Leepro Appreciation

[bris2k]

4 hours ago, Dr_Heech said:

Hi, how's the fit compared to the measurements you were given beforehand?

Did you get pre-wash measurements at all? Would you be so kind as to post the after wash measurements for some of us here. Thanks!

For reference I'm 5'9, 180-185 lbs, 42" chest, and 19" shoulder, I called Junky Style just to double check and they recommended the size 42 (or 44 if I wanted it more relaxed.) I went with the size 42 and it fits comfortable and snug which is what I wanted, I can layer western shirts and thin sweaters underneath it pretty easily and it's not hard to button up the entire thing.

The store I ordered it from had the pre-wash measurements slightly bigger. (Shoulder: 51.5 cm, Chest: 62.0 cm, Sleeve: 61.5 cm, Back Length: 65.5 cm)

Pre-Wash Measurements: Shoulder: 20", Chest: 23", Sleeve: 25.5", Back Length: 24.5"

Post-Wash (Machine wash, Hot): Shoulder: 19.5", Chest: 22", Sleeve: 24", Back Length: 23.9"

 

[MJF9]

@bris2k thanks for the measurements... if you had time for fit pics, would be good to see how it wears too.  Which store did you get it from?

[bris2k]

@MJF9 The store was American Casual Three Eight (https://buyee.jp/rakuten/detail/three-eight%3A10008559). When I have the time I'll get some pictures of me wearing the jacket.

[Dr_Heech]

Can't remember when l was asked about single stitch/double stitch arcs on the back pockets of early Lee 101B's but l was looking through some old Boon magazines and came across these examples. I have many other pics of stuff like this but the quality of the smaller printed images on early 90's mags is sometimes questionable. These were the best l have to try and explain/understand.

Supposed 1936 model Lee 101B with hair on hide patch and twin needle stitching on the back pockets -

 

 

Then there's this slightly different alignment on the next page, showing a different 1936-38 model 101B with an earlier single-stitched pocket design. The pocket designs, like Wrangler, were there to hold in the pocket linings. The similar two pairs to the above pair are stated to be 1938 onwards (?) to when, 1940?

Anyway a key thing about early Lee's is the bottom waistband stitching being twin row or single row. This earlier example (1) has two rows, whereas the (ll) models have a single row of stitching. And one of those has plain steel rivets. Confusing and interesting at the same time. The buckle on the earlier pair looks more in tune with what l'm used to seeing on Lee cowboy jackets of the 1930s, almost homemade, whereas the shiny new brass coloured one in the first set of pics is identical to the repro Lee buckles on some of mine.

 

Anyway,  carry on..

Edited November 30, 2025 by Dr_Heech
To edit

[Facini]

Based on @bris2k and other real measurements i've been able to find, i've pulled the trigger on a size 44 101-LJ from the Archives.. I've bought it from the same seller as @bris2k as well. I'm also a 42 chest, but from my old 60's 101-j and early 70s Storm rider, the jacket posted above would be pretty tight on me from experience. I'll post pics before and after wash with measurements when i get it and also some fit pics... I'll keep you posted as soon as it gets here.

Edited February 19 by Facini

[smoothsailor]

My boy shopped in my wardrobe again.

he starts to get interest in denim, 

wore my old Lee archives from 2008 to my workshop when he noticed it.

today he asked , if he could wear it.

again suits him better than me

 

[Facini]

As promised here it is: Size 44 1950 101-LJ. Fit surprised me a bit compared to my early 70s original. The 1950 repro is definitely more boxy. 70's has more of a front drop and feels more fitted by comparison. Also, the cuffs on the 50's actually have some decent with whereas my 70's are pretty tight fitting.

I'm 183 cm and about 80 kg average. 107 cm chest.

Gave it 40 degrees C and air dried. Still nice and crisp (if you couldn't tell from all the creasing). 

Probably does measure slightly larger in the chest, but the liner gets in the way a bit. It's measured laying as flat as it'll go without forcing it too much. Can provide pictures if needed.

Can comfortably wear with a sweatshirt underneath. What do you guys think - did i get the size right or could i have sized down? My feeling is the 42 would have been pretty snug.

Pre wash measurements:

Chest: 62 cm

Hem: 58,5 cm

Shoulder: 52,5 cm

Sleeve: 65 cm

Back length: 61 cm

 

Post wash:

Chest: 60 cm

Hem: 57,5 cm

Shoulder: 50,5 cm

Sleeve: 63 cm

Back length: 59 cm

[Maynard Friedman]

That looks an excellent fit to me. A size down seems like it would be snug and possibly short in the sleeve and back lengths too.

[Dr_Heech]

On 9/14/2025 at 6:13 AM, Dr_Heech said:

Saw this prototype to the Lee 101-LJ with a housemark label so sharing here. Looks similar to the one pictured in Paul T's book 'Denim:from cowboys to catwalks '. Only second one l've seen images of and a rarity in the true sense. This would have been made around 1945 or early '46 l'm guessing.

