Vintage Repros

[Maynard Friedman]

I didn’t necessarily want to start a new thread for this but I did anyway as it may have some interest .

Obviously repros have been around for a long time now and, I think, some items can be considered vintage in their own right. What old repro-style item you have? I’m thinking primarily jeans, jackets, shirts here, but perhaps there are other items of interest - and I know that some early models were not strict repros.

Vintage is slightly subjective and we may all have different views but my thinking (for this thread) is anything prior to 2000. I don’t want to be too exclusive though so anything on the cusp is welcome!

My oldest item is this pair of Levi’s Japan 503 BSXX natural indigo from August ‘91 - almost 34 years old!

[Dr_Heech]

@Maynard Friedman l have a pair of Bartack 1950s MIJ repros from 1994 (l think but could be '92?) - unfortunately no photo as they are over at Mrs_Heech's place in Saaff London.

Think the first repros were late 80s?

[julian-wolf]

Good topic. I don’t have exact dates for either of my pairs of MP-series Cane’s, but they’d be somewhere in the mid-‘80s to ‘92 range, and both seem like pretty thorough repros. Always on the hunt for more—my dream pair would be an appropriately sized MP-597 or MP-603.

[Double 0 Soul]

My wardrobe is probably 70% repro, 20% vintage and 10% new but out of that 70%.. i would say 90% of which would now be considered vintage in it's own right.

I'm not saying repros peaked in the 90s but i am a bit disalusioned with how relentless the repro game has become, i'd like the SC Collectables but i'm fooling myself if i think this will be it, we all know something else will be just around the corner..  it's just a never ending persuit

[aho]

Good timing, just saw these pop up:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHxsGl4vkcO/?img_index=1
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHvXgpEvKFY/?img_index=2

[beautiful_FrEaK]

My oldest items are several Denime Orizzonti era items without Orizzonti on the care tag, which makes them pre 1998.

[Double 0 Soul]

*Toyo Enterprises was previously called Kosho & Co, a fabric import / export company. During WW2 they were selling souvenirs to American soldiers, kimonos and such via a market stall.. Tailor Toyo was established to make souvenir jackets with a soldiers name embroidered, which they could take back home.

 

In 1965 Toyo Enterprises was established to supply western sized clothing to the US military bases across Japan.. they would make denim jeans upon request.

 

*source Double 0 on DB

 

 

Toyo became a domestic clothing manufacturer in 1975 after the end of the Vietnam war when all the troops fked off back home.. I'm not sure if they were making repros during this time, i expect not, based on the fact that i haven't found any.. Japan's love of Americana followed.. by the 1980s demand outstripped supply of the Levis left behind by American troops which laid the foundations for enterprising Japanese pickers to visit the US with empty suitcases, demand still outstripped supply so by the mid-80s Sugarcane was producing repros for the domestic market but i would love to know what repro jeans if any were produced in this 75 - 85 (pre MP) era..

 

In 1978, Hitoshi Tsujimoto was one of these^ pickers.. he took a road trip around the US collecting vintage jeans and sweatshirts which he sold around vintage markets under the name 'Nylon' (which would later become McCoys)  opening his first bricks n' mortar vintage store in the mid 80s.. this all helped lay the foundations for the golden era denimboom of the early 90s.. so when we consider the birth of the vintage repro, we need to be looking at the early-mid 80s

 

[Maynard Friedman]

I believe there were a number of Japanese brands producing ‘American style’ jeans pre-1980s (perhaps as far back as the 60s? - I’ll try to check my sources). These included Edwin and Canton. I think one of them used Peruvian cotton.

[Double 0 Soul]

Are we talking 'American style' or repro?

I'd say a repro from this era needs to be 501 patterned, selvedge denim, leather patch, red tab, arcs and such..

[Double 0 Soul]

I suppose.. the difference (as far as i see it).. American style denim pants were a practical, alternative to traditional dress, whereas a repro is an alternative to the, very limited in availability, vintage denim..  catering to the needs for the vintage Levi, Wrangler, Lee.. enthusiast.. rather than your average worker.

 

[Maynard Friedman]

Edwin have produced quite a range of jeans over the years and were my introduction to the repro world back in 2002 via their Waynesvilles from the now, sadly closed Interstate.

