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LVC 501's

blackrat2

Well-Known Member
So having owned a couple of pairs of 37's, preshrunk/special editions from Aero several years ago,I finally bit the bullit and with help from Cobblers have gone raw.
First up a pair of 33's, got these off of eBay hardly worn if ever.
Labelled 33/36
I have given them a good soak as they were frankly huge and I have read some folks soak and some don't
I have gotten some shrinkage out of them, well enough in fact that I don't need to roll them up
Nice denim which is a gorgeous blue colour.
So come Christmas, I get the GF to order on Black Friday a pair of 44's
I got these Christmas Day and again a good soak before like the 33's I wear the heck out of them
For me I have already learned buy more to size, the 44's being 32/34 and I have to say I prefer this cut out of the pair.
The denim is superb and with a 30% discount via LVC she was happier to buy!
These are a really nice cut and much less baggy colour wise more blue/black...very different when next to each other
So sadly, I fear another obsession has started and am looking forward to some heavy wear outta them.
I have seen some threads up here and Steve has given me some sites to look at, so anyone else got any tips/images to break these suckers in.
Again thanks for your help Steve!
 

devilish

Member
Just wear 'em! That's how you break them in. Then wash them when they need it. Don't listen to all the 'never wash' hype. Turn them inside out, avoid the spin cycle, not too much soap and hang dry. Welcome to another very slippery slope to madness! Haha!
 

CBI

Well-Known Member
Congrats on your new obsession. I was into vintage and raw denim for a while, LVC, etc.. Based on my experience, wear what you have and don’t buy any other pair for at least a year. These pants look great well broken in but it will take you a year at least to get there unless you work on a farm or do physical labor at your job and are allowed to wear these jeans. In the meantime, you may be wearing kind of silly looking very dark jeans that many people find look cheap and outdated..........my experience.


Having owned many high end vintage pairs I can honestly say that I have not ultimately liked any of them and prefer “cheap” retail jeans for everyday wear. In fact, my $20 stretch jeans from Target are my faves and are worn all time time. Sure, high-end vintage jeans (LVC, etc.) are well made and frequently high waisted (that are supposed to look better with vintage high waisted jackets………I am not so sure). Another high end myth of sorts is the entire selvedge thing. I have owned dark/stiff old fashioned Levis purchased at a cowboy/western store for $40 that gain as cool of a well-worn look as the broken in high-end stuff.


I do agree that the now typical ridiculous distressed and over-washed retail jeans are junk. I am not knocking your jeans, they are great brands, I am just suggesting seeing how it goes. If I could do it all over again, I would pass except for maybe one pair - Tellason, I do like those but it’s a more practical modern it. My 2 cents
 

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
Don't listen to him John, life without Selvedge is worthless.

I believe the idea is to look outdated, certainly for me at least. I perish the thought of looking like an ordinary Joe on the street. Fashion is temporary, Style is eternal.

;)
 

CBI

Well-Known Member
HAAA!!!! I know this would get some people's blood pumping!

Wear whatever you like. Looking outdated is great (I do it often) but most people think it looks silly.

An entire OTHER topic.
 

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
It's all good humoured CBI don't fret, no blood pumping here ;-)

We Brits are mired in sarcasm and dry humour.
 

blackrat2

Well-Known Member
Lol nice one guys
Yep despite a soak they are pretty stiff but am looking forward to the whole experience on both pairs,though the 44's are my thing
Steve...I just can't do the massive turn up...I might be 44 and probably mocked for wearing an A2 but have to draw the line somewhere
I think wearing them in is going to be a long process but hopefully it will ultimately be worth while...I can't see me going back to jeans from Next..as has been said another obsession I guess
 

MikeyB-17

Well-Known Member
Roll 'em up, fine, but I'm with Blackrat, those bloody great six-inch turnups look hideous to me. Each to their own, of course.
 

CBI

Well-Known Member
when my Simon Cathcart jeans arrived, I wore them before they were hemmed with that giant 6 inch turn-up. I had an informal meeting and got a few strange looks (at the pants. When I got home, my wife looked at me in horror asking if I actually wore them in public like that. She told me to NEVER wear jeans like that again and they looked TOTALLY stupid.
 

Grant

Well-Known Member
Like high end repro jackets or originals, you have to be into and appreciate the details that go into good reproductions of vintage denim. Like a lot of Americana vintage, the Japanese have taken reproducing vintage denim to insane heights of detail. That said, I've been wearing the MASH repros of the WWII US Army denim dungarees and Lee Japan repros of 1940's Lee jeans. Both made of denim made on shuttle looms that wear like iron and fade beautifully. Secret is to wash them as little as possible and wear the shit out of them.
 

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
Lol nice one guys
Yep despite a soak they are pretty stiff but am looking forward to the whole experience on both pairs,though the 44's are my thing
Steve...I just can't do the massive turn up...I might be 44 and probably mocked for wearing an A2 but have to draw the line somewhere
I think wearing them in is going to be a long process but hopefully it will ultimately be worth while...I can't see me going back to jeans from Next..as has been said another obsession I guess

I'm a 2" max on turn ups and as I'm tall they usually end up 1" to 1.5". At that length they're subtle and with that hint of selvedg, a real nice detail.

Never go full turn up! ;-)
 

Cocker

Well-Known Member
Wearing my SJC Yard Boss right now, with about 4" turn ups, black Doc Martens 8 inch boots, natural wool submariner and Aero A-2 jacket. You gotta rock those turn ups!!
 

blackrat2

Well-Known Member
Nice one cocker
I am also six foot odd so rolled them to get 1 inch turn ups I just couldn't do full 3 inch plus...with 1 inch on a school pick up I had to explain to everyone what the deal is!
Have to say the high waist line coupled with aka Great Escape sweatshirt n Aero,I think it works pretty well, even if a tad different

I dare not look at Lee or any other maker as like repro's this could become addictive and expensive little hobby
 

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
Once you go beyond LVC and Lee and into Japanese denim such as Samurai, Warehouse, Studio D'artisan etc.. it becomes wholly addictive.

With Cone Mills cranking out denim again and smaller independants like Roy creating outstanding jeans the choice out there is constantly expanding.

I wouldn't be without selvedge as equally important as jackets.
 

blackrat2

Well-Known Member
Shoot they look good...be some time before mine look like that
Do you find the tighter fit say 44/47's get better fades quicker than the looser cut jeans
 

Grant

Well-Known Member
Sup blackrat,
I've found fit doesn't matter so much as wearing the hell out of them and only washing now and then in cold water/mild soap and hang dry.
These are the '33 501's - fuller cut in the legs than 44/47's.
 

Ken at Aero Leather

Well-Known Member
We've stocked Levis Vintage from Day One, along with the Lee Japan 101s, these are miles ahead of any of the more recent start up brands, we've stocked most of these over the years
Good news is we've recently had permission from LVC to reduce the previous fixed MRP for all 501's from £215 down to £185.
We've narrowed our range to all dry models from the 1933 (easily my personal favourite) to 1967 but all of these are now in stock at only £185
http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/products.php?cat=denim&sub=levis

The remaining stock of earlier and more recent years models is on sale to clear at £100/£120
http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/products.php?cat=salerv&sub=misc
not much left though in these years
 
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