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#26 2012-03-02 15:31:32

Shamrockorangutan
Diving for Ivy
Posts: 159

Re: The jeans question ...

More like the only brands.
There really weren't any other established "brands" of denim, which was known in that innocent age as "jeans cloth", as such. rustler has been around for awhile. besides that there were denim work pants, and cheap off-brands sold by the likes of woolworths and sears. fly-by-night manufacturers of tiedyed hip huggers. much like the gym shoes we viewed the other day-up until puma and Incontinence pants were imported in numbers late-60s-ish, you had converse clown shoes, a couple of almost-good-enough-but-still-mocked imitators like pf flyers and keds (the latter worn voluntarily only by female cheerleaders), and about 900 department-store specials that kept their branding only long enough for the unfortunate children of the working poor to burn, cut, or scratch the labels off. Designer jeans are an 80s innovation, and the mid to highend capitalistic brand-o-rama of today, when every corporation with more than 20 employees markets their own Exclusively Designed Line of Denim didnt come around until the early 90s and the advent of really cheap offshoring.

And for all that they remained clothes for relaxing at home, yard work, and vacation for all but what your sociologist hebdige calls "the rebel-delinquent cluster" until after the boom years. During the (later) 60s it was a big deal when kids were finally allowed to wear them to school-new and pressed with creases. Which most parents still didn't allow, which was where the shortlived appeal of sta-prest and their imitators came in.  My mother fondly remembers wrapping herself in enormous floor-length skirts to hide the evil, delinquentCommunist Motorcycle Drugs Gang blue jeans from the parents until safely out of the door.


"Dave Hartnett is paying you back for paying your plumbers with dirty twenties..." -Andy

"I am just like you. I am the Devil" - Bono

 

#27 2012-03-02 21:12:29

Worried Man
Member
From: Davebrubeckistan
Posts: 15988

Re: The jeans question ...

My father told me that him and his buddies, teens in the '50s, only wore Lee.  I guess that was their "thing."  He said you may go to a nearby town, and all the kids his same age would be wearing Levi's.


"We close our sto' at a reasonable hour because we figure anybody who would want one of our suits has got time to stroll over here in the daytime." - VP of George Muse Clothing, Atlanta, 1955

 

#28 2012-03-02 21:19:31

Worried Man
Member
From: Davebrubeckistan
Posts: 15988

Re: The jeans question ...

The Mexican owned and operated "Western Wear" store near my house has shelves from floor to ceiling of Wrangler and Levi's in all shapes and colors.  They have Lee too, but the Lee fits they offer are all lacking.  I think the Wranglers are $27 USD and the Levi's around $35.  They have Rigid / STF in both brands and they also offer the cowboyish Sta Press in both brands as well.  Place is only visited by Mexicans getting kitted out in boot cuts and studded cowboy shirts... and me sheepishly plucking through the piles for my correct size.  I will say, the Wranglers are a cruder jean than the Levi's, but damn, they are a stout jean - very strong construction - surely made for riding a raging bull bareback through a thicket of dusty cacti.

Last edited by Worried Man (2012-03-02 21:21:25)


"We close our sto' at a reasonable hour because we figure anybody who would want one of our suits has got time to stroll over here in the daytime." - VP of George Muse Clothing, Atlanta, 1955

 

#29 2012-03-10 11:58:59

JDelage
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Posts: 673

Re: The jeans question ...

 

#30 2012-03-11 04:46:24

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

No; 1 pair from Aero Leather and 1 pair imported from Japan via ebay, resulting in my first ever customs charge, which I certainly wasn't expecting.

Last edited by Yuca (2012-03-11 04:46:38)


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#31 2012-03-11 06:05:47

CaptainMaddox
Member
From: UK
Posts: 329

Re: The jeans question ...

Last edited by CaptainMaddox (2012-03-11 06:06:05)

 

#32 2012-03-11 13:38:04

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

I got charged around 40% of the cost of the jeans; several years later I'm still fuming.  Thanks for reminding me.  I cannot recall further details; sorry but it was just before I got bitten by the ivy bug, so I've received 4 billion parcels since then, and they all blur into one horrendous customs charge.

Whether they're Lee archives I don't know, one pair are:

http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/product-detail.php?id=122

An absurd price I readily admit, and I intend to wear mine until and possibly after they fall apart.

The other pair were from Speedway via ebay, and they no longer sell them.  They were very similar to the ones above, but button fly.  Beauties, although if I'd known about customs charges I would have resisted.

All the above is confidential btw.


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#33 2012-03-11 13:52:01

JDelage
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Posts: 673

Re: The jeans question ...

Blue in Green sells Less 101 repros by Warehouse, I'm seriously considering getting one.

 

#34 2012-03-11 14:07:41

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

http://blueingreensoho.com/site/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=10510&category_id=&manufacturer_id=4&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=28

Very expensive, but they do look good.  Probably the same as mine, I don't know where Warehouse comes in to it though.  If they are the same as mine, shrinkage is negligible.


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#35 2012-03-11 14:11:17

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

I see LVC 501s are now £215 at Aero Leather.  Best looking jeans ever imo, but even so . . .


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#36 2012-03-11 14:26:17

JDelage
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Posts: 673

Re: The jeans question ...