 

(Taken from LongJohn's denimblog)

 

The blanket lining on the earlier Lee type 1 style jackets were stitched to the denim waistband of the jacket, whereas this post-war prototype has the lining separate from the bottom of the jacket (like the 1950s repro version already discussed) which may have aided movement whilst sat on horseback maybe? Anyways, the lining was edged with shirt weight denim to protect it from unravelling. I was once lucky enough to own and briefly wear one but arms were a tad short so sold it. Think all my pics from earlier in this thread (2010 ?) have been wiped out by photobucket but after looking through Google images l found a pic of the label on another denim site. That got me thinking 'hey let's have an early Lee label time line' (?) So here you are..

 

Repro MiJ label above,  original label below - courtesy of Me/heddels (hey l obviously posted those pics on Denimbro too although probably long gone now) 

Here's athe more recent one from Lee Japan - 

 

 

And the fly in the ointment date-wise is the rare short-lived mid-late 50's(?) 1101-LJ  which didn't have a separate liner. Think Real McCoys repro'd this model.

 

Apparently the year 1953 is credited with the first Stormrider label being introduced and sewn on to the jacket. The label below is an early one as the 'T' inside the red circle indicates that the word Stormrider is a trademark but not yet a registered trademark, this didn’t occur until February 1954. 

(Note:  l have actually seen an earlier label many years ago where the details are identical BUT the word Lee isn't joined, instead the letters are separate. I almost bought that jacket. I think that is the first Stormrider label but l need to dig deeper on that one.)

 

Here is the same label but without the T (replaced by the R for Registered trademark. 

 

 

Then there's a version exactly like the one above (mid 60's?) where the R and MR are placed after the Lee letters. 

 

Then to the label below, this is the last but one of the embroidered labels (and the most common) before the screen printed ones of the 1970s.

No 'Sanforized denim - Shrunk lining'. No 'Union Made' either side of the word Lee as it has been incorporated into the line 'union made in usa' underneath and after this label, no more Lot 101LJ as it just became known as the 'Stormrider'.

Below: Last embroidered label. Horizontal wool lining disappeared soon after and was replaced by the acrylic batting with the vertical stripes

Going back a while here.

With regard to the weirdly labelled Lee 1101-LJ which seemed to replace the earlier, separate blanket-lined Lee 101-LJ, as in the above post, l've wanted to find out a bit more about it.

From what l can gather, the separate liner 101-LJ model, not including any housemark-labelled prototypes, ran from c.1948 until c.1950 or 1951 at the latest, after which it was then briefly superseded by the attached liner model labelled 1101-LJ.  The jacket below is a 40 Regular, unlike the label in the previous post, showing the added 'long' label underneath -

 

I think the label above was then briefly superseded by the ribbon tag, which was common among the Lee coats and jackets of the 1950's. I think this was to keep costs down by incorporating the word 'regular' or 'long' onto the ribbon rather than an added separate embroidered label. Below is an example, although l believe it to be a repro; Still demonstrates it well enough -

 

 

The type of colour coded liner used on these short lived models, with its distinctive wide yellow band with red bands either side and a thinner blue line either side of those, was used on Lee 101-LJ Stormrider jackets from c.1953 until c.1960 before the next colour code change by Troy Mills, which is where my Lee 101-LJ Stormrider jacket comes in. My Lee jacket has the next type of colour coded liner which was introduced around 1959.

So it seems that these two models, both 1101-LJ, despite having that odd lot number with an added '1' prefix are actually the missing link between the 1948 separate liner 101-LJ and the 1954 Stormrider 101-LJ models.

Anyway,  carry on ..

 

Edited April 13 by Dr_Heech
To add stuff

[shredwin_206]

@Dr_Heech that top jacket in your post is incredible. Would love to see a fit shot of that one. 

[cultpop 0217]

Not a repro but we dont seem to have a dedicated vintage Lee thread. 

1980s Made in USA LEE Riders 200- 0189 Regular Fit

Wonderful fade. 

[rodeo bill]

sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but does anyone remember what M.R. stands for? I've definitely known at some point.

[okimoto]

@rodeo bill 

On 7/22/2010 at 2:56 PM, rodeo bill said:

edit- by the way does anyone know what MR stands for? I've often wondered, and no-one I've asked knows.

On 7/22/2010 at 3:26 PM, Paul T said:

REgistered Mark?

Didn’t even realize it was your question initially, funny coincidence

Edited April 11 by okimoto

[rodeo bill]

haha Im getting old. With utmost respect to Paul T I'm not completely convinced it means this as the tag says Lee® M.R. so the second registered would be redundant? Unless I guess it's stating that both the name and the logo are registered? Anyway sorry to derail- if anyone has any other theories I'm genuinely interested. Back to jeans 🙂

[Dr_Heech]

On 4/11/2026 at 4:00 PM, rodeo bill said:

haha Im getting old. With utmost respect to Paul T I'm not completely convinced it means this as the tag says Lee® M.R. so the second registered would be redundant? Unless I guess it's stating that both the name and the logo are registered? Anyway sorry to derail- if anyone has any other theories I'm genuinely interested. Back to jeans 🙂

I believe it may be something to do with when Lee jeans and jackets first started to become available in Europe in the late 1960s' so maybe the MR is a signifier of sorts? Like WPB on the levis 2 horse patch. Still can't remember what it stands for which isn't helpful. Still, it's a theory. 

