Lee Japan denim

[Ryu]

kameidaclub

so which do u wear? maccoy's?

i wear lee's one recently

[kameidaclub]

mainly i wear joe mccoy 906.

although i have some lee jeans and jackets, i am not going to wear them.

waiting for new announcement from warehouse 20th anniversary.

[kameidaclub]

 

60 years have passed

 

 

i bought w29 but fit like w30 or even bigger.

so back to my closet and see her in few years.

[kameidaclub]

i am lee lover.

in my folder, i found the same jeans and remembered that i bought 2 pairs. haha.

no idea where this jeans are now... i must visit and ask my family.

 

 

the picture below is interesting.

one is edwin-lee 101z james dean model(center black tag), and the other is 50s vintage 101z(center red tag).

do you know which is which.

 

 

 

left is edwin-lee and right is vintage lee.

vintage is hairy, grainy, rough, slubby, but edwin repro is soft, smooth, uniform.

vintage is dark and deep in colour, but because of slubby fabric, weft yarns appear on the surface and it look like vintage is bright.

actually, edwin repro(including warehouse and mccoy) are very different from vintage lee.

Edited May 6, 2015 by kameidaclub

[clapper]

serious collection kameida

 

i need a little hep to know whether the pair on the link below is made by edwin, i got the exact same pair from flea market.

it is made in Japan, but doesn't mention anything about edwin.

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/threelove/item/le-01-0001/

[kameidaclub]

i am not 100% sure, but lee made in japan should be edwin.

[thizzellebundchen]

Anyone know where the Lee 101 Z 13.75 oz sold at Oi Polloi are made? I know the denim is obviously Kaihara mills, but are they MiJ? Or is it Poland or something? Thanks!

[Maynard Friedman]

I'm not sure but at that price I'd assume they're part of the Lee 101 range that effectively replaced the Gold Label line and as such are probably made in Poland.

[dylanbooth78]

just picked these up from aero, Lee 1934 101b. I was in the mood for something 30's ish and decided against LVC and went for these instead! I have to say the quality seems a bit better than a lot of the LVC's I have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Iron Horse]

Nice pickup. I wish my Lees weren't so daggum tight or I'd wear them more.

[dylanbooth78]

A couple of detail shots, I love the denim on these, it is very soft to the touch but you can feel a bit of slub! if you know what i mean!!

 

 

 

 

...please excuse the rubbish phone pics.

[dylanbooth78]

thought I would update these, washed once when i first got them to get the shrinkage out and have not been washed since (about a month and a half)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

...not much Lee archives love going on here, I would love to see some more updates from other members!!

[heavydoom]

i love the lee storm rider blanket lined jackets.  i had one but i have no idea where the hell it is.  it was a perfect fit in terms of the length of the sleeves and jacket.  i really loved the yellow corduroy collar of the jacket.

[428CJ]

On 8/24/2007 at 6:09 PM, crownzip said:

Anybody else into Lee Japan repro denim? Here's a photo of my three year old '44 Lee repros that are just starting to look the part.

 

I'm a huge Lee fan/collector, including Japan Archives, Buddy Lee series (the doll-based clothes), EU Lee 101 (too many to name), as well as Lee 101 U.S.A. (both colors of Badlands jackets) and a really nice dead stock '70's Storm Rider. I have some standard Japanese Lee 101Zs as well (not Archives line).

My Lee Japan Archives pants are all on the top of the list of my favorite jeans I own. I have the 1936 101-Bs and the 1950 101-Bs. I also have several pairs of Buddy Lee dungarees (one blue denim, two gray cotton twill). I'd like to get a pair of the Holstein-patched 1939's, and perhaps a size down in the denim Buddys, just for a slightly different fit of the same model. I'd love the 1959's as well (I love jeans with seven belt loops).

Edited October 3, 2018 by 428CJ

[Paul T]

pix please!

 

[428CJ]

7 hours ago, Paul T said:

pix please!

 

Maybe some day soon, when I have time, I'll do some quick frontal fit pix of all my Lee Japan stuff for this thread.

After reading this thread, I have anxiety that my '36's are going to shrink like crazy! They say sanforized on them, so I had them hemmed raw about an inch longer than where I wanted them to eventually end up. They are now somewhere in between a breakless hem and a mild stack. They could probably bear losing two inches if they had to, but no more. I am now dreading the first wash, hoping I don't end up ruining my jeans by making them into highwaters.

FWIW, they are tag size 33's. I have a 37" natural waist, and I normally wear jeans in sizes 35 and 36 in most brands. On the 1936's, I wear the cinch pulled tight all the way. The waist runs very large on these.

It'd be one hell of a dirty trick for these to have been made with unsanforized denim, yet have "SANFORIZED" on the vintage-correct labels!

Edited November 23, 2017 by 428CJ

[Paul T]

I have discussed the Sanforized issue with Lee's former head in Europe, now in the Hong Kong and China office. He agreed that most Sanforized seems to shrink more than the specified 3 per cent. I do believe many of the mills do actually Sanforize their denim - I've seen the machinery in, for instance, Nihon Menpu. But yes, all the Lee denim seems to shrink to some extent, especially over the long term - I've found every pair has, right back to my early 90s reissues, although the Edwin-fabric shrinks less than some.