Last edited by JDelage (2012-03-11 14:32:19)

 

#37 2012-03-11 14:40:18

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

Didn't some Japanese companies buy looms from Lee and Wrangler in the 70s when they modernised (aka ruined) their production techniques?  That's what I read somewhere, which is why the best Lee and Wrangler jeans are made in Japan.  The level of foresight to buy those looms is amazing.  I wonder if anyone in the West in the early 70s was passionate enough about jeans to even notice the drop in quality?  Yet they got the looms shipped over.  Lee and Wrangler sold the family silver.


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#38 2012-03-11 14:42:46

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

Apparently the above is hype, which is quite amusing.  It's believable anyway, even if it is erroneous.

http://www.trynka.net/trynka.net/Glossary.html


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#39 2012-03-11 14:44:05

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

The plot thickens:

http://lee101.com/


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#40 2012-03-11 14:46:10

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

http://loomstate.blogspot.com/2012/01/toyoda-and-coals-to-newcastle.html


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#41 2012-03-11 18:06:03

Shamrockorangutan
Diving for Ivy
Posts: 159

Re: The jeans question ...

Apparently the USA made 505s are back at select stores...but they doubled the price inexplicably.


"Dave Hartnett is paying you back for paying your plumbers with dirty twenties..." -Andy

"I am just like you. I am the Devil" - Bono

 

#42 2012-03-11 18:12:54

woofboxer
Devil's Ivy Advocate
From: The Lost County of Middlesex
Posts: 7959

Re: The jeans question ...

Interesting reads Yuca. The current fad for repro jeans has to fuelled by some sort of hype, after all everything needs a heritage strap line now.

I try to avoid buying anything that is marketed in this way because of the sneaking feeling that I'm being ripped off!  Plus I just can't get my head around paying £150 - £200 for a pair of jeans. Are they going to stay looking good 2 or 3 times as long as £70 jeans?


'I'm not that keen on the Average Look .......ever'. 
John Simons

Achievements: banned from the Ivy Style FB Group

 

#43 2012-03-11 18:34:33

JDelage
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Posts: 673

Re: The jeans question ...

Well, the denim looks very different.  I have one pair of Samurai and one pair of $40 Levi's, and the color and texture are very different.  I've had the Levi's longer and it's staying uniformly blue, whereas the Samurais are fading mostly on the folds.  The Samurais feel much sturdier (they're a much heavier denim) and coarser in texture.

Whether they are worth the price is up in the air, but I'm thinking of buying another pair of Jpz repros, to have something with a different character...

 

#44 2012-03-12 02:15:34

woofboxer
Devil's Ivy Advocate
From: The Lost County of Middlesex
Posts: 7959

Re: The jeans question ...

Good points Delage, maybe the extra expense repays itself!


'I'm not that keen on the Average Look .......ever'. 
John Simons

Achievements: banned from the Ivy Style FB Group

 

#45 2012-03-12 06:35:49

The Thin Repp
Ivy Evangelist
Posts: 1160

Re: The jeans question ...

I'm very happy with my LVC 1954 501Z jeans. It was one of those situations where I wanted selvage denim but didn't want to spend 250, so I bought a pair of APC New Standards and a pair of "unbranded" Chinese made selvage from Urban Outfitters. APCs and Unbranded aren't bad, but I find the 1954 501 to be exactly the fit and rise that I want, and when you consider that APCs run about 200 bucks, the extra 50 for LVC is a value considering the upgrade in fit and the quality of the denim.

I've never tried a pair of contemporary shrink-to-fit 501s or 505s in the standard Levis denim. Has anyone here tried the bathtub method of shrink-to-fit?


http://www.etsy.com/shop/NewtonStreetVintage  Classic Vintage Ivy League Clothing on Etsy.

 

#46 2012-03-12 06:44:02

fxh
Big Down Under.
From: Melbourne
Posts: 6159

Re: The jeans question ...

Don't know about currently but back in the good old bad old days I've done plenty of bathtub wearing soaking shrinking wearing around wet to get shape.

 

#47 2012-03-12 07:38:58

JDelage
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Posts: 673

Re: The jeans question ...

Personally, I'm looking for relaxed cuts these days.  I've got bigger legs than the average male fashionista and the regular 501 are too uncomfortable when I'm sitting down.  That's what draw me to the repros cuts from Jpz brands initially: more 1950's cuts.

 

#48 2012-03-12 09:06:57

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

A few summers ago I went into town wearing my new Japanese Lee repros, it was a summer's day so I had a half sleeve shirt (tucked in of course) and no jacket/knitwear.  I was browsing the shelves in one shop when a young lady working there (who looked to be around half my age) told me, 'Those are the best fitting jeans I've ever seen'.  Gives the lie to the assumption that only male obsessives notice these things; jeans back in the day (or at least their repros) were/are considerably better than high street denim of today as far as I'm concerned. 

I still prefer chinos mind you, as they're more versatile than jeans.

There are a couple of nice photos of jeans in Take Ivy.

Last edited by Yuca (2012-03-12 10:05:27)


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

#49 2012-03-12 09:51:15

woofboxer
Devil's Ivy Advocate
From: The Lost County of Middlesex
Posts: 7959

Re: The jeans question ...


'I'm not that keen on the Average Look .......ever'. 
John Simons

Achievements: banned from the Ivy Style FB Group

 

#50 2012-03-12 10:04:41

Yuca
Member
Posts: 8543

Re: The jeans question ...

I forgot to add: she's now my wife.


some sort of banal legitimacy

 

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