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Vintage Denim?


johnmc

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A family friend has a few (I believe) WWII prisoner of war denim workshirts in his possession. When he brings them over I will have a good look at them and post pics.

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..and I also have these, which I believe date to circa 1957-60

(apologies for the repost)

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Not to mention the old 101LJ, this one at the back faded nicely. I think it is of different kind of denim compared to the one I have which is more like the one in front.

Actually, storm rider or anything with wool or synthetic wool lining is not popular due to tropical climate over here. So I normally found it cheap. Mine was my second one that I bought from the same shop. The shop still have 3 more but I believe they're new samples as my first one I bought before.

I'm happy to wear it if I live in cold country like yours. ;)

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Just got this from used clothing store last week....vtg Storm Rider jacket

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Your stormrider dates from the early-mid 1970's, as it has the last type of 'Troy mills' (re-used wool/rayon) lining and the first of the screen-printed labels as opposed to the earlier, embroidered type.

On the pocket, the little black/gold Lee tag will have R, MR on it.

Nice condition though

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Your stormrider dates from the early-mid 1970's, as it has the last type of 'Troy mills' (re-used wool/rayon) lining and the first of the screen-printed labels as opposed to the earlier, embroidered type.

On the pocket, the little black/gold Lee tag will have R, MR on it.

Nice condition though

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Thanks for the enlightenment. The tag reads 'ALASKAN LINING' but the rest of description and size unreadable.

I not familiar with Lee but Lee or Wrangler seems to fetch cheaper than Levi's here. Anyway, it's good for collector.

Another wool lining jacket have was Levi's here:

Levi's 71205 0317 Type-3 Jacket

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I think this is newer sample.

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I bought these denim trousers on eBay. I assumed they were Buzz Ricksons or some other reproduction, due to the apparent similarity to BR Officer Chinos.

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But now that I got them, I think they may be the real deal. There is no label besides this, sewn above the back right pocket:

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And these sewn-on metal buttons:

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As per this website, 1941 was the last year that denim work uniforms were used in the army (phased out by HBT). The tag has two dates: "Dated Aug. 8, 1941" and "Dated 8/8/40." So that adds up.

Additionally, the back pockets have selvedge edges:

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Which led me to notice the significant gray cast to the denim. It seems that the weft threads are either pure gray or marled gray/white.

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This reminded me of two vintage denim aprons from my collection, both of which have gray or marled wefts. Dungaree selvedge on left; apron on right.

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Dungarizzle on left, apron on right. Note the broken weft thread, obviously quite gray.

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I'm not suggesting that the trousers' denim was milled by the same people as the aprons', just that grayish denim was common in the period. (Is it still? I don't know.)

So it seems like these could actually be from 1941. That would be pretty cool.

On the other hand, they are in such good worn condition that I find it hard to believe they're 70 years old. In my experience, vintage pants are either deadstock or worn to pieces; much rarer to find blue jeans gently used. Also, the date on the tag could obviously be fabricated; and gray-weft denim could be much more common and contemporary than I know.

Any experts care to weigh in? Did these pants fight nazis?

One last picture. These are the right front pockets. The side pocketbag is on top, watch pocketbag on bottom. The watch pocket is so big! If you look at the first picture, you can even see its outline through the front of the pants. What did GIs need to fit in there? Also note the indigo stains on the white cotton.

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In any case, they fit me like spanish boots of spanish leather, so I'm'a wear them out to buy groceries right now.

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I know, right? So killer. Serial killer. Probably too good to be true.

Another point for period-correctness: I have also noticed that many repros have selvedge ID lines even when it isn't period-appropriate. I guess people want to see the "redline." You don't see much ID-less selvedge except from the period.

Hope springs eternal...

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  • 1 month later...

I bought this jeans cheaply. Owner of the vtg shop either have little knowledge of Wrangler jeans or already archive sale target of that month. The guy even repatch it with Japanese repro leather patch on the right back pocket. This still in very dark indigo denim fits a tad loose to me but the cut was nice with very good measured size, 35x32.

I'm rarely found Wrangler Blue Bell hanging in vtg shop here but by looking at all the attributes on the jeans, especially the Gripper zipper zip fly, I'm so confident it is from at least 60s era or probably late 50s. There are ship like marks on one of pocket bag with 'Sail Cloth' and 'Sanforized' ; and has 'A2' punch on the back of main button.

Anyone could date and confirm this? And which model was this Wrangler?

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love this thread,

memories.....

like some earlier posts i too developed an affection for vintage denim as a teenager, namely levis, around 1985. I too remember at first being confused about the leg twist thinking it was a fault!! Spent many weekends traveling down to London, trawling through various places on the Kings Road, Camden Market, Kensington market. Always was a struggle for me to find the right size/fit with a decent leg length in those days and it would be a result to come home with one decent pair.

when i look back then i'd be wearing late 60's/early 70's levis (couldn't afford anything earlier), late 60's /early 70's type 111 jacket and a pair of white converse chucks.

Today 25 years later not much has changed, today i'm wearing lvc 44's, lvc type 111 '67 and a pair of white converse.

Still have a couple of original type 111 jackets and you can still pick up the odd good example at a reasonable price.

Like the fact that i can now buy a pair of well produced raw 44's/47's in the right size for me and get many years of personal wear without the worry of wearing them out and not being able to replace them.

Remember the excitement when i bought my first pair of raw LVC '55(555 '96) from American Classics, couldn't wait to get home to get them in the bath. Had a few pairs of Evis in the following years then back to LVC. These days i rotate between pairs of lvc 44/47 and Samurai 710/5000vx.

Will always love the true originals and recently have felt the need to go hunting again...

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These are maybe the nicest vintage jeans I've ever owned, alongside the early 60s vintage pair I lost in a house move. Hurrah for having kids, especially one age 10.

These are Youth's overalls, Size 10, 25W, 28 Leg. You'll see confirmation of that soon. They're big E, no hidden rivets; if their features are consistent with the 502 I'd date them as v late 60s or 1970. Very different from the pair of 502 I briefly owned from 66 or so which had lots of lemon stitching. Here it's all copper, and you have that 70s, very regular arcuate shape.

Note how they taper up to the waist. THe waistband will need stretching after these go in the bath in half an hour.

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Front and back details. I"m assuming this is poly cotton thread. A couple years earlier and we'd have had that lovely lemon-coloured cotton, which breaks so easily.

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Look how rough & agricultural some of the stitching is. You don't get that on Japanese repros! Button code is '4'. No internal tags.

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Fabric is unsinged, slightly fuzzy.

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very similar texture to my Cone 1999 55 reissues, with the 70s version a slightly looser weave; but more of a turquoise, less gray colour, as it should be. oldvnew1.jpgoldvnew2.jpg

Talon 42...

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Here's what I really love. check out the loom chatter and other errors.

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Coding on the pocket bags - both are stamped:

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And lastly, the main details I've been geeking out over. Check the marker codes for waist and size. I'm wondering if 211 56 is the internal factory code for these jeans. As you can see, it's written internally on the fabric, too. If this washes out, then maybe we can guess that all late 60s had these details written on...

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These predate this thread, so it's worth having them here I hope.

Similar shape, bet the waist band has stretched out on these.

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Gorgeous, aren't they? Hope the nipper's fade as nicely as this. Note the very square watch pocket.

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Look how different the pocket shape is in the 60s - much less tapered, with more or less parallel stitching on the edges. These have very different bar tacks from the late rpair, too.

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