LVC 501s

[Doug C]

thanks airfrog, another interesting thing about them is that they have a blank red tab, well it has a small circled "R" but does not say levis at all. AND it does have yellow and gold threads, AND it has a "V" stitch at the top button.

Doug C

 

[airfrogusmc]

Yeah there are some red tags with NO Levis.

Take the photo over to sufu and pm Paul T. He's know what those are.

 

[Doug C]

Take the photo over to sufu and pm Paul T.

Wish I could but everytime I go to sufu it lets me logon (well atleast it shows my logon name at the top) but for some reason I'm not allowed to reply in a thread... I'm not sure if I ever participated before, think I only lurked there so maybe the account is not activated yet?? I tried contacting the admins a couple of times but got no answer

Doug C

 

[airfrogusmc]

Take the photo over to sufu and pm Paul T.

Wish I could but everytime I go to sufu it lets me logon (well atleast it shows my logon name at the top) but for some reason I'm not allowed to reply in a thread... I'm not sure if I ever participated before, think I only lurked there so maybe the account is not activated yet?? I tried contacting the admins a couple of times but got no answer

Doug C

Yeah its been pretty fucked up over there lately. It seem to be working pretty good the other day.

 

[Doug C]

How do the 1955's (501) compare fit wise to the 1920's 201 (that's TWO-o-one) ? I've read that it's a good idea to purchase your regular waste size in these two models because they are cut so big. I do agree that's true of the pair of 201's from '07 that I own - they are definately big, if I had it to do again I would purchase those in my normal waste size instead of the requesit 2" bigger for shrinkage. So, would you say the same is true of the 1955 501 ?

btw, the (1920s) 201's cinch at the back is useless because it lacks prongs, slips constantly. Oh, and I'm considering making mine into knee-buster cut offs for the summer months... that's probably the only way I'm gonna get a ton of wear from them at this point.

Doug C

 

[Cobblers161]

Doug, if your handy with a pair of pliers/wire cutters then just snip the bar off at the end and you have 2 useable prongs...

 

[Anonymous]

I've got a pair of 1877's and pairs of 1955 & 1927 501's and have just ordered a pair of the deadstock dry 1933's. I hope they are as good as my 1877's. THEY are awesome denim.

Why is it that Lee don't seem to even warrant a mention ? Are they that inferior as a repro vintagfe or is it a look / cut thing ?

Dave

 

[Cobblers161]

For me it's just a preference of Levis over Lees as I'm sure it is for most. The 1934 101B's are superb jeans but Levis always just have that edge of cool despite the newer LVC repros being of a poorer quality than the Lee,s. Also the decent Lee repros are more expensive than LVC counterparts

 

[Grant]

The Lee repros are far superior to most of the LVC line. I think the main reason you don't hear much about Lee is a matter of availability. They're only marketed in Japan and the sizing tends to be a little erratic so ordering directly from Japan can be dicey. Sure Aero sells them, but with the hefty markup it makes them very expensive. That being said, the '44 and '42 Lee repros are simply amazing the way they wear and fade like original Lee denim. They also nail the details like rivets, bucklebacks and labels. I've had serious denim heads think the repros were originals after five years of wear and tear. Frequently I'll wear an original 40's Lee chore jacket with well broken pair of Lee repro jeans and it's sick how close they look compared to the original denim.

 

[Doug C]

Why is it that Lee don't seem to even warrant a mention ? Are they that inferior as a repro vintagfe or is it a look / cut thing ?

..not sure why, but you could always start a thread, I'm sure there are those who are into them and would participate in the thread

now can someone comment on the 1955 501 fit compared to the 1920 201 ?

Doug C

 

[Doug C]

cobblers161 wrote :

Doug, if your handy with a pair of pliers/wire cutters then just snip the bar off at the end and you have 2 useable prongs...

Yes, that's true of the 501s but not of the 201's. I have snipped the bar connecting the prongs on my other LVCs but the 201 buckle is a different (simpler) affair.

Doug C

 

[Doug C]

Hey guys back on page 8 of this thread we were discussing wheather or not the old vintage narrow looms are being used on US made LVC jeans.
I wrote:

So, I have a question about the jeans that have been produced for the LVC line here in the states up to and including now, has that demin always been produced here with vintage machines?

