feel nice!

Oh and Paul, thanks for being so helpfull!

[sneakeraddict]

hey Cotton Duck could check if your local shop has any 36 x 40 or 38 x 40 in ANY of the raw LVC models....?

I'm desperately looking for these sizes that levis dont make anymore in the repros

I also have the 1890 like the pics, Valencia made, unfortunately a bit too tight on the waist for me, so never think to wear them..

[Charlie Delta]

^^^^^^^^^ Send you a pm.

[airfrogusmc]

From what the levis booklet that came with my 1886s they claim those to be the first 501 and the twio horse patch first appeared in 1886 on the 501s

[firemandgy]

hi Will, I got a message from China post office that my package has already arrived.

Maybe tomorrow I could get your LVC.thanks

[Paul T]

From what the levis booklet that came with my 1886s they claim those to be the first 501 and the twio horse patch first appeared in 1886 on the 501s

LVC seem to be vague about details when it suits them. Allen's jeans have pre-501 detailing (notably the stitching etc). Why they didn't use the early leather patch, which we know appeared on the early jeans, on your pair I don't know, as otherwise they have all the features of the 1880 pair. Equally, why they didn't use the early detailing on Will's pair, with the early label, is open to question... as I hope I've made plain, they seem to be making different guesses at what an 1885-ish jean looks like...

[airfrogusmc]

Paul thanks for your imput. Seems like there is some guessing going on. I'm going to take some more photos next week. I want to document the break in process with a monthly comparison. I've been wearing them almost everyday since they were new. No soak and I won't until 6 months.

[valastexile]

I know you got a lot of these, but I just want to complement airfrogusmc on his beautiful collection of LVC's...especially the 1920 201's...one word "WOW"

[Will]

LVC seem to be vague about details when it suits them....

It's really frustrating. They seem to be able to spend the time and effort to package a pair of jeans in a tin and charge £295 for them, yet miss basic details that even the untrained eye can pick up on.

They should take a leaf out of Levi's Japan's book and establish a basic range that doesn't vary from season to season, that way there would be none of the inconsistencies in fit and finish from season to season. The purists would be happy and LVC could release limited edition pre-distressed versions for the fashion market to their heart's content.

[Paul T]

It's really frustrating. They seem to be able to spend the time and effort to package a pair of jeans in a tin and charge £295 for them, yet miss basic details that even the untrained eye can pick up on.

They should take a leaf out of Levi's Japan's book and establish a basic range that doesn't vary from season to season, that way there would be none of the inconsistencies in fit and finish from season to season. The purists would be happy and LVC could release limited edition pre-distressed versions for the fashion market to their heart's content.

Levi's Japan do it too, at least they had jeans identical to Cotton Duck's in their range, as a so-called '1873 jean'.

The big question is where reasonable extrapolation from the known facts becomes fiction. It wouldn't necessarily matter, but for the fact that your old jeans, and Airfrog's, cannot both have existed, ie they're making incompatible guesses over different years.

I like Airfrog's jeans, have just bought some similar SCs, but it annoys me that they arbitrarily mess around with features. IE they keep the unusual construction/stitching on the back pocket and yoke, and the early rivets of the Nevada jeans. But then they get rid of the pliers pocket and change the patch and claim it's an '1886 jean.' I think that is a fiction. I believe Allen's jean was US-only. But equally, in the UK/Europe recently, they produced items for which there was no historical precedent. This, combined with production errors such as the wrong pockets on the recent 201 replicas, makes their range unnecessarily confusing.

I totally understand why they change the range year by year (although having a hard-core of the classics that remain in the range would make a lot of sense). But not producing an accurate 1880 replica for five years, while producing a bunch of inaccurate models derived from it, seems bizarre to me. This fall's range does look more impressive than recent ones, though, and I continue to believe that when they get it right, LVC do produce excellent jeans, so I hope there'll be some good stuff coming up...

[airfrogusmc]

Paul a question; is it because Levis doesn't have any hard evidence of the actual design of these years just a rough idea of the way they were? The earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed allot of their records and I guess the only way to know for sure is when the come across a pair of originals which are probably few and far between. Paul I just want to throw out a personal THANK YOU for sharing your denim knowledge with us.

[airfrogusmc]

I know you got a lot of these, but I just want to complement airfrogusmc on his beautiful collection of LVC's...especially the 1920 201's...one word "WOW"

Thank you...

Yeah my 20 201s are some of my favorites.