Levis Type III, 70s? 80s?

[guygardner]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me narrow down the production date of this Levis Type III jacket?

 

[Kubatu]

I'm not sure how specific you were hoping to date the jacket, but your estimation of 70s-80s is accurate. Levi's Type 3 jackets were given the 70505 label number in 1967 / 1968. Based on it having a care label, it would have been produced past 1971. The lack of handwarmer pockets, which were introduced in 1984, means it is probably earlier than that as well. So something in the 1971-1984 period. There may be more details relating to stitching that could possibly narrow it down further, but I'm not that familiar with Levi jackets to guess.

 

[Peacoat]

I'm not sure how specific you were hoping to date the jacket, but your estimation of 70s-80s is accurate. Levi's Type 3 jackets were given the 70505 label number in 1967 / 1968. Based on it having a care label, it would have been produced past 1971. The lack of handwarmer pockets, which were introduced in 1984, means it is probably earlier than that as well. So something in the 1971-1984 period.

I have one that is similar, except it has the hand warmer pockets. Until I read the above, I would have sworn I got mine in the 70s and not post 1983. I still think that, but no longer would swear to it. The label number in mine is 70507. I haven't yet found where the 70507 label is given a date.

 

[Kubatu]

I have one that is similar, except it has the hand warmer pockets. Until I read the above, I would have sworn I got mine in the 70s and not post 1983. I still think that, but no longer would swear to it. The label number in mine is 70507. I haven't yet found where the 70507 label is given a date.

I'm not an expert by any means, just repeating what I've read online on the topic. There are a handful of fashion-related sites that all say the same thing as this article on Heddels, which is: "If your jacket has four pockets in addition to the two chest pockets, it’s been produced around 1984 or later", or as another site states, "The first important and easy way to determine the difference in the period is looking if the jacket has two hand warmer pockets. If they are there then it’s from the mid-1980 until the present ..... If your jacket doesn’t feature hand warmer pockets but still has the small e red tab it’s dating from 71 till mid-80s."

I did see someone on one site saying that orange tab jackets potentially had handwarmer pockets prior to the 80s, so maybe that could be the case? Otherwise, not really sure.

 

[guygardner]

I'm not an expert by any means, just repeating what I've read online on the topic. There are a handful of fashion-related sites that all say the same thing as this article on Heddels, which is: "If your jacket has four pockets in addition to the two chest pockets, it’s been produced around 1984 or later", or as another site states, "The first important and easy way to determine the difference in the period is looking if the jacket has two hand warmer pockets. If they are there then it’s from the mid-1980 until the present ..... If your jacket doesn’t feature hand warmer pockets but still has the small e red tab it’s dating from 71 till mid-80s."

I did see someone on one site saying that orange tab jackets potentially had handwarmer pockets prior to the 80s, so maybe that could be the case? Otherwise, not really sure.

Thanks for the reply. I had seen some of these articles, and figured it probably dated to some time between 1971 and sometime in the '80s. I was wondering if the type of tags, color stitching under the pocket flaps, or the back of the buttons could help narrow it down further. What I saw online wasn't very clear.

 

[Peacoat]

I'm not an expert by any means, just repeating what I've read online on the topic. There are a handful of fashion-related sites that all say the same thing as this article on Heddels, which is: "If your jacket has four pockets in addition to the two chest pockets, it’s been produced around 1984 or later", or as another site states, "The first important and easy way to determine the difference in the period is looking if the jacket has two hand warmer pockets. If they are there then it’s from the mid-1980 until the present ..... If your jacket doesn’t feature hand warmer pockets but still has the small e red tab it’s dating from 71 till mid-80s."

I did see someone on one site saying that orange tab jackets potentially had handwarmer pockets prior to the 80s, so maybe that could be the case? Otherwise, not really sure.

I checked and mine has the red tag. So, I guess I got it in the mid to late 80s and not the mid to late 70s.

 

[Blackadder]

It is what the market would call 70s Levi's while the one with the pocket is called the 80s. In fact no one put much effort in dating Levi's after the 60s i.e. after the big E, so you won't find much about them in any of the vintage reference books. Unless you can find an actual batch number besides the "details" in your photo, I'd just label it as 70s Levi's type 3.