Retired / Lost loves...

[holio cornolio]

To be a credible thread, this really ought to come with pictures, but I was young and stupid, and if you read on, you may be grateful. I was thinking about great jeans that I've owned, and only 1 pair really comes to mind now that I really wish I still had..... I was 16, it was 1991 and they were bog standard Levi 501s of the day. As I recall, the left leg seam twisted to the front, which I thought was a manufacturing defect - (and probably was - I can't imagine they were stf). Anyhow, I wore the shit out of them and eventually they were almost white. Holes everywhere, knees, crotch, thighs, but they were proper holes, not manufactured ones (1). Then one day, I decided to dye them.... purple. I thought I was the bees bollocks in those bad boys, but it gets better... then I patched a knee hole with a smiley face patch. This was even before that Nirvana t shirt was even a thing (I think). Anyhow, I must've worn them for another year or so before my girlfriend (now my wife) managed to throw them out. But I REALLY wish I still had them....

Which retired jeans do you miss the most? Pics would be great, but words can fashion vivid images too.

[exaptavist]

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Edited October 9, 2015 by hoggreaser

[aho]

I'll have to post pics at a later date, but my retired love would have to goto my contest Ooe's, which still have so much life left in them, however, have disintegrated at the yoke due to improper sizing and a high amount of shrinkage on the #91 fabric. The contest itself was great to be a part of, but the jeans in and of themselves were ungodly comfortable, like wearing denim sweatpants, and they're just starting to get to where I want them to be fade wise. Some day, I'd like to drop them off at Ooe or somewhere romantic to be repaired, however I've grown two waist sizes since then and will likely never fit into them again!

[splash pitman]

^ could be the motivation you need to get into shape .

[holio cornolio]

I'll have to post pics at a later date, but my retired love would have to goto my contest Ooe's, which still have so much life left in them, however, have disintegrated at the yoke due to improper sizing and a high amount of shrinkage on the #91 fabric. The contest itself was great to be a part of, but the jeans in and of themselves were ungodly comfortable, like wearing denim sweatpants, and they're just starting to get to where I want them to be fade wise. Some day, I'd like to drop them off at Ooe or somewhere romantic to be repaired, however I've grown two waist sizes since then and will likely never fit into them again!

never say never. Look forward to those pics!

[KrisB]

Levis 501 STF were my intro to raw denim. I wore these for about 4 months before I copped my Iron Heart 634 XHS using a 2 year's worth of coins that i had in my piggy bank waiting to be spent. 

 

Although i only wore these for one summer i made many memories in them that cant be taken from me. Every time i look at them it brings me back to that period of time when i was in high school. The cool thing about denim is it's a tangible memory that grows with the wearer. I can still fit into them, and it's always a trip because i feel like I've grown as a person since i was actively wearing them. Now they just serve as working jeans when I'm projecting in the workshop or working in the garden, but recently they were thrown on which produced those gnarly mud tracks.

 

Anyways, the story behind the mud:

One rainy day i came home from a stressful day at school to the sounds of my dogs whimpering in the backyard. I check the backyard but he was no where to be found. So i go back inside and he starts barking, and i realize that he was trapped under the patio. Kneeko (my dog) is a decently large husky and he was pinned under a 2x4. So i quickly grab my STF's then slide under the patio to try and lead him out for about an hour and a half but nothing works. Finally i decided to pry open two of the patio boards so he can just jump out as it was approaching night time and the rain wasn't making it any easier. 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this isn't too long of a post, thanks for reading

[holio cornolio]

Nice story. It's nice to be able to pin your memories to an object. So much of life seems to be experienced through the lens of a smartphone these days and remembered through the medium of a CCD. Putting down the phone / camera, and experiencing life in the first person makes those memories more vivid. thanks for sharing :-)

[volvo240thebest]

I should take out my pair of chinch back half selvedge Lee's for a few photos. those were my first pair of decent denim. I didn't even know they were selvedge when I got them, didn't care at all at that time. they're totally white now from years of wear, currently used as my lawn mower pair. bad repairs (crotch knees and some more) by my mother have ruined them forever unfortunately.

Edited April 8, 2015 by volvo240thebest

[cthip]

Not lost, but I pulled these out of retirement to do some painting this weekend.

 

 

 

 

3sixteen ST-100x, my first "real" pair of raw denim (after a brief experiment with a cheapie pair from the GAP).  They're still in decent shape other than the knees.  I'd sized down fairly aggressively, and after about the third repair I realized they'd continue ripping just outside of the repaired area each time.   They've lost just about all of their structure by now and feel soft and floppy like sweatpants or jammies.

Edited April 21, 2015 by cthip

[mp201]

I swear I spy a nokia fade in there

[cthip]

I swear I spy a nokia fade in there

 

Haha!  You're right it sure looks like it in photos, but these aren't quite that old.

 

Most of the time I was rocking one of these:

 

Edited April 22, 2015 by cthip

[holio cornolio]

My Norman Porter NP02 - these never got the chance to be great. Lost by airport baggage handlers / airlines, never to be seen again. These were to be my DWC competition jeans, but had less than a month on them before they were cruelly taken from me, in a botched airport transfer thingy.

Why must the good die so young ?!

[Maynard Friedman]

Norman Porter 'James Dean' model.

[Broark]

Bummer, I thought the same thing was going to happen to my Roy All Duck jeans that I had in my suitcase on my recent trip.

Did you try filing a claim with the airline? Make them pay you back and get a new pair!

[holio cornolio]

Well yes, I will get compensated for them but it seems to be a drawn out process and the comp is only 2 years ;-)

Maynard I was thinking jimi Hendrix edition? Maybe Keith moon? John bonham? Marc Bolan? JFK? Yogi Horton? It's a long list :-)

Edited May 17, 2015 by holio cornolio

[Mojique]

The pair I had copied from my first 3sixteen+ Cone jeans in Kurabo shadow 14oz denim

 

at the time they couldn't be washed because they were my only jeans but I literally wore them to rags.

if I could have them again I would...