The Way Jeans Used to Be...

[IndigoFanatic]

While I may not be old enough to remember the way that jeans used to be, it's a topic that I've discussed with my parents at fair length. One comment they had made was that jeans used to be incredibly durable, and when new they were stiff enough to stand on their own.

After buying a pair of cheap jeans from either Target or Wal-Mart, and having the button fall out and the zipper start to come loose after only washing them twice, I decided to find jeans that are still made the way they used to be. I've tried some of the various Japanese brands that use the denim manufactured on the same kind of shuttle-looms that Levi's used pre-WWII, as well as some others which might be considered 'boutique' brands. All of this in search of jeans which will be of the quality that I understand they used to be, before the only thing people cared about was whatever pre-wash/distressed/distroyed pattern/label could be put on them.

In that spirit, I thought that these pics might bring back memories for people, though perhaps I think about jeans more than the average person...





These are the standard Levi's 501 Shrink-to-Fit jeans that you can pick up at any Macy's or Sears, and after soaking them they were stiff enough to stand on their own. I currently have a contest on another forum with these jeans to see how they look after being worn for a year or so. In any case, there are over 40 people involved in this, so hopefully at the end of the year the results can be compared to a similar contest which used one of the very expensive Japanese brands to see how they stand up side to the same kind of wear.

Anyone have a favorite pair of jeans? Any good stories with them?

[univibe88]

My dad told me that when he was a kid they would take new jeans down the laundromat and wash them with a box of salt. The salt water would soften them up and break them in. They did this at the laundromat so as not to inflict the salt water on the home machine.

[Esme]

We used to wash our levi's four or five times before wearing them. We used to wear them in swimming. Some people would buy the shrink to fit ones in the tub to get them really really tight! Wearing them for a few weeks worth of horseback riding (going camping at the lake with the cheap rental horses was good) and then washing and leaving on the line to dry overnight was good, too.

[Brinybay]

Originally Posted by univibe88

My dad told me that when he was a kid they would take new jeans down the laundromat and wash them with a box of salt. The salt water would soften them up and break them in. They did this at the laundromat so as not to inflict the salt water on the home machine.

Another reason I despise laundromats!

[Doug C]

Indigo fanatic, I examined some today at sears, are yours the ones made in the dominican republic or in mexico ? The ones from the DR didn't seem dark blue enough (in their raw unwashed state) to me, they had a sort of grey tone about them. I think these new 501/STF jeans are supposed to have a slimmer cut than others from recent years, said to be like the 1947 models that LVC is producing in that regard. If I were in this contest I'd be sure to only drip dry these jeans, driers are no good for them - I wouldn't even wring out the excess water before hanging them, personally. Also when you soak or wash, only do it by hand and I'd add liquid starch to the final rinse (but don't iron of course)...that way they'll remain stiff (like new ones) for longer and therefore set your creased areas in better - which in time will fade first and cause nice contrasting whiskers, etc. Cool pictures you posted btw, I think the STF's are great just wish the stupid looms could make a selvaged edge .

Doug C

[Max Flash]

I have a question that has been bugging me for a while and here seems as good a place as any to ask it.

I'd love to get the 1950's look of dark blue jeans with roll-ups or turn-ups at the bottom in the lighter colour of the inside of the jean. How is it best to achieve this look?

I assume classic cut jeans like Levi's 501s are the best to use, and then one simply rolls the leg up to give the desired cuff (obviously you have to buy a leg length longer than your actual usual measurement). Were they typically rolled up twice to hide the hem of the leg, or just a single turn-up? Were the turn-ups then sown in place or were they left to be rolled down again to wash, etc.?

Thanks!

[Warbaby]

As someone who was in high school in the mid to late 50's, I can give you the straight skinny on what was cool in jeans style - at least for one particular region and culture. It wasn't a hip place like L.A. or N'Yawk, but a small town in Arizona (which should give it a certain cachet for jeans style authenticity).

New, dark blue jeans were definitely not cool, nor were deep turned-up cuffs (only the dorkiest of dorks wore them that way).