Their 505s (top) debuted in 1994 and were definitely a repro.

Their 4007s (below, year unknown) were a strange Levi’s/Wrangler hybrid, well Levi’s with Wrangler arcs. Basically the opposite of those 1947 Wranglers with Levi’s arcs!

[Maynard Friedman]

1 hour ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I suppose.. the difference (as far as i see it).. American style denim pants were a practical, alternative to traditional dress, whereas a repro is an alternative to the, very limited in availability, vintage denim..  catering to the needs for the vintage Levi, Wrangler, Lee.. enthusiast.. rather than your average worker.

 

Agreed, otherwise they’re just another pair of jeans.

[Double 0 Soul]

I've done a bit of detective work regarding those Edwin 4007s.. they're a womans bootcut and although there is zero info online, they do use a Talon zipper which is easier to date than the jeans (easier still if it was a pre-1950s jacket zipper) .. the zipper itself seems to have been in production from the mid 70s up to 1983.. It was used extensively on 1980s era Wrangler Big Ben, 1980s Dickies workwear up to and including 1990s Edwin made Lee Riders so i would hazard a guess that they date from the 1980s

 

[Maynard Friedman]

I’m in a generous mood so let’s extend the vintage invitation to anything over 20 years old. Post your repro pairs that date up to 2005!

[Dr_Heech]

^in that case here's my vintage Lvc. Bottom Nos pair are 1937 501XX (button stamp 643M) made in USA in 2004 - these are the pair l'm giving to my son. Top pair are 1955 501XX (button stamp 554) worn infrequently since purchasing back in 2003 from Cinch in Newburgh street.

 

 

[Dr_Heech]

And here is my vintage Levis Vintage Clothing items, as lvc was the abbreviation used from late 2003 onwards. 

Top pair are First edition 1955 501XX from September 1996 and bottom pair are Nos 1920s 201's from 2000. This last pair are destined to be worn in the garden by me once my Csf 41's are trashed.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 5 by Dr_Heech
To clarify

[Double 0 Soul]

Deadstock Nylon war model

https://zenmarket.jp/en/mercariproduct.aspx?itemCode=m30331212500

[Maynard Friedman]

Here’s a list of my vintage repros (from 2005 and earlier). As most are stored away, I’ll dig them out and add some photos when I can, some are already on other threads. In chronological order of production date (where known):

• Levi’s Japan 503 BSXX: 1991
• Levi’s Japan 503 B: 1994
• Go West 0502 DI: early-mid 1990s, probably 1994
• Denime (unknown hybrid 50s/60s model with red selvedge): pre-1998
• LVC 1944: 1999
• Sugar Cane M41326: 2000
• Edwin Waynesville: 2005
• Denime Tokyo: unknown, possibly 2005
• Fob Factory F198: unknown, but the details on these make me think pre-2006
• Sugar Cane Okinawa: unknown, but they have the remains of a red tag that has been removed. Could be pre-2006?

[Dr_Heech]

Lvc 551ZXX

Forgot l had this pair even though they are part of my usual 3 pair rotation - First edition Levis Vintage Clothing made at the Valencia Street factory in September 1996 (same time that my ^1955 501XX were made) by peeps, some of which (allegedly) worked there making jeans in the 40s, 50s and 60s. They are made with Japanese milled sanforized denim which is supposed to replicate Cone 686 denim? Anyway l bought them around 2008 and had them hemmed by me Ma.

 

Edited April 21 by Dr_Heech

[Dr_Heech]

Another vintage repro, Bootleggers 1947 model from before 2005 l think? Anyway they were gifted to me by @Duke Mantee after the end of a yearly tour back in 2016 over on Denimbro. Lovely details and denim and without a doubt one of my favourite pairs out of everything denim that l own.

 

Thanks to sufu for the photo rotation 

 

Edited April 6 by Dr_Heech
To edit obvs

[beautiful_FrEaK]

That leather patch  👌 

[Maynard Friedman]

Fob Factory F198. I can’t find much information on these at all but I think they’re pre-2006. They were in a musty one-wash condition when I bought them and I’ve just given them another 40°C wash and will get them hemmed soon.

