Old Lee reissues- who loves em?

[Paul T]

A couple of people have mentioned the various Lee reissues, and I've just pulled all of mine out of the cupboard. I have 10 pairs (!) and have just photographed 8 of them, because I plan to sell of a couple off to people here.

I think these are some of the best value selvage jeans ever made, in that they wear in so well - they were better made than Levi's first reissues, the Capital E, and were around 2/3rds the price. They were done in two versions - the earliest examples from circa 1990/1991 were made in Eire, sanforized (tho it doesn't make much difference to the shrinkage) with pocket linings, the later ones were made in Malta, still selvage, not sanforized, no pocket linings. They were discontinued maybe three years ago, to be replaced by a half selvage model, made in Poland, with open selvage (what some people call fake) made on projectile looms, still with nice denim.

If you're nutty enough to want to know what these jeans look like in every shade from brand new to worn out, email denim at trynka dot com and I'll send you a bunch of pix. (Warn me if you don't have broadband) If anyone has a photobucket a/c and wants to post em that would be cool.

[nairb49]

hey paul,

amazing jeans, have staked my claim via email

nairb49

[Paul T]

Got it.

If all else fails, maybe I could make a career wearing in people's jeans for 'em. Whatchareckon?

[Handlethevibe]

Nairb, don't take all the cheap pairs!

[nairb49]

hehehe, sorry handlethevibe, couldn't pass up such beauties at this price

took the two cheapest, but the others are still at an AMAZING bargain

Paul T, you should defintiely do this as a side job to writing spectacular books.

handlethevibe-if when they get here they're exactly the same or don't fit that wel etc etc, i'll send you a pair at cost obviously

nairb49

[alex_844]

i have a pair of the 101b made in poland open selvage kind. i love them.

i didn't not wash them or anyhting, just wore them and washed them normally (though i have never washed my denim THAT much to begin with.) they don't have much contrast but i have some pretty good fading on them. if i get a chance i will post a pic of them.

[the black arm]

Here are the pictures of Paul T's Lee Reissues. Very impressive, the worn jeans have textbook wear marks and definition. I like how they are shown side by side, really interesting wear transition/history . . . I'd kill to have one like that, but 8 . . .

From Paul -

"All of these seem to be more or less exactly a 31W and 31L, whether

Sanforized or not. BTW, I always washed these at 30 degrees to minimize

shrinkage, if you buy any it might be worth doing the same.

Batch 1 from left

Unworn, unwashed, just so you know what it looks like, not f/s

One wash, very slight wear

Two washes, very dark, but good wear coming in

Nicely worn, (need wash?), white marks from left, slight crotch wear

Batch 2 from left

Worn, thread broken on right knee, crotch wear on seam

Worn, especially coin pocket, crotch wear

Worn sanforized, W31, union-made, pocket linings, paint circle on back

Worn sanforized, W32, union-made, pocket linings, crotch wear"

Edited by the black arm on Jan 12, 2006 at 10:27 PM

[minya]

those are incredible. Beautiful jeans, Paul, and thanks for posting the pics, black arm.

[johninger]

Paul

very good work i must say

If loving denim is wrong i don't want to be right.

[rnrswitch]

I think Paul is probably the baddest mutha (watch your mouth) out there. Them jeans can't get much better. I personally was always a levis man, but I think that is just because Lees were considered lame when I was growing up (1980s). I have considered buying some Lees repros, but just can't find them anywhere.

Edited by rnrswitch on Jan 12, 2006 at 11:44 PM

[docdoom]

Mate that looks like year and years of wear between all of those! good work

[Tob]

Heh, how many years of work is this ? Most people that own so many jeans hardly ever get time to really wear them in but this is crazy. If i were you i'd hang them on my wall as decoration or smt.

[sybaritical]

Cor them's right lovely them is. repeating the above sentiments maybe, but mate that must have taken you years. Do you change three times a day and wear em like pyjamas or something?

[Paul T]

Haha thanks for the compliments. I had a few more worn ones but sold them a few years ago. I guess those 8 jeans are maybe 6 or 8 years' worth of wear. Nothing too excessive. Apart from the normal hourly jujitsu elephant-wrestling squat-thrusting crease-pinching routine of course.

[nairb49]

^^a routine to live by. classic.

nairb49

[Paul T]

three pairs of jeans are making their way across the atlantic, nairb and handlethevibe. I'm glad to have the space for my new projects - got to work up a couple of those Lees, Levi's 47, and I've got a lovely pair of 1901 Levi's that are wearing in slowly but beautifully.

Over the last month or so I've sold loads of stuff I had knocking around, now I've raised $1000 for a good old watch to replace a dead Heuer. I'll be asking for good places to buy on another thread soon...

Black Arm, thanks for posting the pix! A kind of memorial to my wardrobe as it was...

[nairb49]

thanks a bundle paul, can't wait

as for heuer, no clue. but i can say that i love both the monaco and carrera models.

nairb49

[rnrswitch]

Yo Paul, How often do you wash your jeans... on average?

[petng]

Hey Paul. any jeans left for sale?

[M4TM]

i have a pair of 101B half selvage joints... love them! the fit/cut is very nice. and quite the bargain compared to other brands...

No Shirt. No Shoes. No Dice.

Learn it. Know it. Live it.

[Paul T]

Sorry Petng, four gone, I'm keeping the rest.

It will be interesting to see if my current Levi's wear in as well as this. The best jeans I ever had were a pair of early 60s Big E 501s that were really dark, with a great contrast like this, but the LVC Repros I've had since that were never as good, maybe because I washed them too often. For my current 1947s I will try dry-cleaning only for a year; my 1890s are starting to look terrific, but the wear will never look as good as these Lees, because they're a much looser fit.

Once the jeans wear in I wash them as frequently as you'd expect - but for the first year or two I try not to wash them more than once every few months - I use handwash soap to get rid of odd marks and grunge.

I agree the current Euro 101s do look good too - nicer denim than the standard 501s, although I haven't seen any dry, classic ones in some time.

[dunkin deeznuts]

those lees look really nice...the only pair of lee's i have are x-lines and I love em......

PS...paul T...what size do you wear?

www.wellbred.org

Edited by dunkin deeznuts on Jan 17, 2006 at 02:30 PM

[the black arm]

not a reissue but the real thing.

they've got some interesting picutres, looks like it's going to be pricey

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8375817798

[obsessis]

Quote:

Hey Paul. any jeans left for sale?

--- Original message by petng on Jan 15, 2006 07:44 PM

there is a pair paul sold to handlethevibe on this board up on ebay. check for his post on the sale forum for handlethevibe's post about nike sb's for sale and you'll find them there.

[Handlethevibe]

Yeah, they're big on me so I put em up.

[obsessis]

you should cut homeboy a deal and sell them to him for cost plus shipping.

[Edge_Of_Denim]

Great work! It's crazy, but those jeans hanging on the wall didn't seem out of place. Excuse me now, I must go pour myself a drink.

[triniboy27]

You might want to hold off on the drinks...that's not a wall, it's a floor.

[minya]

Quote:

You might want to hold off on the drinks...that's not a wall, it's a floor.

--- Original message by triniboy27 on Jan 23, 2006 02:25 PM

ahahaha

[rnrswitch]

I thought it was a wall too. I guess it was the angle of the shot. I was wondering, "Geez this dude must have walls covered in Lee repros. I'd like to see the Levis wall."