Denimology

Chuck's Vintage Guide To Vintage Levi's

$10,000 jeans? Are you nuts!? The world of premium denim continues to push the envelope with price point. Designer jeans at $130 five years ago are now nearing $400... *ahem* True Religion, I'm looking in your direction....

But the REAL premium denim, and the denim that demands small fortunes, continue to be vintage. One of kind pieces that serve as inspiration to today's denim designers and Holy Grail collector's items to enthusiasts worldwide. What makes "old" jeans, vintage? What are the major things to look for, the key elements that turn your grandfather's old work pants into historically significant collector's items? Here are a couple of the big ones:

Selvage Denim: Selvage denim refers to denim that has been loomed on the now-outmoded shuttle loom. These looms were the standard machinery for making textiles from the mid 1800's through the 1970's. Fabric made on these looms are narrow off the bolt, usually right around 30" wide, and have finished edges (Shuttle looms were once known as "Self-Edging" looms...which later became the term "selvage"). This type of denim, produced on the old looms are often times more irregular and grainy, a result of the natural imperfection in the engineering of the old machinery. This irregularity, known as yarn-character, gives vintage denim it's tell tale look. As shuttle looms were retired, and replaced by contemporary projectile looms, subcultures developed that valued the superior quality, and natural beauty of the original, selvage fabrics. The first major hurdle for denim to be considered of significant vintage is to determine if its selvage: Check the out seam.... Woven, finished edges, or raw edged fabric with over lock stitching??..... Finished edges?...Good.... Keep reading.

Vintage denim from the WWII era are considered even more desirable than the simply-selvage. War rationing left recognizable clues on the work wear of the era, and it is this historical significance, along with the rarity of these examples, that dramatically increases their value. During WWII, the iconic 501 went through some slight, changes, but changes that left lasting marks on the future of denim style: For sake of rationing metal, the rivets were deleted from the coin pocket. Pocket linings were made from whatever fabric was available at the time. Some are the usual white drill, some are found in military olive drab, and some (the most rare and pictured above) have denim pockets, most likely scrap fabric recycled from the manufacture of other LEVIS products. Laurel buttons are used on the fly and waistband, instead of the LEVI STRAUSS buttons that had been used pre-war. Most importantly, the LEVIS arcuate back pocket stitching was deemed as ''decorative only" by the government, and therefore, had to go in the name of conserving resources (thread!). LEVIS came to the conclusion that their arcuate design had become synonymous with the brand, and that their dungaree's just wouldn't be the same without them. It was at this point that LEVIS trademarked the arcuate design, and for the rest of the war, screen printed the design on the back pockets of all of their jeans. This screen printing rarely survives the test of time, as can be seen on the pics above.

So your jeans are selvage, $$. WWII era? $$$$ ..... Let's get older yet.... What else is there?

From the turn of the century through the 1930's, a classic detail of denim work wear was the buckle back, a cinch belt across the back of the waistband that allowed the wearer to adjust the fit. As belt loops didn't exist on dungarees until the 1920's, buckle backs and suspender buttons where the only way to keep your britches up. At this point, jeans were still very much what they were still known as at the time: Waist overalls. Late 20's, and into the 30's, with the addition of belt loops, vintage jeans of the period are often found with the buckle backs cut off. They were removed permanently from the 501 as part of the war rationing mentioned earlier. Buckle backs mean 1800's to 1930's.

Aspiring denim designers and vintage hunters pay attention! When you see the teams of denim designers rummaging through piles of denim at the Rose Bowl take note: You'll see them turning cuff's inside out checking for selvage, checking button button flies for laurel buttons, and pocket linings for olive drab HBT.

And if you find something with one back pocket....... Start planning your retirement!

This guide was written by Madeline Harmon owner of Chuck's Vintage of Melrose Avenue in LA who specialize in turn of the century workwear and vintage denim.