Levi 505 Past & Present???

[radman46]

How have the Levi 505's changed over the years? I wore these for ever from the 70's on. In the late 90's their quality seemed to go down and their sizes were all over the map. I tried on a pair yesterday and was quite surprised at the fit and what seemed to be better quality that the later 90's 505's. Does anyone know what changes in fit and quality the 505's have undergone the last 30 + years? Did Levi up their quality control recently or did I just get lucky and find a pair that impressed me yesterday? How does the denim of today compare to say the mid 70's Levi denim? Thanks for any comments or info.

 

[radman46]

No Levi Historians??

No Levi experts in the crowd?? I thought someone here would have some info. Thanks just the same.

 

[Bespoke]

I'm no Levi authority, but...

I haven't really discerned any change in the quality of Levis over the past few decades. On the other hand, I have watched as the waist (and overall cut) has tended to expand throughout the 90s. I've always thought these "improvements" were just Levis' way of growing with their demographic base (baby boomers); as the buyer's waist expanded with age, so did their Levis.

The good news is that Levis has recently launched (or re-launched?) their "skinny leg" jeans, which harken back to the fit and cut of the classic Levis like the 505. They've even done us the favour of offering them in several styles ranging from the clasical dungeree blue to several faded variants to a handful of stylishly "damaged" iterations.

The other problem with Levis (during the "dark ages") was that fewer and fewer retailers tended to carry them. Or, at least, few carried the real Levis (generally, to provide shelf space for their less expensive house brands or the growing number of trendier designer labels). I'm happy to report that I recently came upon a huge Levi section at a number of Sears stores and it was well-stocked with just about every model shown on Levis.com!

 

[Matt Deckard]

Biggest difference is that they stopped producing them in the United States. That alone could be the reason for the bump in quality.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Radman I'm more into 501s and Levis Vintage Clothing (LVC) at that. Red line and blue line selvege.

and the two newist members of the collection

1886 the first 501

1933 redline Valencia St made.

I have seen a decline in quality since Levis are no longer made in the US. I search out US made LVC. In 1983 Levis swithed from XX redline cone mill denim to wider XXX 60" loom denim. The big E in the red tag on the rear pocket switched to a little e in 1971. JEEZE do I sound like a denim geek or what. sorry... But the quality has suffered.

 

[Jay]

Do those '33s have the rivet at the crotch? Cause I heard they stopped them when the company got a lot of complaints from cowboys who sat too close to camp fires...

 

[airfrogusmc]

Yeah all of my LVCs have crotch rivets except the 1947s. Crotch rivets came of during WWII as did the back cinch.

 

[Bespoke]

Levis Vintage

Are you vintage fans aware of this:
http://www.us.levi.com/lsco/levi/cl...older_id=2534374305318972&bmUID=1157600990934

 

[radman46]

Thanks I knew there were experts out there!!

Great info and pics. I really noticed the drop in Levi quality when they quit making them in the US. Seems like the newer one are going the other way. I'm glad someone else feels Levi's sizing has gotten bigger as the years gone by. I believe the legs on the 505's use to be much tighter, but that could be just my bad memory. I guess I should not complain, I took have gotten a little bigger over the years as well.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Also the early LVCs are also my favorites. The ones with 555 on the button backs are even more collectable because of they were made at the Valencia factory using cone mills denim. The only LVCs I really like that were made later are the 1886s and they were still US made from 05.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Also a lttle something to look for when you're looking for better denim.

red line selvage

Green line or blue line I've heard it called both

 

[Nathan Flowers]

.

So where do you go to find all these jeans, Allen? Do they have stores that stock them, or do you have to have them special ordered from Levi's?

 

[airfrogusmc]

I usually search'm out on e-bay. Most of the stuff is very limited and can be hard to find raw/unwashed new with tags which is the way I prefer them. I did by my 47s at the Levis store on Mich Ave about 3 years ago. I've also bought from Aero leather. But I have found allot on e-bay.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And do you rappel down abandoned mineshafts to find the older ones? (As some folks do!)

.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Marc, To old for any of that.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Heres a guy that I've bought from. Got the jeans two days after I paid at auction close from Germany. He always seem to have nice LVCs.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NWT-LEVIS-BIG-E...8QQihZ005QQcategoryZ11483QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[MrBern]

evisu

for a couple years EVISU was highly touted as outdoing Levis. Using reconditioned vintage narrow looms to recreate the old ringspun denim.
I procurred a pair, but was disappoined in that they were counterfeits. Actually the govt has been pursueing most counterfeit designer labels as the funds may be going to terrorism.

Lately they havent been up on the vintage styles. But its a pretty high end brand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evisu

 

[airfrogusmc]

One thing I've noticed is some not all but some of the Japanese companies over do their denim. Make it to slubby or to heavy in relationship to original Levis. I have a friend that has some original 50s and late 40s 501s still new with tags and some of the Levis cone mill stuff is pretty darn close.

I usually search out the 555 stuff and if you're patient it does show up raw new with tags on e-bay from time to time.

I have a killer pair of 20s 201s 555 that have just awesome blue line denim.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

So these jeans aren't made by the company today?

 

[airfrogusmc]

Oh yeah Levis makes theirs but in very limited #s and they feature different models in different years. For instance in 1997 the made a 1937 201. In 2000 they made a 33 501. Last year they made a 1947 etc.

The 1886s I have must have been made in small numbers cause I've only seen one pair raw new with tags on e-bay and I bought them.

Tags inside the legs will tell you what factory they were made at and what year.

For instance

These are 1933 501s and were made at the Valencia St factory San Francisco in Nov of 2000.

Right after the waist and inseam on the same line is a # that reads33501 that indicates what they were

Bottom line says 555 and the last # 1100 in Nov 2000.