"Wheat" coloured ones crop up in that Tony Curtis film where he talks about going to Le Drugstore & rides a scooter around Paris.
- How White do you like 'em, RH?
I like White best when it gets a bit old & turns to Chalk White as opposed to Snowy White (I'm thinking of OCBDs here).
I've never tried the White 501... I think they might not suit my lifestyle of coffee drips & fag ash... But I can imagine them looking good.
Best -
Mine ain't 501s, they're poor kid C&A button-flys in slubby off-white denim, but they've had quite a few outings this 'summer'. Smart with a brown/beige/natural jacket or coat, nautical with navy sweater or blazer. And they look spiffy with chukka boots in tan suede.
White Jeans with Navy Blazers & Chukkas is a very 'Polo Spectator' look. Under the Blazer goes an open collared English Spread collar shirt in one of those Jermyn Street stripes.
http://www.harvieandhudson.com/product.phtml?id=24
Last edited by bandofoutsiders (2008-07-18 13:54:04)
There are times - warm days or when I'm feeling slightly raffish - I wish I hadn't been quite so hasty. I used to love wearing them into school, alternating them with Sta-Prest. They look good with a chocolate brown dessie (not Sta-Prest). Anyway they went, both pairs. Ditto the Sta-Prest (too stiff for Ivy IMO). Come the autumn, up at school, it'll be Bill's dark brown cords and a Shetland crew neck. Caramel-coloured chukka boots.
Had a beautiful pure white Levi jean jacket a good few years back. A friend of mine bought it on his hols in San Francisco, returned home and and changed his mind about and it and off loaded it on me for a fiver. I swear to you the very first time I wore it a girl came up behind me and kissed the back of it. She was completely pissed and I had no idea who she was. The upshot was that I had a large streak of red lipstick across the back of this otherwise pristine jacket which took about 10 washes to sort out. That incident has always made me wary of white denim being a magnet for dirt and stains no matter how much I like the idea of it! That, and the idea of being kissed by strange women!
Staceyboy
I remember reading that thing about Steve Marriott being beaten up for wearing... well, white trousers if not white Levis... and I also remember, very vividly, a dole queue in Derby and this kid walking in wearing white trousers and black winklepickers. There were teds in there in their off-duty gear who jeered him as he came in, signed on, then buzzed off again. He later became a designer in a Milan fashion house.
A bump for this, to complement my 'jeans' thread. Sand seem a decent compromise between white Levis and dark denim.
They are great on young, slim men.
Actually, that sounded a bit gay, but you know what I mean...
'Wheat' I very much like the sound of but I feel I'm a little long in the tooth for white Levis.
'Go on', fools will tell you, 'go for it... you're as young as you feel...'
I feel ancient and knackered.
Still, there are times when I contemplate the below-the-waist options and wonder/think just how limiting they can be. I'm down to three pairs of chinos, two of cords, two pairs of jeans. I'd rather like a very good pair of grey flannel slacks - can't find any.
What are the other options? USA-made are all too often poly/cotton.
I think a natural ecru is warmer than white in 5 pocket jeans. I'm waiting for a suitable occasion to wear my high waisted jeans from All Saints. I think I may have a pair that were a sample. The main thing is the fit is good and I can see myself strolling alongside the Thames estuary in them.
I have a white BD linen shirt, a pair of sand desert boots and a Panama hat to complete the look. Here comes summer!
Yeah I’ve been wearing off white denim a fair bit when the sun shines. To be honest I think I expected more of a reaction than they actually got. I’ve found they go pretty well with most things except red, white and black (which isn’t a problem as I don’t own any black tops).
I resisted going Style Council, with loafers, blazer and striped T. Too old and bald for that look.
Wife and child free day tomorrow, so I’ll be sauntering, mooching and drinking espresso in off white jeans, an olive RL polo and (probably) desert boots.
I never found those flannels either.
I’m thinking of stumping up for Cording’s. Which are single pleated - but strangely I think there’s something right about grey flannels with pleats and maybe even turn ups?
bought myself a pair of Ivory fob bedford’s when in london. Tiny bit too small at the moment, fitting into them is supposed to be some kind of motivation, we’ll see. Also ordered a pair of “off-white?? smart uniqlo trousers - i wanted something with a crease. To be paired with my red jakes chambray, a navy ocbd and polo shirts for the summer. Contemplating the most un-ivy pair of footwear imaginable to go with them - some of the Paraboot sandals. Bog standard shoe choices will be a pair of padmore & barnes (once made just up the road in Kilkenny) in something pale & Alden LHS no 8. Possibly even the Sanders low-tops in snuff, no socks.
Shall be wearing my wheat (aka white) Levi's tomorrow, with cola desert boots and either a bleeding Madras shirt, or red and white butcher stripe long sleeve for that full beach boys experience
Is wheat white or off-white? I see it as off-white - specifically off-white. True or false?
A poster - some years ago - classified them as a very American look in (perhaps) the 1980s.
I didn't think 'white' Levi's were ever really white but always off white? In my case, most definitely off-white!
I have a couple of pairs of vintage Levi 615 jeans in what I take to be wheat colour. A nice cut, straight leg and a good 12?? rise in a 34?? waist. There’s loads of them on eBay, a seller up Watford way seems to specialise in them, for £20_£30 a pair they are an excellent buy. Wheat is a very light shade of, dare I say beige, or it could be off white or even khak, or maybe ecru. Anyway, worn in a relaxed fit they look fine and entirely appropriate on the mature gentleman and great with madras shirts. AFS - get yourself a pair and stop using passe’ words like ‘slacks’ please.
I have a couple of pairs of vintage Levi 615 jeans in what I take to be wheat colour. A nice cut, straight leg and a good 12? rise in a 34? waist. There’s loads of them on eBay, a seller up Watford way seems to specialise in them, for £20_£30 a pair they are an excellent buy. Wheat is a very light shade of, dare I say beige, or it could be off white or even khak, or maybe ecru. Anyway, worn in a relaxed fit they look fine and entirely appropriate on the mature gentleman and great with madras shirts. AFS - get yourself a pair and stop using passe words like ‘slacks’ please.
I have a couple of pairs of vintage Levi 615 jeans in what I take to be wheat colour. A nice cut, straight leg and a good 12 inch rise in a 34 waist. There’s loads of them on eBay, a seller up Watford way seems to specialise in them, for £20_£30 a pair they are an excellent buy. Wheat is a very light shade of, dare I say beige, or it could be off white or even khaki, or maybe ecru. Anyway, worn in a relaxed fit they look fine and entirely appropriate on the mature gentleman and great with madras shirts. AFS - get yourself a pair and stop using passe words like ‘slacks’ please.
I had some VERY white 501’s back around ‘91 ish. Persil white. Worn a lot with striped long sleeve T’s, loafers and a cord breton cap. Which looked okay on an eighteen year old. Of course I ruined the whole thing with the white towelling socks.
Last edited by Spendthrift (2022-05-13 15:58:50)
Instinct tells me I'm too old for these. I was really too old when I wore them previously. I'd say forty is the absolute cut-off point.
Life ends at forty?