[Dr_Heech]

Early 1990s MiJ Bartack 1950s repro. Bought these raw in the early 2010's for a song. Ditched the patch and modified the arcs, to look more like vintage levis. No hidden rivets but lovely two tone stitching and scoville rivet backs plus off set belt loop. Denim is a greeny blue but difficult to pick up on with these phone images. Photo orientation skills by sufu Ai, not me sorry. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20 by Dr_Heech

[julian-wolf]

Don't want to steal away traffic from the M-series thread, but I'll happily repost my The Flat Head S2004.

The model number suggests they'd be a war model, but really they're detailed after the late '40s or early '50s, as best I can tell—couldn't say which reference period specifically. The name seems to have been a hold-over from the S2003, which were made the year prior and were a true war model. Otherwise, there's really not much info floating around on these.

Here's them when they were new:

 

…and here's after a decent bit of wear:

 

I've said it before, but if it weren't for the low rise these would be way up in the running for my overall favorite pair of jeans. The detailing's great, construction's top notch, and the denim's faded just how I wish all '40s–'50s repro denim would fade. A++, would absolutely buy another pair if one ever showed up, even despite not loving everything about the fit.

 

Edited April 21 by julian-wolf

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Yes it doesn't look like the Pioneer denim and looks nicer/more natural when faded.

[Sympathy-For-The-Denim]

since for me everything started with LVC, no wonder they are among my oldest repros:

1950s Sawtooth Shirt, notice the long, what I would call front skirts / tails. I couldn't find out the purpose (maybe for bending backwards while on a Rodeo-Horse back) of it, since one would instinctively think that the back part should be longer, which is not uncommon for other vintage / antique shirt's... however this detail makes them a little less wearable untucked. This shirt was one of 4 deadstock shirts which a had the fortune of to acquire along with a rather large stash of deadstock Valencia Street Era 1955s 501xx repros a few years back... in time I have to post those too.

Edited April 21 by Sympathy-For-The-Denim

[Dr_Heech]

Love those early booklets that came with the first 3 years of production, and the first editions into the UK all had orange labels. So your shirt is a first edition (09/96) - do you still wear any of them @Sympathy-For-The-Denim?

I wonder why they had to add the tab to this normally tabless model? Probably for the same reason that they made a few other artistic tweaks, to appeal to a wider audience? I'm thinking of the 1937 201xx as well here.

Edited April 21 by Dr_Heech

[Sympathy-For-The-Denim]

I will start wearing the shirt from now on since I'm more fond to wear shirts tucked in, and I would love to see how they evolve with time. Interestingly the label shows a 40 which I would consider to be a 40" for an M rather than an 38". I have another sawtooth shirt from around ten years ago same size but with an unreasonable big neck size and much shorter skirts. The Valencia version comes with a 15,5" neck which is spot on for size M shirt, whether the more recent model features roughly a 17" neck. The other stuff will be part my old-age provision. 🤫
 

 

[Dr_Heech]

Vintage Lvc ephemera, all from the earlier Levis Vintage Clothing era, 1996-2005.

Apart from the flashers, waist labels and booklets, there are some early promo/info cards which were apparently available to retailers in the first wave of repros from Levi's back in 1996. There's also a remembrance day promo offer from Cinch in London for this WW2 jeans, tee and duffle bag. 

 

 

Edited June 30 by Dr_Heech
To add stuff

[Dr_Heech]

Forgot about this one, languishing in the back of the coat cupboard. 

(Vintage) Levis Vintage Clothing 1873 Duck vest, which together with the duck hunters jacket and pants, we're some of the best pieces made by Lvc around 1999-2001. This one has had a soak and been taken in a little at the back either side of the centre seam as it was a bit baggy for my tastes and it was first worn back in the summer of 2018, when l built my own shed. Those bottom pockets were ideal for holding screws etc as l've never been a big fan of tool belts, but this was great over a vest-top worn with shorts. Think there's a pic buried deep in the Waywt thread somewhere. Not worn it since but you never know it may come in handy once more in the future. Have no idea how that lightened area came about, but it happened in storage back in the early 2000's. 

 

Pics have been randomly Sufu'd for no apparent reason again so apologies for that 

 

Edited June 29 by Dr_Heech