LVC 501s

[Miles_Archer]

Most denim is "twilled" in the right direction. Lee uses a left hand twill which causes the legs to twist in the opposite direction of Levi's.

 

[Burnsie]

And Wrangler introduced the "broken twill" to prevent leg twist - but it doesn't wear nearly as nicely.

 

[Swing]

In case anyone is interested, Penny's is carrying rinsed indigo 505s. Finally wore out a pair of 505s I bought five or six year ago, and was suprised to find the dark blue 505s when I went shopping for a new pair. They aren't selvage, or raw, but they're dark indigo, still bleed a little when wet, and only $32 a pair in sale. They are not shrink to fit, and trip through the dryer didn't really shrink them like I expected (will down a size and stretch out the next pair I get). Nice to have a couple a pair of affordable dark heavy blue jeans that I can wear the heck outta and not worry about it.

~Swing

 

[Cobblers161]

I'm looking at a pair of 33's from Cultizm, any of you guys know about the waist shrinkage?
I'm about a 35 1/2 waist and have bought 36" in the 44's and they've been ok with the as they were slightly oversize when raw.
I'm kinda hanging between the 36" and 38", 36 will possibly be too tight and 38 too big. I made the mistake before with a pair of Samurai 634's, beautiful jeans but leaning heavily towards rent-a-tent in the waistband.

Also are the 33's slightly slimmer but higher waisted than the 37's?

Cheers.

 

[Talisker]

I'm looking at a pair of 33's from Cultizm, any of you guys know about the waist shrinkage?
I'm about a 35 1/2 waist and have bought 36" in the 44's and they've been ok with the as they were slightly oversize when raw.
I'm kinda hanging between the 36" and 38", 36 will possibly be too tight and 38 too big. I made the mistake before with a pair of Samurai 634's, beautiful jeans but leaning heavily towards rent-a-tent in the waistband.

Also are the 33's slightly slimmer but higher waisted than the 37's?

Cheers.

I'd go for as near to my actual waist size as possible. In my experience the LVC's are all oversized to varying degrees and even if they're a bit tight too start with they soon stretch out.

Here's a picture of John Wayne in 33's, and the guy on left is wearing 37's:

It always confuses me why all the repros are quite loose fitting but period films and photos seem to show a much tighter fit. :?

 

[airfrogusmc]

Paul T (the guy that wrote cowboys to catwalk) made an observation that they wore them to small and or the costume departments altered them. Most period photos show a different look...

 

[airfrogusmc]

I'm looking at a pair of 33's from Cultizm, any of you guys know about the waist shrinkage?
I'm about a 35 1/2 waist and have bought 36" in the 44's and they've been ok with the as they were slightly oversize when raw.
I'm kinda hanging between the 36" and 38", 36 will possibly be too tight and 38 too big. I made the mistake before with a pair of Samurai 634's, beautiful jeans but leaning heavily towards rent-a-tent in the waistband.

Also are the 33's slightly slimmer but higher waisted than the 37's?

Cheers.

My 555 1933s are very full. You do have the buckle back. I had a pair from a few years later that were not as full. It seems that LVC for a while there were changing their patterns tweeking I donno. My 555 37 201s are one size smaller than tagged.

 

[Cobblers161]

1937 201's now there's pair of jeans...... My favourites without a shadow of a doubt! I have only one pair that I cherish, I sold a raw pair on ebay about 12 months ago and have regretted it ever since.

Shame they have no plans to reintroduce them...

 

[Grant]

Here's a couple photos of my five year old '33's. They're marked a sz. 36 waist but have shrunk to about 34 1/2" (without using the buckle back). LVC takes some liberty in the cut making the rise a bit lower than original 30's 501's. The more I've had the chance to see original 30's - 50's Levi's the more I see how LVC get's it wrong. That said, I still like these.

 

[Cobblers161]

Nice! Love the fades.

 

[Miles_Archer]

Saw a pair of one-wash late 30's Levis's buckleback 501XXs last week at a vintage showroom. It is amazing how wrong LVC gets the pattern. The originals had a rise of about two inches higher than the repros. I'm certain that this was not an oversight on LVC's part, they probably realized that most men just would not purchase authentically high-waisted jeans. The denim on the LVC 37s is all wrong too, looks NOTHING like the originals. The originals have a very wide strip of white selvage, at least twice the width of the repros. If only there was a guy with Chapmanesque-like zeal working for LVC...Levi's just gets it all wrong.

 

[Talisker]

I have pairs of the 33's and the 37's from LVC Japan and they seem a bit more accurate than the European versions. The denim is a much darker shade of indigo and isn't singed, the leather patches and cinches are better, they also seem to have a slightly higher rise. The only thing that lets them down is the back pocket arcuate which is a little too precise and lacks that hand finished look of the European interpretation.

 

[stanier]

Thanks for the post Talisker, I was considering a pair of LVC Japan '37's but it was that perfect arcuate putting me off after looking at the pics on the jeans neshi site. After getting my '44's and Type II jacket from Japan, I'm really taken with LVC Japan, just a shame about those arcuates on the '37's which seem at odds with rest of their attention to detail.

BTW, sorry for the slightly off topic question, but is Japanese LVC made in a Levis owned factory in Japan, anyone know?

 

[airfrogusmc]

Heres my 555 1933s. I replaced the buckle (which was crap) with an original late 1800s early1900s one.

Raw when new and I wear these all the time in the summer. I went probably 5 months before the first soak.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I too wish Levis wouldn't screw with the original patterns. Probably the most acurate is the 1955s. But they change patterns between LVC years which I can understand either. Oh well these are probably my favorite LVCs.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Heres the current line up

 

[airfrogusmc]

a few LVC labels
Thought I'd post some different LVC tags leather and cloth if anyones interested.
1886

1901

1911 333

209 coverall

1920s 201

33 501

37 501

37 201 (555)

1947 501

55 501

 

[Cobblers161]

Impressive line up, how many hours/days/months did you spend wearing them in, it must be like half a lifetime.........

Seriously love those 333's, the patch alone is outstanding.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Cobblers, they usually get about 5 months no washy when they're still raw. I wish the 333s would have been raw. The only two the weren't raw when new are the 333s and the 209 covealls.

 

[Swing]

I ordered a pair of 37's Wednesday before reading Mile's comments. Oh well, I'm sure they'll make me perfectly happy.

Amazing thing about the deal, ordered Wednesday, $20 shipping, coming all the way from Germany, and they're supposed to be here today. I bought a recoil pad for a new shotgun recently.... cost $10 to ship the small, light package, but took longer, and distance between point A and B is a helluva lot shorter. I don't mind the time, but the shipping and handling? I'm sure the actual postage was less than $2. I don't know why American mail order companies now feel the need to put the screws to you on handling charges lately. I guess they do it because they can.

~Swing