Grant didn't seem to think so:

I doubt that Cone uses the original machines that were used years ago.

nor did Airfrog:

I doubt the are using antique looms but I don't think its out of the question they could be using the narrow looms they were using in the 70s and very early 80s.

But check this out guys, I was just reading the full description for the Straight-fit selvedge jean in vintage indigo wash offered by J.Crew and apparently the denim they use IS made on the very old vintage machines :

Authentic selvedge cotton denim from one of Japan's oldest and most renowned mills. Made with denim woven on the original 100-year-old narrow looms.

So, what's the point... I guess it's just shocking to me that you can get a superior pair of jeans from jcrew than you can from LVC, and cheaper too. Assuming of course that cone is not using 100 year old machines. It also could be that you can not tell the difference but I doubt that's the case the way everyone raves about the quality of LVCjapan products.

Doug C

 

[Cobblers161]

It's my understanding that the original looms were sold to Japan prior to LVC's existence. I'd probably guess from looking at the materials that yeh the looms LVC are made on are different to your run of the mill 501's, shit I hope so! 120 notes is a lot to spend for them not to be....

 

[Doug C]

Well, here's a real layman's question.. are the newer looms not capable of creating a selvage-like edge ? I don't mean a red line or whatever, but a white non-fringed edge. I wouldn't think so, after all there's a reason we no longer have selvaged jeans - right? So the assumption is that modern STFs are made on new machines and LVCs are made on old machines. But if the 100 yo machines are not being used for LVC then apparently there are newer machines that'll do selvage too. I just wonder how the two jeans (STF & LVC) can both authenticly be described as "XX" denim.

Doug C

 

[airfrogusmc]

It's my understanding that the original looms were sold to Japan prior to LVC's existence. I'd probably guess from looking at the materials that yeh the looms LVC are made on are different to your run of the mill 501's, sh*t I hope so! 120 notes is a lot to spend for them not to be....

Paul T the levis guru over at sufu said that the looms rumor is just that and that cone mills were still using old NARROW looms just maybe not the originals and I can tell you the denim on my 27s is really nice.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Well, here's a real layman's question.. are the newer looms not capable of creating a selvage-like edge ? I don't mean a red line or whatever, but a white non-fringed edge. I wouldn't think so, after all there's a reason we no longer have selvaged jeans - right? So the assumption is that modern STFs are made on new machines and LVCs are made on old machines. But if the 100 yo machines are not being used for LVC then apparently there are newer machines that'll do selvage too. I just wonder how the two jeans (STF & LVC) can both authenticly be described as "XX" denim.

Doug C

Remember levis didn't start using denim from the wider looms until the early 1980s so those looms might not be 100 years old but are pre 1980 looms and are still producing awesome denim.

 

[Doug C]

Yeah, I got you. I'll have to take a trip to J Crew though and check out the denim that was done on the machines that are 100 years old.... I'll compare 'em in the dressing room to my LVC's, see if there is any blatant and noticable difference.

Doug C

 

[Cobblers161]

It's amazing how different the newer lvc denim is to the old, i have 2 pairs of 47's, one from '97 and one from '07, both made in the US and the difference is phenomenal. The '97's having a much heavier denim, just better quality all round.

Any idea what did happen to the original looms then?

I'm guessing the rumour about Valencia St stopping production due to Mafia influence is also a crock?

Just washed some '33's after a couple of months and they're cracking jeans, I'm suprised how narrow they are, it's not a complaint I just expected a looser cut, as a result I love 'em.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[stanier]

I've been really taken with Japanese LVC. I've got a pair of '44's and a Type II jacket to date and love them both. The denim seems to have a darker hue than my US made LVC's. An exception however is my 2003 55's which again are nice and dark. I like the darker denim as I like the contrast when the wear fades appear.

I wonder what looms the Japanese denim is made on, and do Levis have a factory they own in Japan, anyone know?

 

[Grant]

Hey Stanier, you're right, the denim that LVC Japan uses seems a darker indigo blue than the denim made in the US. I also agree about the old '55 denim being super dark. I was told by someone at Aero when I bought mineyears ago that the denim was made in Japan for that model. Not sure if that's true, but the denim is definitely a darker hue and fades much more like vintage denim than other US LVC stuff I've worn.