LVC 501s

[Happy Hooligan]

I've started to buy my actual size now. I lost about 2 inches around the waist this year and my last pair I bought (33's) I bought in a 34 waist. My 47's are both in a 38 waist but have shrunk a lot and are smaller anyway, but are still loose around the middle.
My first pair, a 55's were a 38x40 and they're really big around my middle and they've shrunk all they're ever going to shrink... might have to sell those.
I bought a pair of the 37's in a 38 waist and they were huge so I sold them and bought them in a 36 waist and they're loose but not hanging like the 55's.

I wish I bought the 37's in a 34 waist, but now I know.

Jeans do stretch out when you wear them.

The only thing when you wash and dry in the dryer is all the starch is gone from your jeans and they'll be super soft. You'll want to re-starch them when you're done...

 

[Tokyo Jones]

I've soaked the jeans twice but they're still notably big.

Turn inside out, wash on the hot setting, then dry all the way on the your dryer's hottest setting. That will get max shrinkage.

After seeing how much jeans change after getting some proper shrinkage, I wouldn't wear them raw. Buy them to shrink to fit, get close to max shrinkage and leg twist right off the bat with a hot wash, then wear the heck outta the jeans.

~Swing

I'm considering doing that at this point since the 44s are still too big. Really, I'm less interested in wear patterns than in well fitting, high quality jeans, so losing the "raw" aspect won't be much of a bummer for me.

I will miss the dark, dark indigo however.

Thanks for the tip, Swing!

 

[Swing]

I'm considering doing that at this point since the 44s are still too big. Really, I'm less interested in wear patterns than in well fitting, high quality jeans, so losing the "raw" aspect won't be much of a bummer for me.

I will miss the dark, dark indigo however.

Thanks for the tip, Swing!

You shouldn't lose too much indigo with one wash. After that wear a tight belt to help minimize the waist stretch, and in future washes I'd put them in the washer (again, inside out, and buttoned) on cold/delicate and hang them to dry to cut down on the indigo loss. Starch only if you're concerned about whiskers and combs. Personally, I want my vintage style jeans to look like vintage jeans, so I just wear them and throw them in the wash when needed and don't worry about creating a certain fade.

~Swing

 

[Grant]

Check out the righteous cuffs on this guys denim.

 

[Happy Hooligan]

I love that pic... I've been wearing mine as close to that as possible, as in I'm turning them up as far as they can go with only a 38 leg...

 

[Doug C]

I wish I'd bought all my LVC jeans in my actual waist size.. you live and learn, but the shrink to fit thing with regards to the waist anyway, is mostly cancelled out by stretch in the first couple of hours of wear after a wash IMHO. I have a pair of valencia st '44s that are my actual waist size and I much prefer these to any of the others I have. I could (and may still) sell the others and start over with smaller sizes but I have put in alot of time on all of them. One thing I do, is hand wash my jeans in a big galvanized metal tub... I wash each seperately and on the final rinse (of two) I add a liberal dose of bottled statch, let them sit a few minutes, wring them out and then hang to dry in the sun. They dry in a very stiff, new like way that I love. I always look forward to wearing them after that, they tend to retain a little brittleness (for lack of a better word) for quite a while - like when they're new. I don't do this so much for a certain fade pattern or anything, I just like the feel more than anything. This process would probably be too much of a hassle for me except I only wash my jeans a few times a year, all at the same time. Give it a try.
btw- I really dig the cuff on the above picture, one big cuff looks way better to me than the bulky layered ones, IMHO.

Doug C

 

[airfrogusmc]

1915s at 3 months NO WATER yet and constant wear.

 

[Cobblers161]

Go on give 'em a wash! :lol:

I'm 2 months into a pair of Sugarcane 47's and looking good. I can see the fading taking shape and the combs setting in.

The denim on those 1915 Cone Collabs is beautiful! Lookin forward to more shots!

Regarding the sizing issue, I'm in complete agreeance and am starting to buy my exact waist size. All my 36" 55's are 36" waist after wear and wash, there's no way they'll shrink. Subsequently there's about 5 pairs of LVC,s(33's, 55's, 47's) in a 36"w up for sale real soon.

 

[airfrogusmc]

LVC has definitely changed their sizing as of late and the waists are running a couple of inches larger than tagged.

Some of the BEST denim I've seen on LVCs.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I have a pair of New With Tags 1873 natural indigo LVCs waist 40 I'm thinking of putting up. If anyones interested drop me a PM.

