Jeans

[Indy Magnoli]

Indy, what sort of material are you using?

Sorry it took so long to get these details, but I've confirmed that the denim is not selvedge and is made in Japan. It is 14oz weight.

Kind regards,
Indy

 

[daddy-o]

well, I am about to slim down my denim collection. Have had all the various vintage styles by levis, lee and even german "ace" brand and I gotta say that my favourites are looser, wider styles 1929 2O1´s and 1933 Levis models. I find the 37 , 44 and 47 models a bit too tight. The 101 b model from Lee is pretty comfortable and the 37 Hair on Hide is ok too, even though it is a cowboy model. The levis 37, last of the cinchbacks is I find tighter than the Lee model. I find the Wrangler Blue bell range also rather tight and for me unwearable. Would have to go up 2 sizes at least. I really dig their jackets though and only recently purchased the blanket lined jacket in a fab raw denim. So I got rid of the 37, 44 and 47 and I am keeping only the 29,33 and 55 model. Howgh

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Hey thomasbonilsson,

How are those Wrangler 936's working for you?

 

[Fatdutchman]

I just bought a pair of "Cowboy Cut" 13MWZ's. I was actually expecting for there to be a big night-and-day difference between these and the jeans I normally wear (most days, I am clad almost entirely in blue denim). The rise is really no longer than the regular Wrangler jeans from WalMart. They fit me just SLIGHTLY more loosely than the regular straight-leg Wranglers. (these are the "Original fit Cowboy Cut" jeans). They are not quite as baggy as the "relaxed fit" jeans. The copper rivets are cool.... The denim is kind of an odd zig-zag weave, rather than the ordinary "drill-type" weave. I like them, but can't justify paying $25 a pair for them over the $9.95 "hard" blue denim "Rustler" (Wrangler) jeans that I am wearing right now (with the cuffs turned up, by the way....)

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Fatdutchman,

You can get the "Rigid" 13MWZ for around $19.95, but you've got to shrink them to size. I can't find any Wrangler for $9.95 anywhere.

 

[Sefton]

I'm writing this from Tokyo where I bought a pair of LVC 1937 501s and they're pretty neat repros. Expensive,but this is my last trip to Japan for a few years (baby on the way,freedom about to end... ) so I went for it. I turned them inside out and washed them in cold water and then hung them up to dry in our hotel room. I probably wont wash them again for some time. I'll just wear them and lightly clean by hand if they get dirty-I'm hoping to get some of those great whisker effects. I possibly should have worn them for a few months before the first wash,but they were just too big. Still plenty dark and will go great with my Aero 1941 A-2. I'm going to try and find a decent vintage looking pair of boots to go with them (or go bankrupt trying...) Sayonara for now.

 

[Doug C]

So are the LVC 1937s a tighter cut than the 1955s? I didn't think so, but could be I guess. I just ordered the 1933s and need wide legs on my next pair too, but want a different model than what I already have.

Doug C

 

[Salv]

I bought another pair of the LVC 1933 501XX today, and thought you'd all like to see a comparison between my old pair and this new pair. The old pair were bought dry in July 2001:

The new pair are also dry and were bought at an outlet shopping centre in Bicester, Oxfordshire for £90 reduced from £130:

 

[The Wingnut]

I'm going to finally weigh in on this topic...I'm sure denimheads are going to be put off by what follows.

Jeans are, in my mind, disposable items. You wear them almost every day, they're unremarkable to the masses, and they wear out after about a year. They're heinously casual. In the golden era, nobody but youths or the lower class would think of wearing them outside the context of work, specifically blue-collar(a term itself implying denim) work.

That said, I can't justify spending more than $30 on a pair of jeans. I typically pay around $15 for generic jeans from Target which are produced by Wrangler in Mexico. I want something I can throw in the washer every week and not worry about them shrinking, and I don't care about fading....that's character.

On the other hand, I want the look and I'm just not pulling it off. I want that wide, untapered leg, cuffs and high rise. I don't want some big maker's label stamped on my posterier.

The cowboy cut 13 MWZ Wranglers have me intrigued(I'd go after that leather label with a seam ripper, though). I'd be interested in something under $30 that's commonly available stateside and can replicate a working class look from 1930 to 1950.

Side note, my cuffs just don't want to cooperate. They're always a bit rumpled. Do the denimheads iron theirs after they fold them in?

 

[BellyTank]

Have a look at a book titled: "The Birth of Hot Rodding, the story of the Dry Lakes Era" (Robert Genat, et al.)It's all photos- a lot of colour shots- a sea of denim- pre-war and some immediate post-war.
Jeans, flight and other leather jackets, army surplus jackets of all kinds.
It's an eye-opener in some ways and kOOl.
An eye opener for weekend and working gear, cobbled together ensembles and the beginning of a fashion. An eclectic mixture, which eventually lead to the Jeans and Leather jacket look. Hot Rodding and Motorcycle clubs.

Weekend, Dry Lakes denim.

