Vintage Denim?

[NilsLW]

Amazing pair of jeans, easily my favorite era for denim.
Out of curiosity, which of your repros would you say has the most similar fit to this pair?

[Dr_Heech]

@mk3radial difficult to find leg 38 or leg 40 in vintage Levis 501 nowadays, so congrats. A recent pick up or did you own them from new?

If they had a 2 horse patch it would have read 2501 0117 (the 2 prefix being the code for jeans with a 40 leg length) - the same is  printed on the inside wash tag in your photo.

 

Edited September 18 by Dr_Heech
To clarify

[mk3radial]

I bought them from a french second hand website a year ago.

I never worn them for now.

It's very very rare to find longer than tag 36 I know It's a problem for me...

I would love to find some 40s or 50s pair in my size too.

[mk3radial]

On 3/18/2023 at 11:12 AM, NilsLW said:

Amazing pair of jeans, easily my favorite era for denim.
Out of curiosity, which of your repros would you say has the most similar fit to this pair?

Sorry I missed your message.

Maybe the LR-01 from Superstitch.

[1980sNYC]

I received roughly 16 yards of vintage denim fabric. Here is a sample. I've looked around for the past few weeks. Is it hard to find 50 feet of vintage denim? I was told it is from the 60s. Not sure if that is true or not but it definitely has the old barn feel and smell. 

I'd like to get a pair of jeans and a jacket made. Has anyone gone this route before? 

[UkeNo]

@1980sNYC

I don’t know if anyone has, but if you need someone to make some jeans from your fabric, to your spec, then I’d look at Viapiana denim as an option. 
 

https://instagram.com/viapiana_custom_denim?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Edited March 30, 2023 by UkeNo

[Dr_Heech]

Continuing on from the conversation in the Sugarcane thread, on the topic of proper REALLY rare unseen Nos Levis  pieces, l bagged these shots from a collector/wearer on lg.

1927 First pocket flapped 506xx. Unlike the only other example l've ever seen, the one in the Levis jackets bible, this one is in mint,unwashed condition. Size in a size 36. 

- it says 'Size 36' rather than 'W/L 36' as Levis didn't use the jeans patches to use on jackets until c.1937, when they started to use the red tabs on jackets too. Tried to enlarge the magazine shots to clarify (King of vintage Vol 4). Also just about make out the copper riveted on the patch. 

(Obviously if you click on the image it comes up clearer)

 

 

 

Edited September 18 by Dr_Heech
To edit obvs

[rodeo bill]

3 hours ago, Dr_Heech said:

Gorgeous! lovely how the sideways-cut yoke has a different tone from the up-and-down cut front panels, and ruches them in along the seam.

[scooby]

Been wearing these 501s more

Paired with 60s Hanes t, CSF, old skools

Maybe she's trying to tell me to stop wearing them

[bootsofmannishleather]

I went to the Levi's 150th Anniversary Experience in SFO yesterday. They had a few vintage pairs from their vault on display. I figured y'al might wanna see them. They're: 1873 4-pocket 9-rivet (the dirty brown pair), 1879 4-pocket, WWII 501. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by bootsofmannishleather
edit: added info to description

[crownzip]

I'm a sucker for Lee denim, so here's my 1960's Lee 191-LB blanket lined jacket. The Talon chain pocket zip is a cool detail I've always liked from these 60's era jackets. My sister re-enforced the sleeve ends and repaired a couple small holes with 60's era denim patches.  

[Dr_Heech]

@crownzip lovely old Lee 191-LB. That Talon chain is precious. Can we get a fit pic please mate?

 

[crownzip]

Hi Dr,

Sure, here's a photo taken this spring with a heavy wool sweater underneath.

[Dr_Heech]

Another amazing find for Foremost vintage, this pair is identical to the flannel pocket pair in the 501xx book and in the same size and unwashed condition as the pair recently discussed in the Sugar cane thread! Can't believe there's still this stuff like this out there.

 

 

 

Edit - after closer inspection it seems these S501XX are the same pair that Sugarcane used as a template for their recent flannel pocket replica. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Dr_Heech

[Facini]

Latest pickup - Amazing what you can find if you are willing to sift through page after page of trash.  Late 60s with the symmetrical V tab. Really nice face to it and plenty of life left. Quite nice, but a bit too small. In between 40 and 42. If anybody has any interest in it, feel free to DM me. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Facini

[MJF9]

Spotted this... sale secured with help from @Denimseeker here... 480,000 HKD (= $61,584 = £47,899)!!

Edited July 30, 2023 by MJF9

[Duke Mantee]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:08 PM, MJF9 said:

Spotted this... sale secured with help from @Denimseeker here... 480,000 HKD (= $61,584 = £47,899)!!

That’s my old FW jacket! Dunno why he’s sold for less than he bought it from me 

[indigoeagle]

Some progress reported on SugarCane's project:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvzkjK9tf4N/

Iterations of the flannel pocket cloth, the buttons.
The denim of 43 is darker and coarser than that of 46.
They're still working on a number of items like the stitching and sizing/pattern.
Normally their analysis includes cutting the cloth, but they can't do that with these vintage items that were lent to them.

[silencejoe]

Got this 50s today too bad that The jeans have been altered by the previous owner,who hemmed the legs and cinched the back of the waist

[Dr_Heech]

Shame @silencejoe but a nice vintage example nonetheless and look at that two tone yoke stitch (on the inside at least) and that beautiful, yet fully intact, pocket arc stitch.

