The Evolution of the Levi's 501 waist overalls/jeans (1853-1971)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Ever wonder which iteration of Levi's your repro jeans are based off of and what details are most relevant? This video utilizes a document from LS&Co to identify those details. Thanks to TCB, Warehouse, Sugar Cane, One Piece of Rock, Levi's, Black Sign, Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, Hinoya, where I pulled illustrations from.
Patreon:
/ thevintagefuture
(affiliate link)
hinoya.shop/en...
(non-affiliate links)
Blackhorse Lane Denim
blackhorselane...
Black Sign Vocalion Jeans
standardandstr...
TCB Jeans
tcbjeans.mysho...
Denim = Denimes = fabric "of Nimes" or "from Nimes" in France (predates Levi)
Jeans = blue fabric made in Genoa, Italy (Genoa - "jean-oa" - predates Levi)
First called "waist overalls", then "overalls", then returned to "blue jeans" in 60s
Denim is a twill (2x1, 3x1, 4x1, 5x1, 6x1, 7x1) vs chambray (1x1)
501 Levi overalls/jeans referenced:
1873 - LS&Co patent the reinforcement rivet
1886 - The Two-Horse patch is added
1890 - "501" name - 4-pocket w/ suspender buttons, cinch, crotch rivet
1901 - second back pocket added
1906 - LS&Co factories/archives destroyed in San Francisco Fire
1922 - belt loops added
1936 - Red tab is introduced
1937 - Hidden rivets introduced at rear pockets, suspender buttons gone
1943 - Arcuate is trademarked (design dates back to 1873) - also around this time, cinch and crotch rivet are removed, other temporary changes
1947 - The basic 5-pocket jean as we know it is born
1954-55 - zipper introduced
Late 50s - cardstock patch
1960s - "jeans" officially replaces the term "overalls"
1961 - Pre-shrunk Levi's introduced
1966 - back pocket rivets removed and replaced with bar-tack
1971 - little e 501s become the norm
Cone Mills:
Cone Mills opens in 1891 - LS&Co in 1873
LS&Co began purchasing some denim from Cone in 1915
LS&Co buys from Cone exclusively in 1922
Cone begins making LS&Co proprietary 10 oz. red selvedge (29" wide)
Cone introduces XXX looms (60"wide)
Cone Mills shuts down December 31, 2017
Post-2017 - Cone's equipment is purchased and a new outfit launches the brand "Cone Denim"
Awesome job. I encourage everyone to listen to the Heddels podcast series on the history of denim.
Thanks! And I’ll be sure to check that out!
As a professional archivist I love the reality that this kind of Levi company timeline is likely the product of their corporate archive!
What an awesome job you have! And yes! Levis has had professional archivists for several decades now. They have full time paid historians who collect and study vintage Levis and store them in the HQ vault in San Francisco! So exciting. I hope to visit there at some point. I believe their current head historian is Tracey Panek. She did an interview with Thomas on the DenimHunters Podcast.
@@thevintagefuture6567 I love my job and feel very privileged to get to work in this field. My graduate school hosted a webinar with the Levi Archivist and published it. If you haven’t watched it yet I’d suggest viewing it but do bear in mind that the target audience are archival students so it may not be as appealing to all. th-cam.com/video/w6jYUeNF9AQ/w-d-xo.html
@@thevintagefuture6567 thank you for another great video!
@@CrispyFrenFry so glad you found it worthwhile!
A historical deep dive!!! I love it!!!!
Ayyy! This will be cool!
Thanks man!
Great one, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙏🏽🙌🏽
I enjoyed this and honestly would have liked it to have gone to the current version of the 501.
Glad you enjoyed it! And, I like your suggestion. Perhaps I’ll do a separate video on how the original 5-pocket differs from the modern one, or maybe it could be a comparison of the 5-pocket from the 40s/50s/60s/70s/80s/90s/2000s
@@thevintagefuture6567 that would be pretty cool. I recently picked up 2 pairs of the 93 version on the cheap. Would be fun to hear how they have changed.
@@DMorgan77 I was just looking at some current 501s at Target last night haha…I think I might just do a comparison at some point. Thanks again for the suggestion 🙌🏽
Built an empire by over-engineering a pocket seam/connection. 😎
🤣 so true 💯 So freaking rad, bro
As fare as i know off-set belt loop is historically detail. Great video. History of 501 is well documented by Den in denim youtube channel. I love to see different takes on the same informations. Really fun to see
Thanks for the input about the belt loop! And yeah, I just started following Den and am loving his channel!
Dope video man. Very informative. The “coin” pocket makes sense that it was originally designed to be for the old school pocket watches. How do I translate the sizing in these jeans to the modern jeans I wear now? Later.
Glad you liked the video! The historical details can be so much fun…What jeans are you wearing these days? You basically measure them, then compare to sizing charts. It’s a slight pain, but not too hard haha
@@thevintagefuture6567 thank you sir. That’s not that bad at all.
Off center is because it’s too much to see through all those layers, you move it off center so all the stitching isn’t piled up
Thanks brotha! That helps! Wasn’t sure what was going on there haha
@@thevintagefuture6567 it can look weird out of context!
That’s all I wear are 501’s
Interesting history of an American icon! Unfortunately, they seemed to have neglected to add into their timeline the year when they decided to outsource all of their production to third world countries and abandon all attempts at making a quality product.
I agree with you! It’s sad but true. There’s a reason why I enjoy their history but don’t actually buy any of their products. LVC was their attempt to relive some of their more “pure” glory days, but that only goes so far. No knock on people who wear Levis (like my own beloved wife haha), but it’s not for me. I wear other brands that mimic classic Levis, as shown in the video. I do, however, LOVE the history of Levis.
Which 3rd world countries?
Great vid. Highly recommend you check out the yt channel ‘Den in Denim’
Thanks! I’m definitely gonna check this out!