The usual treatment for breaking in new jeans was to wash them every time your mom did a dark wash and when they were dry, lay them on the bed and beat them soundly with a baseball bat or big stick til they softend up. Hanging them out in the Arizona sun certainly helped the fading.

As for the cuffs, some kids wore them plain and uncuffed, but the really cool guys, the ones with DA haircuts and their cigarettes rolled up in their t-shirt sleeves, reverse-rolled their cuffs like dress trousers. You bought them with legs a lot longer than your own, turned a deep cuff under, then turned the cuff up on the outside about 1" to produce a narrow cuff that matched the rest of the jeans. The first few times you had to iron them that way, but eventually they'd stay. Being unwilling to take unnecessary chances with my coolness, I sewed mine...

Don't know how it was elsewhere, but this was the style in that one place and time.

[Tomasso]

Finding a great fitting pair of jeans can require an exhausting search. A few years ago I decided to find the perfect pair of "dress" jeans, cost be damned. I proceeded to hit the streets of Manhattan and soon discovered how pricey they could be; topping out over $500. Undeterred, over the course of a month I hit every top denim purveyor in town. I must have tried on over 300 pairs of jeans. Whenever I ran across a contender I would buy them, on approval. I ended up with eight finalists before staging a blind "tasting"(price not taken into consideration) which was judged by my GF and a few of her cronies. The consensus was that a "relatively" inexpensive($150) pair by Burberry were the best fit. I probably wear them once a month, which is a lot considering I had often gone years without wearing jeans.

[Miss Hattie]

Originally Posted by Max Flash

I have a question that has been bugging me for a while and here seems as good a place as any to ask it.

I'd love to get the 1950's look of dark blue jeans with roll-ups or turn-ups at the bottom in the lighter colour of the inside of the jean. How is it best to achieve this look?

I assume classic cut jeans like Levi's 501s are the best to use, and then one simply rolls the leg up to give the desired cuff (obviously you have to buy a leg length longer than your actual usual measurement). Were they typically rolled up twice to hide the hem of the leg, or just a single turn-up? Were the turn-ups then sown in place or were they left to be rolled down again to wash, etc.?

Funnily enough that’s something I wanted to know too.
I was searching ebay a few days back and found these

(Oops no live auctions pleasee. -scotrace)

Thinking my luck was in; I clicked on the item, only to be disheartened when looking at the measurements. Alas they are just about the right outside leg length but 6 ½ inches too big in the waist. Oh fiddlesticks!

Looking at these ones they are jut turned up once with the hem showing…
Oh well they might be of some interest to a fellow lounger!

Hats x

[IndigoFanatic]

Originally Posted by Doug C

Indigo fanatic, I examined some today at sears, are yours the ones made in the dominican republic or in mexico ? The ones from the DR didn't seem dark blue enough (in their raw unwashed state) to me, they had a sort of grey tone about them. I think these new 501/STF jeans are supposed to have a slimmer cut than others from recent years, said to be like the 1947 models that LVC is producing in that regard. If I were in this contest I'd be sure to only drip dry these jeans, driers are no good for them - I wouldn't even wring out the excess water before hanging them, personally. Also when you soak or wash, only do it by hand and I'd add liquid starch to the final rinse (but don't iron of course)...that way they'll remain stiff (like new ones) for longer and therefore set your creased areas in better - which in time will fade first and cause nice contrasting whiskers, etc. Cool pictures you posted btw, I think the STF's are great just wish the stupid looms could make a selvaged edge .

Doug C

Mine are made in Mexico (unfortunately there aren't any made in the US any more to my knowledge). When the jeans were new, there was more of a grey tinge to them, but when you soak them the fibers tighten up and a lot of excess indigo comes off, so that gray appearance becomes much more blue, and you see much less of the white weft underneath the blue.

As to the cut, yes they are now almost identical to the 1947 501 (far slimmer than they were in the past). Many stores still have a mix in their stock of the new and old cuts, so here is a definite detail to look for if you want the new (slimmer) cut:

The new cut has this white tag on the inside of the waistband, whereas the old did not.

