Leepro Appreciation

[Dr_Heech]

The second Lee item l recently purchased was this 1970's Lee jacket -

 

[Dr_Heech]

Colour comparison with my 1960s Lee 101-LJ Stormrider  -

 

[Dr_Heech]

It's basically a Lee 220 jacket (post-1971 101J) but actually it's not, it's a 108 - 0041 (?) in a size 46 Long.

Label states Lee USA only, no Union Made so manufactured after 1975. 

 

Edited April 21 by Dr_Heech

[Dr_Heech]

It's a Lee GM Terex jacket. It has special GM Terex design buttons and also a leather patch on the front waistband. 

Edited April 24 by Dr_Heech

[Dr_Heech]

The General Motors' Terex division spanning from c.1970 until 1981, manufacturing some of the largest earthmoving equipment in the world at the time. That and that label stating Made in USA only date this jacket to around 1976-81. A lovely little piece of history.

Lee with R and Lee R, M.R.

As l've said before,  l think the R after Lee came about in 1958 or 1959. The reason for this is the launch of the Lee 100J 'Westerner' in 1959; In 40 years l've never seen a 100J without an R after Lee on the black tag. Just my guess though. 

Edited August 21 by Dr_Heech
To add stuff

[Dr_Heech]

One of my favourite Lee 101J/220 details..

 

[Sympathy-For-The-Denim]

@Dr_Heech Great find! I like the colour combination of the lighter blue with lemon stitching which gives it a fresher look. This jacket matches in colours with a rather unusual pair of Lee Rider youth pair I got in my collection for 20 years or so, which I finally try selling for they never properly fit me:

Edited April 22 by Sympathy-For-The-Denim

[Dr_Heech]

@Sympathy-For-The-Denim The jacket is all yellow stitching apart from the waistband chain stitch and bottom button box which has a brown colour thread  -

[Dr_Heech]

On 4/21/2026 at 7:13 PM, Dr_Heech said:

...

As l've said before,  l think the R after Lee came about in 1958 or 1959. The reason for this is the launch of the Lee 100J 'Westerner' in 1959; In 40 years l've never seen a 100J without an R after Lee on the black tag. Just my guess though. 

 

Maybe not such a guess after all.

Lee Japan repro of Prototype Westerner (before its official launch) with inside black waistband tag (not shown) and Lee with R on pocket label. 

Edited May 9 by Dr_Heech
To edit

[Geeman]

Are the Lee MiJ line on the Lee 101 webshop any good...the fits work for me 

14oz Kaihara denim

I'm feeling nostalgic and love Lee back pockets, had my eye on the SDA Lee repro for good while but slept on them and now out of stock (with hindsight the measurements didn't work anyway)

[Dr_Heech]

13 hours ago, Geeman said:

Are the Lee MiJ line on the Lee 101 webshop any good...the fits work for me

I have no first hand experience of their products but they look great.

Here is a pic of the repro prototype black neck and inside waistband labels as mentioned above. I have seen a few original jackets with that 'Fade proof' label but never the pants.

 

 

 

Edited April 25 by Dr_Heech

[Dr_Heech]

Random Lee mutterings.

Just a sample of a some jackets from a fella l follow on lg although this is just a small slice of his vast Lee collection. 

First 91-LJ (so pre-81-LJ) 1930s 

Post-war prototype 101-LJ 

Pre-war 101-J Cowboy

He also has a blanket lined one pocket cowboy jacket as well as a range of 91J's ranging from the first 1920s models through to the war period. His Lee jeans collection is unmatched, having several rare buckleback pieces as well as the deadstock 1940-42 pair l posted a few pages back.

I keep nagging him to get a Lee Archives book underway (l wish someone would) as he has so many rare examples and such deep insight into early stuff but no, not yet. Maybe one day the Berberjin guy will collaborate with him and then us few Lee fans will get our wish, who knows? He's got some great pieces l would love to see repro'd. 

Anyway,  carry on. 

 

 

(Ps. Sorry the pics are a bit small but wanted to get them all onto one post - click twice for more clarity)

 

[shredwin_206]

Tha pre war cowboy is my dream jacket. Perfect details and love the long ears on the collar. 

[LazyS]

 

Edited May 18 by LazyS

[indigoeagle]

@Dr_Heech Might be a once in a life time chance:
https://www.retaildive.com/news/lee-jeans-sale-surprise-kontoor-move-wrangler/819677/

@shredwin_206 Sorry, for the time being they seem to hold on to Wrangler.

[Dr_Heech]

On 5/16/2026 at 3:49 PM, shredwin_206 said:

Tha pre war cowboy is my dream jacket. Perfect details and love the long ears on the collar. 

Here's another set of shots from a different pre war Cowboy 101-J.

It's a later jacket than the previous one l posted as it doesn't have the buckleback. Instead it has the UFO-type rivets (where the buckleback was) and some odd length pleat stitches, both typical of the WW2 models, as are a single line of stitching on the collar and cuff edges. But the label is still the earlier 1931-1942 square white type, with the Lee in blue surrounded by red embroidery lettering, but without the 101-J stamp on the left, as in the ^previous example (hard to see even if you double click). Maybe this label had it stamped but the ink rubbed off? Anyway, normally the WW2 101-J Cowboy has a red and gold woven label but this is probably when they were using up the last of the older white labels (??) Looks to be double stitched also which you would expect from Lee after 1936.

