One Month of Denim - Day 18

"Ok, here's a question for you: I go to thrift stores a lot but tend to avoid the jeans section, I have trouble determining the age of a pair of Levi's for example. Can you share a few pointers on what to look for? The patch? The brand of the zipper? The rivets?"

I received this question from an anonymous reader, and I figured that it could be answered in an entirely new post. I'm very grateful for this question, so thank you very much and if I didn't answer your question in full, let me know and I'll try to add more information.

First of all, do not avoid the jeans section.

Secondly there are some give aways. Here are some in non particular order. 

1) Do the jeans have selvage? Turn the cuff - it's fast and effecient.

2) If they are Levi's jeans, does the red tab or orange tab on the back pocket spell LEVIS and not Levis. I'm refering to a thing known as "Big E", which was how LEVIS was spelled until 1971, when they changed the capital E to a small e.

3)Look for defunct jeans brands like Foremost (a JC Penney brand), Ranchcraft (Also a JC Penney brand), Key, Washington Dee Cee, Can't Bust 'em, Buckaroo by Big Smith, Roebucks - the list goes on and on.

4) If you are looking for zippers, the zippers you should be looking for are Talon (especially Talon 42), Scovill, Ideal, Gripper Zipper. 

This post may be of some help

5) Knowing this timeline from Levi's is good when you need to date jeans. Just look at the differences in arcuates (the iconic stitching on the back pockets) for instance.

This post may be of some help. And if you need some help, I'll gladly give some in depth explanations to understanding it. But please remember that there can be variations depending on the factory used even back then.

Finally I would recommend you look on the inside tags. If they are "made in USA", they are vintage and probably a lot more interesting than most new Levi's jeans. But try them on, so you don't end up in a pair of boot cut jeans - unless you are rocking a full "Freaks&Geeks" attire....

READ MORE - One Month of Denim - Day 18

One Month of Denim - Day 14

Lee was the first company to use zippers in jeans in the 1920's and in the 50's it becomes quite common and all companies make a zippered version of their jeans. Levi's even made their iconic 501 with a zipper and named it 501z, as did Lee with their iconic 101, which they named 101z - the Z meaning Zipper.

This wasn't to everybody's satisfaction, as one Levi's customer noted that it was like peeing into the jaws of an alligator. This is quite understandable as zippers back then where all made of metal, not nylon and other softer materials that we see today. But it did catch on and became a huge succes for both men and women. Though to this day many of the hardcore denim fanatics would never wear jeans with zippers. The reason would most likely be the fact that a button fly can create some beautiful fades and if you are wearing shrink to fit denim, then the zipper might start bulging after shrinkage.

If you are into vintage jeans or reproduction jeans - basically premiuim jeans - then you should know the following makers.

Talon (Especially Talon 42)

Scovill

Gripper Zipper

Universal

Waldes

Ideal

Conmar/Conmatic (I'm not entirely sure that these have been used in jeans, but it is a great zipper no less)

Riri (only used in modern jeans, but a great quality zipper)

READ MORE - One Month of Denim - Day 14