As for the contest, it just started on 1/1/09, so there hasn't been a need to wash them as yet, and likely won't be for quite a while, but the soaking was done with some boiling salt water to make sure that I got all of the shrinkage out, and then hung up to drip dry (with a fan blowing down the inside, which is why they are the shape that they are in the pics to stand up).

The LVC line is a very good option if you want more of the authentic details like the selvage line, hidden rivets on pockets, etc., but my notion for the contest was to use the cheapest, most readily available jeans possible, which also have the benefit of being the direct decendants of the originals.

[IndigoFanatic]

Originally Posted by Max Flash

I have a question that has been bugging me for a while and here seems as good a place as any to ask it.

I'd love to get the 1950's look of dark blue jeans with roll-ups or turn-ups at the bottom in the lighter colour of the inside of the jean. How is it best to achieve this look?

I assume classic cut jeans like Levi's 501s are the best to use, and then one simply rolls the leg up to give the desired cuff (obviously you have to buy a leg length longer than your actual usual measurement). Were they typically rolled up twice to hide the hem of the leg, or just a single turn-up? Were the turn-ups then sown in place or were they left to be rolled down again to wash, etc.?

Thanks!

This look is best achieved by using any raw denim (the Levi's Shrink-to-Fit is probably the most available of any such jeans). With raw denim, you will have the darkest possible warp (indigo dyed side of the jeans) with the lightest possible weft (white inside of the jeans). The more pre-washed jeans are, the closer in color the two sides of the material becomes.

Additionally, you do need them to have some extra length, so that is something to consider when buying them. As to getting them to stay in place, raw denim is often stiff enough that you can just fold them and they'll stay in place. If you're particularly worried about it though, you can iron them as was mentioned.

[scotrace]

LOVE THIS THREAD OFF TO SEARS.

[Baron Kurtz]

I would suggest the purchase of a pair of jeans from the Lee Vintage range. Make sure they're made in Japan. This will ensure they're lomed right and dyed right. They make a repro of James Dean's jeans. A truly fantastic pair of jeans. I don't recal the model, but i think they have named it after a year. My pair is fantastic and has held up for 5 years or so.


bk

[B. F. Socaspi]

I'm only 16, so I obviously can't speak with authority about jeans of the past, but what I've gleamed from being in the local hardcore scene might prove useful.

Skinheads wear Levi's (501's are very popular), usually a little bit longer than your normal cut of jeans. Our neat little "trick" was to figure out how high you want to cuff it, mark it, then go back and cut out the hem up to that length. Then you resew the hem. This makes the cuff very neat and tidy (something skins are after -- very traditional and stylish people).

And for anyone who might think wrongly of me, no skinheads are white supremacists. Skinheads resent that stereotype attributed to them and are usually the most active against such scum.

[Salv]

I've posted these before, but I may as well post them in here as well. Here are two pairs of 1933 repro LVC jeans. Both pairs were bought raw, and the first pair remained unwashed for two years. The second pair were washed not long after I got them, although the photos show them before I washed them. I wish I hadn't washed them now - they lost the raw denim sheen and I don't think they'll fade as well as the first pair:

[univibe88]

Originally Posted by scotrace

LOVE THIS THREAD OFF TO SEARS.

I got some here: http://www.langstons.com/lev501rigins.html

Only $37 with shipping

[scotrace]

Originally Posted by scotrace

LOVE THIS THREAD OFF TO SEARS.

WHERE THEY DO NOT CARRY THEM.

[IndigoFanatic]

Odd... They're definitely at the Sears near me. Perhaps just calling a few places first. Otherwise, they're readily available from numerous places on-line (eBay can be a good resource for them, as with most things).

[The Captain]

Early '50s at the stable.

Mid '50s in the "hood".

Late '50s

[IndigoFanatic]

Those are some really nice looking pics. I like the late 50's picture in particular, so perhaps my notion of likeing the LVC 1955 is pretty acurate... I've been thinking of either those or perhaps the 1927 if I want another Levi's after this year.