Levis 501 denimjeans är den klassiska förebilden för dagen jeans och här kan du se en del av utvecklingen dessa jeans genomgått sedan 1890. Det finns många snygga varianter, men min favorit är utan tvekan 501:orna från 1937 med den snygga linjen och passformen samt den höga midjan och slejfen.
ABOUT 1890 “EVERY GARMENT GUARANTEED”
The 1890 501® Jean was the first style created after the Levi’s® patent for riveting clothing expired that same year. This meant that other companies could start to copy Levi’s® famous patent riveted overalls, which had been made only by LS&CO. since 1873.
To answer the coming competition, LS&CO. printed the inside pocket bag with language and information about the strength and originality of the XX overalls.
1890 was the year that the 501 number was first assigned to the famous pants—likely done because the company no longer had and exclusive on patented clothing, and also because there was a good-sized line of clothing by this time. It was easier for retailers to order their products by number, rather than by a simple description, as had been done in the past. Any product made with the highest quality materials was given a lot number beginning with 5: 501 for the overall, 506 for the jacket, etc.
Still made with X 9oz denim from the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, the 501 was at the head of the class.
DESIGN DETAILS
- 9oz Plain Selvage Denim (12oz after wash)
- One-back pocket with exposed rivets
- Cinch
- Two Horse leather patch
- Crotch Rivet
- Single needle Arcuate
- Pocket bag print
ABOUT 1922 “WORN WHEREVER HARD WORK IS REQUIRED”
1922 marks the year when belt loops were first used. Belts began appearing on fine clothing soon after World War I and eventually became important to younger workingmen.
Although belt loops were added, the suspender buttons remained till 1937 and the cinch till 1942. The 1922 501® Jean offered the best of both worlds: maintaining the cinch and using suspenders, or eliminating both and wearing a belt.
Younger men cut off the cinch in order to wear a belt, while more traditional users kept the cinch and wore suspenders. Retaining both ways of wearing jeans ensured that more people could be persuaded to try Levi’s® jeans, many for the first time.
Around 1915 LS&Co. started hanging a small paper label from one of the suspender buttons on the waist overalls. This label, which was carried over into the early 1920s, advertised the fact that LS&Co. had won prizes at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
DESIGN DETAILS
- 9oz Plain Selvage Denim (12oz after wash)
- One-back pocket with exposed rivets
- Belt loops
- Cinch
- Suspender buttons
- Two Horse leather patch
- Crotch Rivet
- Single needle Arcuate
- Pocket bag print
ABOUT 1933 “THIS IS A PAIR OF LEVI’S®”
A pair of jeans from 1933 had belt loops, but still had the cinch and suspender buttons, offering a variety of ways the pant could be worn.
Some owners wore their jeans with a belt. They cut off the cinch right at the rivet, and snipped of the suspender buttons, choosing to wear their jeans not like the older generation did with suspenders. Some Levi® brand retailers even kept a big pair of scissors at the cash desk to cut the cinch off for their customers. The 1933 501® Jean also featured the redesigned “Guarantee Ticket” on the back pocket of the jeans. The company had trademarked the name “Levi’s®” in 1927 because any pair of denim pants were being called “Levi’s®” no matter who made them. Instead of reading, “This is a pair of them,” as seen on the original ticket from 1892, the new ticket read “This Is A Pair Of Levi’s®.”
Also hidden under the leather patch, but not visible until it began to shrink with age, is a tiny, white cloth label printed with a blue eagle and the letter “NRA”. This was the National Recovery Act logo, which Levi Strauss & CO. was allowed to use because the company abided by the labor rules of President Franklin Roosevelt’s National Recovery Administration during the Depression years of the 1930s.
DESIGN DETAILS
- Cone Mills 10oz Red Selvage Denim (12oz after wash)
- Two-back pocket rivets
- Belt loops, cinch & suspender buttons
- Two Horse leather patch
- Crotch rivet
- NRA (National Recovery Act) label
- Single needle stitched Arcuate
ABOUT 1937 “LOOK FOR THE RED TAB”
As America slowly emerged from the depths of the Great Depression, the 501® Jean of 1937 evolved into a mix of old and new.
1937 was a challenging year for America. The Great Depression was in full swing. Work was scarce and many Americans lost their farms and homes. Many of the boomtowns of the American West had gone bust. But ever the optimists, the people of San Francisco persevered.
The iconic Golden Gate Bridge was finally completed in 1937. And like Levi’s® 501® Jeans, it was held together with rivets—1.2 million of them. Right down the street, Levi Strauss & Co. was hard at work, bridging the old and the new through a series of updates to the 501® Jean. The jeans still came with a cinch back, but the suspender buttons on the waistband were removed. Customers who just couldn’t give up their suspenders were given press-on buttons at the store where they bought their jeans, which they could apply on their own. On the right back pocket, the 501® jean was adorned with the now-famous Red Tab, which had the word “LEVI’S” stitched in white capital letters.
First introduced in 1936, this device was meant to differentiate Levi’s® jeans from the many competitors in the marketplace who were also using dark denim, a waistband patch and an Arcuate stitch. And in response to consumers who complained that their jeans were scratching their furniture and saddles, Levi’s® began sewing the back pockets so that they covered the rivets. To emphasize this point, they introduced the first pocket flasher. Made in the famous salmon color and placed into the right back pocket, the flasher had arrows pointing to the corners of the pockets with the words, “The Rivet’s Still There.” In-store advertising and retailer mailings emphasized this innovation.
DESIGN DETAILS
- Cone Mills 10oz Red Selvage Denim (12oz after wash)
- Two-back pocket rivets
- Belt loops & cinch
- Two Horse leather patch
- Single needle stitched Arcuate
ABOUT 1944 “WHEN THERE’S WORK TO BE DONE, WEAR LEVI’S®”
Everything changed during World War II. The United States government told all clothing manufacturers that they had to remove a certain amount of metal, fabric and thread from their garments in order to conserve the raw materials for the war effort.
Levi Strauss & Co. did what they could to abide by the rules. Off came the watch pocket rivets, the crotch rivet and the cinch along with its two rivets (which eliminated both fabric and metal).
Buttons became standard issue during the war, and featured a laurel leaf design. Sometimes the buttons were branded; sometimes the waistband had the laurel leaf and the fly buttons were plain. The only explanation is that delivery of sundries was hit and miss during the war years and we sometimes had to just use what we had on hand.
There was one rationing rule that was a little harder to bear: the order to remove the Arcuate stitching, because it was considered decorative and meant that it didn’t have a function. Well, LS&CO. thought it did: it was one of the prime identifiers of the classic 501® Jeans. Rather than lose this important design LS&CO. worked out a system to paint the Arcuate stitching on every pair of 501® Jeans that came out of the factory. The paint eventually washed off but having that stitching visible when buying the jeans was the important thing.
DESIGN DETAILS
- Cone Mills 12oz Red Selvage Denim (14oz after wash)
- Two-back pockets with covered rivets
- “E” red Tab
- Two Horse leather patch
- Painted Arcuate
- Pocket bag material varied during wartime
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