I have some recent acquisitions that l will post up photos of at some point which may help with that theory.

I've also known it at some point but have now somehow forgotten - really hate it when that happens.

[Edit] after a little digging,  'Marque Registered' (in France apparently) is what it stands for 🙂

Edited September 26 by Dr_Heech
To edit

[Dr_Heech]

On 4/12/2026 at 7:18 AM, Dr_Heech said:

I have some recent acquisitions that l will post up photos of at some point ...

Unfortunately as a non paying contributor l can't post up any more multi-photo posts as l normally do due to new (well new as from yesterday it seems) limitations on file size , so apologies -

 

 

[beautiful_FrEaK]

@Dr_Heech can't you just downsize the pics you want to upload?

[Dr_Heech]

1 hour ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

@Dr_Heech can't you just downsize the pics you want to upload?

Tried that on two different occasions,  but even after downsizing the pics to under 4.88 l could only post one pic that size per post which isn't helpful when you want to post multiple pics. Yet l was able to post 2 photos in the post above. It's confusing but not a problem, l just wanted to apologise for not being able to follow through with another (probably) pic heavy post. It's probably me as usual. I'll try again later, Thanks.

[shredwin_206]

@Dr_Heech I ran into the same problems. I finally paid the $5 for a month of being able to upload photos haha. 
if you want shoot the photos to me and I can post them and you can pop back in with the info? 

[Broark]

I think you could also host them elsewhere and post the image links, I used to use imgur but lately I've been using imgbox (free, unrestricted in the UK).

[Dr_Heech]

1 hour ago, shredwin_206 said:

@Dr_Heech I ran into the same problems. I finally paid the $5 for a month of being able to upload photos haha. 
if you want shoot the photos to me and I can post them and you can pop back in with the info? 

Haha Thanks for that Shredwin but I'll just hopefully carry on regardless, just highlighting another recent change, for me at least. Maybe l was posting too many images per post and broke my image posting privileges or maybe it's the new non-paying bandwidth image limit? Who knows

So you finally caved? It makes sense if you're using it regularly for waywt etc. Think I'll dig my heels in for now as l'm using it less plus l'm not paying for something l've basically used for free for the last 15+ years on and off. Think l'm just going to wind it down now gradually as my denim 'journey' (for want of a better word) is definitely in the process of flat-lining. Probably all for the greater good.

 

 

 

 

 

[Edit] ^well looks like l've now reached my 'new posts per day' limits too, so chat tomorrow mate lol

Edited April 14 by Dr_Heech
To add stuff

[shredwin_206]

@Dr_Heech well I only paid $5 for one month. We will see if I continue. Ha 

[Dr_Heech]

Ok so back on track hopefully. 

I recently bought a couple of vintage Lee items and thought l'd share them with you here. I rarely buy vintage as l only peruse Ebay and there's hardly anything these days for obvious reasons, plus with newer import fees and other hoo-ha on top of what little you do find, it pushes the price beyond silly. But bargains can still be had, for example these 91-SB overalls from the mid 1960s. At 65 quid including postage from within the UK, that works out at about ten quid per decade so not bad -

 

 

They have a little bit of wear - lots of small paint blobs, grease etc but still fairly dark in colour.

[Dr_Heech]

Launched in 1926, the 91 overall gained Lee's famous 4 in one pocket around 1929.

Both the Lee labels on these overalls has an R after Lee only, for Registered trademark. Think the R occurred around 1958/59 but am not entirely sure. I always wanted a Lee denim garment made from Jelt denim (Cone 818) to compare it to my 70s Wrangler coveralls which are made from Broken twill denim.

 

 

Edited May 30 by Dr_Heech
To add stuff

[Dr_Heech]

They still retain the remains of the size tag on the bottom left hand side rear pocket. Also the stitching where the card size tag was just above that pocket -

 

 

Edited April 20 by Dr_Heech

[Dr_Heech]

Again, Lee label with R only. 

^This label got the 'Marque Registered' (M.R.) after Lee around 1968-1971. This era was a big shake up for Lee, being bought out by the VF corp. The label dropped the Union Made around 1975, as well as the term Jelt denim, leaving the label to say Lee, Sanforized,  Made in USA.

Edited April 20 by Dr_Heech

[Maynard Friedman]

Nice one Doc, I bought a second hand pair of those in 1987, can’t remember where though, it might have been Kensington Market or possibly Flip in Covent Garden. They were in great condition and I’m sure they were under a tenner.

[Dr_Heech]

1 hour ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Nice one Doc, I bought a second hand pair of those in 1987, can’t remember where though, it might have been Kensington Market or possibly Flip in Covent Garden. They were in great condition and I’m sure they were under a tenner.

Any pics of you wearing them Martin?

[Maynard Friedman]

I don’t have any, I didn’t own a camera until the mid-90s - a 35mm Olympus Mju zoom.

[MJF9]

@Maynard Friedman were they your acid house party pants?