 

 

[olmecasteve]

I've been curious about this Lee model after seeing an old vintage pair from Hashimoto.Dean on instagram.

 

Named Whoopee style after a jazz theme song from 1928. 

 

[CSL]

Yes! Love those.
Has a repro been done? I feel like I've seen similar.
The Mister Freedom Buckaroos have the same front pockets.

[olmecasteve]

The ones I have are repros, not sure of the maker, maybe Warehouse?

Yeah, MF have the buckaroos, Monsivais have the crown, TCB has the painter pants. Both MF and Monsivais take inspiration from old models, while the TCBs are modeled after a pair of Carhart's 

[Dr_Heech]

My obsession with early Stormriders continues. Found another house tagged separate liner model pre-official 101-LJ (so 1947/8))?) which looks to have been worn by Shredwin's Great Grandad back in the day -

 

Looks like, as always, the Lee tag is sewn on prior to the corduroy collar being attached. Love the way the little size tag underneath is sewn on off-centre.

Edited July 4 by Dr_Heech

[shredwin_206]

@Dr_Heech that’s perfect 

[Dr_Heech]

On 4/21/2026 at 7:13 PM, Dr_Heech said:

As l've said before,  l think the R after Lee came about in 1958 or 1959. The reason for this is the launch of the Lee 100J 'Westerner' in 1959; In 40 years l've never seen a 100J without an R after Lee on the black tag. Just my guess though. 

 

On 4/24/2026 at 12:04 PM, Dr_Heech said:

Maybe not such a guess after all.

Lee Japan repro of Prototype Westerner (before its official launch) with inside black waistband tag (not shown) and Lee with R on pocket label. 

 

On 4/25/2026 at 5:27 AM, Dr_Heech said:

Here is a pic of the repro prototype black neck and inside waistband labels as mentioned above. I have seen a few original jackets with that 'Fade proof' label but never the pants.

 

 

 

 

 

^Continuing with the theories previously mentioned above l found this jacket on Hundredbuyers the other day. Difficult to ascertain whether this 1958 original prototype jacket has an R after the word Lee on the small black pocket tag but it certainly doesn't look like it.

So the R on the pocket tags on Lee jackets didn't exist in 1958 but they were definitely there by 1959. Mystery solved at last. 

[Dr_Heech]

On 4/18/2021 at 7:14 AM, Dr_Heech said:

Vintage non-Levis jeans with Levi's arcuates  1925-1942.

Carrying on from the convo in the Wrangler appreciation thread, here is a series of posts showing some pairs of non-Levi's jeans that have arcs which were clearly influenced by the 'original'. 

Although throughout Levis history there have been  competitors happy to copy this design, my interest lies in jeans made roughly from 1925 until the beginning of the war.

First up is the Lee 101 - 

c.1925-1929, 1930-35, 1935/6 'triple name', 1936-1941 Hair on hide.

 

 

On 4/4/2025 at 5:37 PM, Dr_Heech said:

Rare piece recently picked up by one of the Lee collectors l follow on lg - 1940-42 Lee Hair on hide 101 Cowboy pants. These are the only pics to surface atm but l will add more hopefully at a later date.

Apart from the rarity of a pair in Nos condition,  this is the first time l've ever seen this copyright 1940 pocket label. Wow

 

 

Quoting these earlier posts as l don't want to keep delving back to find them.

Always wondered about the actual Lee 101 timeline as it always seems Lee, as Levis main competitor, was ahead of the curve right from the beginning when it came to innovation. For example, the first back pocket rivets on their 101B model were flat, so less likely to scratch saddles and automobile upholstery. By 1930 or 1931 those back pocket rivets were eliminated and replaced with the famous Lee bartacked X's, solving the problem at least 5 years before LS&Co's hidden rivet patent showed up. Anyway l'm going to see if l can put together a more accurate timeline of prewar Lee jeans so (hopefully) l will come back with a few more answers. 

Edit. I've put it in the Vintage thread 

 

Edited September 13 by Dr_Heech
To edit

[olmecasteve]

A Lee Archives book similar to the Wrangler one would be awesome. 

[olmecasteve]

Here’s another Leepro I bought recently from pinup rags.
A take on the Lee Frisko trousers. One thing I’m a sucker for is the very cool tag reminiscent from the old Lee Frisko trousers from the 30s-40s.

[indigoeagle]

Lee x Nigel Cabourn
 

[Dr_Heech]

^meh. Underwhelming at best.

[SameOl]

FYI: Some SC’s interesting Lee Repros available in https://www.vinted.fi/items/10433561942-selvedge-sugar-cane-jeans

[olmecasteve]

On 9/12/2026 at 9:52 AM, Dr_Heech said:

^meh. Underwhelming at best.

I did like the packaging made for this tee

[Dr_Heech]

5 hours ago, olmecasteve said:

I did like the packaging made for this tee

Agreed but that's all marketing BS. As long as the product is up to muster, then l'm fine with it all.