Unfortunately, for some folks, Sanforized has become a buzzword, like Union-Made, that doesn't actually mean anything.

 

[Spiraltoy]

Hey 428CJ, no Lee gold label? Ive got a pair which is great.the pop up from time to time cheap on ebay.

[428CJ]

6 hours ago, Paul T said:

I have discussed the Sanforized issue with Lee's former head in Europe, now in the Hong Kong and China office. He agreed that most Sanforized seems to shrink more than the specified 3 per cent. I do believe many of the mills do actually Sanforize their denim - I've seen the machinery in, for instance, Nihon Menpu. But yes, all the Lee denim seems to shrink to some extent, especially over the long term - I've found every pair has, right back to my early 90s reissues, although the Edwin-fabric shrinks less than some.

Unfortunately, for some folks, Sanforized has become a buzzword, like Union-Made, that doesn't actually mean anything.

 

Shit. Well, I *do* always hand wash cold and air dry. Hopefully that will help a bit. And if worse comes to worst, it *is* a cut that can tolerate a bit of a highwater look, with the right boots.

 I've never had denim dry cleaned. What happens to unsanforized material at a dry cleaner?

5 hours ago, Spiraltoy said:

Hey 428CJ, no Lee gold label? Ive got a pair which is great.the pop up from time to time cheap on ebay.

No Gold Label. I have come close a few times, but nothing yet. There's this kind of weird but kind of cool denim pea-coat-esque thing I sometimes think I like, but I can never decide if I actually like it or not. 

Now that I've finally snagged the perfect oversized dead stock early '70's Storm Rider, my holy grail Lee item at the moment is only 1–2 years old: an old stock XL U.S.A. 101 Badlands Jacket in Bad Service (wool lined double indigo). This is, to me, hands down the best looking denim jacket ever made. The material is AWESOME (and fades awesomely and QUICKLY), and the cut is so attractive, all topped off with those oversized bronzey buttons. I bought the L, which is fine. When I bought the jacket, it was late in the season, heavily discounted, and there were no more XL's left. These jackets run kind of small, so it's a very close fit on me. It does work, actually, but an XL would be preferable. 

Edited November 23, 2017 by 428CJ

[428CJ]

Just shrunk my 1950 101-Bs in 50–60 C water. Based on comments here, I expected shrinkage similar to an unsanforized pair. Instead, I got the standard shrinkage one would expect from sanforized denim: about 3 percent. The pocket bags and rear pocket linings, however, shrunk up much more; they must be made of unsanforized canvas. Now, due to the tightly shrunk canvas, the back pockets each have a big hump across them, and the denim fill panels at the tops of the front pockets are misshapen. It's too bad. I was hoping for more shrinkage on these. Now I think I'll have to take the waistband in. I'm quickly getting them wet again and giving them a brief run in a hot dryer this time. I hope this doesn't shrink the leather patch too much.

Edited January 15, 2018 by 428CJ

[428CJ]

I need to re-report after the jeans completely dried. In fact, there was zero shrinkage. All measurements are identical to the pre-soak measurements. Wish I had just worn them as they were. 

[Maynard Friedman]

^ Well at least you know now and there’ll be no “what ifs?”.

[VDC]

Bringing my 1944 out of retirement. No washes yet after 20 wears.

[Maynard Friedman]

Good for you, why did you retire them in the first place? Those arcs are great.

[VDC]

17 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Good for you, why did you retire them in the first place? Those arcs are great.

At that time I was wearing my canes (arcs & tab) to death. I rotated my canes and my 710 sammies for the year.

 

[428CJ]

Hoping to continue the break in on my 1950 101Bs and 1936 101Bs this summer...as well as my Buddy Lee denim dungarees. As soon as I'm done with my current stint in my raw 13MWZs, it's on to these three pairs of Japanese Lees until it cools down again (usually around the end of the year here in L.A.).

I realize these are quick, crappy pix, FWIW.

The '50's are a lighter blue than the others. These are upsized for a loose fit, and cuffed with wide double cuffs ATM (will be hemmed for a slightly narrower and slightly lower single cuff before their first true wash). I've got 6 weeks of wear on them so far. I initially tried to shrink them without losing starch. I gave them a hot water misting till they were saturated but not dripping (not a true rinse). I did this a few times, always stopping before water started seriously dripping off of them. Then I ran them through a hot dryer for about 15 minutes. That was a failed experiment, as they didn't shrink one bit. Oh well. They still look good and seem like they will fade nicely. I will be adding two or three extra belt loops to the rear, so they cinch better in the future.

The '36's are sized for a slightly big fit. They have already been hemmed to length (I wear them uncuffed), and they are still raw. I've only worn them 2 weeks so far. This a hairy, dark denim, with a tiny bit of a red cast, making the over all look a little purple.

The Buddy Lees are also upsized for a loose fit. They have 4 weeks of wear on them so far, and are still raw. I wear these uncuffed too. These are dark, and they fade pretty quickly.

I have two pairs of upsized gray twill Buddy Lees as well. These are very thick cotton twill, unsuitable for anything but cold days.

 

Edited June 25, 2018 by 428CJ