 

[Doug C]

Man those look great airfrog! I am too impatient to go that long without changeing to another pair of jeans.. I can get about a month in, then I'm bored an end up switching to original officer khakis for a few days, at which point I start missing the denim. It's almost a shame haveing multiple pairs of awesome LVCs, 'cause inevitably some aren't going to get the attention they deserve - I guess you really got to think long term when it comes to high end denim. Anyway, those are already well on their way to awesomeness! On a related note - Of all the small details on vintage jeans, I'm always taken with how cool exposed pocket rivets are, like on your 1915s. Was watching "Of Mice and Men" from 1939 last night (burgess maredith, lon chaney), rivets everywhere on all the jeans. Now I know most of those jeans must have been Levis, they looked like it to me anyway but the point is.. '37 seems too early to me for hidden rivets, no? I've noticed this in several other old movies too. Perhaps, '37 was just the year rivets were hidden on some 501s, but not all? I guess it could just be old stock from a couple years before the movie way made, but that excuse is used alot, too much of a coinsidence IMO.

Doug C

 

[Swing]

I'm 2 months into a pair of Sugarcane 47's and looking good. I can see the fading taking shape and the combs setting in.

What do you think of the cut of those? I have a pair of size 38s. I like 'em, and the waist is where I'd want it, but the legs and hips are a bit wide (and there's no way I can size down). Plus since I'm not wearing these daily, they're laying around getting a crease off the seams (due to the leg twist) and that make the lower legs look really wide and bowlegged when I do wear them. I'm looking forward to March when I can start wearing them and my Warehouse #800s on a daily basis. Firgure wear one pair for a week then switch off.

~Swing

 

[Doug C]

My "RAW IS RAW" Rant! : Here's my newest pet peev, not that I could afford a pair right now anyway but... I've found two pairs of interesting LVC jeans lately that were listed as raw, but both were admittedly soaked by the owner to get some of the shrinkage out of the way. To me that's not raw... am I right?

Doug C

 

[Cobblers161]

I'm 2 months into a pair of Sugarcane 47's and looking good. I can see the fading taking shape and the combs setting in.

What do you think of the cut of those? I have a pair of size 38s. I like 'em, and the waist is where I'd want it, but the legs and hips are a bit wide (and there's no way I can size down). Plus since I'm not wearing these daily, they're laying around getting a crease off the seams (due to the leg twist) and that make the lower legs look really wide and bowlegged when I do wear them. I'm looking forward to March when I can start wearing them and my Warehouse #800s on a daily basis. Firgure wear one pair for a week then switch off.

~Swing

To be honest Swing I don't mind the leg width, I actually like it but yeh, the hip width is something else. Just too much flare. They've had the first wash now and settled down a little but it's still there. I guess next wash I'll put on 60 degrees and hope it takes that last bit of shrinkage out. Must admit however that they are an amazing pair of jeans!

Doug, yeh you're right, Raw is the unshrunk denim. There's some sneaky mothers on the 'bay.

 

[Happy Hooligan]

for the bigger guys, last week I found a pair of original 1960's Levi's big E's in a super rare size to fine 42x36! Measures out to a little over 39 x 33.

If they were closer to 34 I'd be wearing them today, but they're not.
I put them up on the bay if anyone's interested..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...9953&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_7070wt_1120

Here's some pics... check out that crazy leg twist...

 

[Swing]

PM me, and let me know what you want for them. I quit ebay a couple years ago.

~Swing

 

[Cobblers161]

Airfrog,

The Cone Mills 1915's arrived today, picked them up in a sale at 1/2 price which was nice. I remeber you mentioning somewhere about replacing buckles for the cinch as the one that comes with the jeans is pretty crappy, would you point me in the direction of a decent source. Thanks....

Also anyone know how much these babies shrink? I plumped for a 34" waist and they are well over.

I have to say they look rather splendid.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Airfrog,

The Cone Mills 1915's arrived today, picked them up in a sale at 1/2 price which was nice. I remeber you mentioning somewhere about replacing buckles for the cinch as the one that comes with the jeans is pretty crappy, would you point me in the direction of a decent source. Thanks....

Also anyone know how much these babies shrink? I plumped for a 34" waist and they are well over.

I have to say they look rather splendid.

I donno how much they'll shrink, mine are still waiting to hit water ( another 3 weeks) but MAN you should see these 1915s and how they've faded. I'll post photos after the first soak. Gotta see this thread about fixing the buckle on the 15s.
scroll down to 6710
http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/sh ... 4&page=671

http://www.riverjunction.com/catalog/bu ... ckles.html

I like the utility buckle but I do have a couple of original turn of the 20th century buckles. One is on my 15s right now.

 

[Cobblers161]

Thanks for that, I'll get on the case with a homemade prong tomorrow.

Do you also know of any decent vintage looking suspenders/braces to fit the 15's?

Man, I'm looking forward to getting to grips on these, I'm going full Airfrog on them :lol: .

Cheers!

 

[Grant]

Filson makes some killer suspenders that go well with denim.