Plus, we need a full back top bloc pic, so we can see both pockets. Which model btw? 1953 or 1957 (or transitional)?

 

 

[silencejoe]

8 minutes ago, Dr_Heech said:

Shame @silencejoe but a nice vintage example nonetheless and look at that two tone yoke stitch (on the inside at least) and that beautiful, yet fully intact, pocket arc stitch.

Plus, we need a full back top bloc pic, so we can see both pockets. Which model btw? 1953 or 1957 (or transitional)?

 

 

Here you go Dr  hope you still can identify it ha ha

Edited August 28, 2023 by silencejoe
:p

[Dr_Heech]

@silencejoe Looks to have copper backed rivets on front pockets? Has it got any numbers or letters on backs of buttons? Any numbers on the back of hidden rivets? Can we get a pic (on the inside) of the 'side seam' (thick, sail-like stitch going down the front pockets/above selvedge/redline seam)?

Thanks in advance 

 

[silencejoe]

16 minutes ago, Dr_Heech said:

@silencejoe Looks to have copper backed rivets on front pockets? Has it got any numbers or letters on backs of buttons? Any numbers on the back of hidden rivets? Can we get a pic (on the inside) of the 'side seam' (thick, sail-like stitch going down the front pockets/above selvedge/redline seam)?

Thanks in advance 

 

Here you go Dr, i just found that my first vtg levis also late 50s ha ha, have fun 

[Dr_Heech]

Thanks @silencejoe Nice comparison but no way to tell whether an offset belt loop or not (the lighter pair are early 60's btw).

On the front of the fly buttons, in the word 'levi strauss', is there a long/exaggerated tail on the bottom of the R in strauss or is there a  short/regular tail on the bottom of the R in strauss? Apparently this is a way to determine whether or not the pair are from the earlier or latter half of the 50's. 

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by Dr_Heech

[cheapmuthafukr]

My latest find, some mid 70s 517s. Single stitch back pocket and blank red tab.

[Cold Summer]

On 8/28/2023 at 10:41 AM, silencejoe said:

Love it. Great shot of one of my favorite worn denim details - faded, fluffy, lemon yellow cotton stitching. There's something I find incredibly pleasant about the aesthetic contrast of yellow cotton stitching on well faded denim.

[Dr_Heech]

Recently the on/off button on my Samsung phone (from 2016) fell out(?) So l had to bite the bullet and get an upgrade and thought l'd test out the camera.

So it's time for some type 3 loveliness l think. The reason being l was looking recently at the buttons on my son's early 70's 70505 cut off/vest, which was a present from @Flash a few years back, and noticed the enamel had worn off some of the buttons so much it started to show the bare metal underneath.

This got me thinking about buttons on type 3 jackets so l decided to do some comparisons of what few vintage examples l have to hand, you know for fun.

 

First up - this vest was a jacket made roughly between 1970 and 1973. It has 525 stamped on the buttons backs. The button front has a flat middle with those tiny dots around the company name, which was the last type of levis jacket button used until around 2002 when production moved abroad completely. The jacron patch is thinner cardstock than used on pre-1969 70505's and 557xx's. Both patches are the same size with same print but the card patch on the boy's jacket is rock hard whereas the vests patch is very pliable. 

The Boy's type 3 is an earlier one from c.1967/68, having mixed colour stitching and copper topped button facings with earlier domed centres. No dots around the Levi Strauss & Co name. It has 521 stamped on all the button backs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Dr_Heech
spelling and to add info and omit info

[Dr_Heech]

So here is Mrs_Heech's late 60's/early 70's cord type 3 with a woven Slim fit label. It has copper coloured button tops but the bare metal is starting to show through dating this jacket to roughly 1968/1969. Pocket shapes are so so. Looks like the previous owner painted the adjuster buttons with white paint. It has 524 stamped on the button backs (with 52 stamped on the backs of the pocket buttons).

And last up is her mid 60's 557xx which has older style copper topped button facings (like the boy's 70505) with domed centres and D & 17 stamped on the button backs. 

According to the Levis denim jackets bible, the 17/D factory only produced type 3's with shirt weight denim on pocket flap backings. This one has the same weight denim as the rest of the jacket on the pocket flap backs, so don't believe everything you read (not that most of us do).

Last pics are pocket shape comparisons and jacket lengths. The 557 is a size smaller yet the pocket size is slightly longer but the length of the jacket is shorter  

Just goes to show how levis played with the lengths on jackets during the transitional period of 1966/67 despite continuing to produce the 70505 (prev 557xx) and 71205 (prev 558xx) well into the 1980's.

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Dr_Heech
Spelling and to add/change more info

[NilsLW]

Sometimes I lurk around on ebay for fun and came across this 1960s pair of selvedge 505s, amazing hippie-character on these.
Perhaps if I keep washing and wearing my own TCB 505s...

[merzbot]

On 8/31/2023 at 7:32 PM, Cold Summer said:

Love it. Great shot of one of my favorite worn denim details - faded, fluffy, lemon yellow cotton stitching. There's something I find incredibly pleasant about the aesthetic contrast of yellow cotton stitching on well faded denim.

Yeah it's a great colour combo. This newly released watch features a variation of it.