Saturday, June 9, 2012

My First Vintage Levi's "Red Line Selveged" Score. Found At The Most Convenient Thrift Store, Too! Status: Little Too Big.

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They almost fit. I can wear them but they are just a little too big for me. Thrifters can't be choosers...especially with the win / fail ratio of finding truly vintage Levi's around here!  Levi's made in Mexico?  Dime a dozen.  Levi's made in Madagascar...easy.  Vintage made in USA Levi's...tough to find.  Found these just down the street at the Salvation Army!


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I know, I know..."what's the big deal?" Well, you see these jeans are not just American Made

but they sport the hard to find "Selvege" detail! You can read more about why Selveging is

desirable
but suffice to say that my interest lies mostly in the rarity with which it is found in used

Levi's (and how expensive new Levi's with it are!).

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These aren't That rare.  They aren't "Big E" Levi's.  Those are what I'm really looking for when

I'm rummaging through the denim racks. The details place these Post '70 - Pre '83.  Levi's started

using the lower case "e" in 1970 and stopped using the selveging for regular production in 1983.

They are 501s but I'm not sure what the "2" in front of the 501 is for.  Maybe it's a student fit or

something?  Dunno.

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They're sporting some great whiskering (the stretch wear just under the pockets) and lots of

natural wear on the thighs so it's kinda killing me that these don't fit me perfectly! Too big. I look

like a Cosby Kid from the '80s with big ol' baggy pants when I throw 'em on! But I won't lie, I

did wear 'em a little bit anyway! It was a wash. I didn't feel any cooler for wearing the cool jeans

'cuz of the dorky fit! I'll be selling these. Anybody else got a thing for vintage Levi's? Wear 38"

waist and have a 40" or shorter inseam?  Live near by?

6 comments:

  1. Oh, golly! I was skinny with no hips, went to a Hippie college, so men's small Levis were just about ALL I wore, throughout the '70's. I guess I should have saved them...You made me feel old, tonight, Mr. Mod! ;-)

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    1. Hi Becky. Yes! You totally should have saved them. I'm finally getting to an age where I find myself thinking about the things I should have saved from my past. What's wrong with feeling old?! Most everything I have is old! Old is good too!

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  2. Cool Score! Yes, I agree that it is cool to find the Pre- early 80's Levis that were still made in America. The new trend with the 20 something girls is to take the older, high waisted women's jeans that are 1980's and back, especially Levis, and cut them into short-shorts, adding shredded distress, and studs. My daughter, who is 20, has scored some great finds coming with me to Good Will on a couple of my hunts. It was cool to see her get so excited about up-cycling, and seeing the value in vintage as a great fashion statement. For about $20 bucks and some creative time cutting and sewing she came up with about 5 pair of some of the coolest shorts of the season! Two of them were vintage Levis, 1 pr vintage Calvin Klein's, 1 pr Guess, and 1 pr. Rio's, all made in the USA. Those were the good ol' days:)

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    1. Hi RC. Nice to see the young'ns getting on the upcycling bandwagon! Nice to hear there is some use for the Mom jeans! Only thing is some day they won't believe that they "Cut Up all those jeans that are worth so much now"!

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  3. Dibs! It think they just might fit! Email sent.

    Thanks Mr. Modtomic!

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