Mall jeans will only last a year.
You pays your money, etc...

Mall denim will never look at all like real denim.
By one good pair, wear them occasionally and they will last you 10 years.
EDWIN jeans are much cheaper than Lee and Levis but comparable, Japanese denim.
They make the Lee and Wrangler repros.

Hennes and Mauritz(if they're in your city) often have selvedge edged, dry denim jeans with straight legs but watch the waist heights. They are very cheap.

B
T

 

[Salv]

...
On the other hand, I want the look and I'm just not pulling it off. I want that wide, untapered leg, cuffs and high rise. I don't want some big maker's label stamped on my posterier.

The cowboy cut 13 MWZ Wranglers have me intrigued(I'd go after that leather label with a seam ripper, though). I'd be interested in something under $30 that's commonly available stateside and can replicate a working class look from 1930 to 1950.

Side note, my cuffs just don't want to cooperate. They're always a bit rumpled. Do the denimheads iron theirs after they fold them in?

These are my everyday jeans - Dickies carpenter jeans that I bought for about $20 in Walmart while on holiday in Florida a few years ago:

They are high-waisted, reaching my navel, and while they are not as wide as the 1933 Levis shown above the leg is quite straight with not much of a taper to the ankle. They look as though the design hasn't changed for decades. I should have bought a few pairs at that price, but they have lasted well.

Carharrt do almost exactly the same jeans -

And yes, I iron the cuffs.

 

[Mike1973]

Have a look at a book titled: "The Birth of Hot Rodding, the story of the Dry Lakes Era"

I got this book after you mentioned it a while back BT. What a book, I haven't been able to put it down! :eusa_clap

So many great photos, a perfect snapshot of an era

Cheers fella

 

[Mike1973]

Great looking jeans!

I've recently dipped my toe in the water of vintage style denin and got a second hand pair of these. It took me a while to get used to wearing loose jeans, but they are really growing on me! One problem with them though, how do you keep the buckle done up at the back? Mine keeps coming undone no matter how I thread it
I've given up now and wear a belt [huh]

 

[BellyTank]

I got this book after you mentioned it a while back BT. What a book, I haven't been able to put it down! :eusa_clap

So many great photos, a perfect snapshot of an era

Cheers fella

Glad you like it.

Coincidentally- two or three of the books I can't put down have your face plastered all the way through them!

Nice work, nice haircut.
Khaki certainly agrees with you.

B
T

 

[MudInYerEye]

???!!!

You wear them almost every day, they're unremarkable to the masses, and they wear out after about a year. They're heinously casual. In the golden era, nobody but youths or the lower class would think of wearing them outside the context of work, specifically blue-collar(a term itself implying denim) work.

All that junk above is what makes old denim so damn cool. Come. throw on your 30's workwear and we'll collectively flip off the besuited swingdancing snobs!

 

[The Wingnut]

All that junk above is what makes old denim so damn cool. Come. throw on your 30's workwear and we'll collectively flip off the besuited swingdancing snobs!

I am one of those besuited swing dancing 'snobs'. I don't consider what I listed as cool, I consider it common and boring, and reasons not to drop three figures on something I'm going to beat the hell out of and throw out after a few years. I prefer to maintain the vintage appearance in my casual attire. It's not about flipping off any one subculture(especially not my own), in fact, it's about maintaining a higher standard than the current norm. If anything, I'm dressing up, not down.

...I'm also tired of the association that jeans have with rock & roll and postwar outcast culture. Some of my looks evoke that era and culture, but I'm not going after that association, just a period feel. Very few people back then were tattooed, greased up bikers and rodders.

 

[BellyTank]

Very few people back then were tattooed, greased up bikers and rodders.

True - but many more wore jeans and leather jackets- and not in your typical Rock and roll style but as work/utility wear.

The greased up tattooed thing is a '50s/'60s cliche.

B
T

 

[MudInYerEye]

]Very[/i] few people back then were tattooed, greased up bikers and rodders.

Which is the one of the main reasons those very few people were so damn cool.

 

[Salv]

...
One problem with them though, how do you keep the buckle done up at the back? Mine keeps coming undone no matter how I thread it
I've given up now and wear a belt [huh]

I had the same problem, and I pulled the cinch-belt back into place so often the buckle snapped. I replaced it with one that I bought in a local fabric shop and which holds the cinch-belt properly in place.

 

[Doug C]

As for the cinch slipping, I think it's necessary to snip the one looping prong (that is part of the buckle) so that it becomes two pointy prongs, like the originals were. That way the two prongs are able to pierce the denim strip that travels through the buckle. If you don't do this snipping, then it can not pierce the denim and will not hold. You can see on one part if the buckle two little notches where these two pointy prongs are supposed to fit/lay arfter the joining part has been snipped. I think they used to sell the jeans with the pointy prongs but now add this removable part for safety reasons (and so they don't get sued). My new LVC 1933s were waiting for me when I got home last night, and I did this little surgery right away.

Doug C