1933 501s

[airfrogusmc]

I have been e-mailing Lynn Downey the historian at Levis and asking her some questions about LVCs. I know that I had read somewhere here that the original 33 501s were made from 12 oz denim. Lynn said that is not true. The original 33s were made from 10 oz. They have some in their collection and they are definately 10 oz.

[sneakeraddict]

can I ask what your connection to Levis is?

[airfrogusmc]

Customer only. There has been some talk about what weight the 1933 originals were (Paul T) so I thought I'd e-mail the historian listed on the Levi Strauss site and to my surprise I got a very friendly answer.

Seems they (Levis) list their new pre destressed 1933s are 13 oz which is not accurate according to Lynn. The older 10 oz ones are acurate.

[sneakeraddict]

Oh... I see.

To be fair, they probably have to make the pre-distressed versions out of an extra heavy denim, otherwise when the customer buys them, they would literally be at the end of their lifespan.

I love the repro styles, but personally Im not so particular on details like weight etc. I actually wish they would go further and sanforize ALL the repro styles. I know its of course accurate to have repros that shrink "as with all vintage garments shrinkage may vary".... But in my opinion, "the genie's out the bottle" and I really dont find any fun in the 'lottery' approach to shrinkage, especially when you are paying big bucks.

Please pass that on to Lynn and let me know what she says!!!

[airfrogusmc]

And then you have folks like me that want the accuracy in LVC. I own 10 or 12 pairs of LVCs and all were raw when new with the exception of a one soak pair of 33 555 501s I just bought. I haven't had any trouble with fit because I did a little reseach first. Asked other friends that have LVCs and searched the internet.

You can tell her yourself. I'll even give ya the website with her e-mail address on it.

http://www.levistrauss.com/Heritage/OurArchives.aspx

I personally like the STF LVCs. I search out raw. I've learned to soak only and do it sparingly. I tend to like the ealier 555 stuff and the repros of the earlier Levis. 1920s and 30s. My favorites right now though are from last year 1886 501s the first 501. Awesome green line denim.

Some photos of the collection.

1933 555 501s

1886 501

I donno about the 10 oz stuff not being tough. The stuff on both my 1933s is tougher than the 12 oz stuff on my 47s. Some of the 10 oz denim is tough as nails...