My association with Levis is very old, probably as old as 15-16 years. Maybe not as old as my association with jeans itself, which could be around 20-25 years. But being one who prefers casual wear and occasionally semi-formal wear, I've worn several jeans during my life. To begin with, I did wear a lot of other jeans. But off late, I've come to realise Levis jeans has proved to be one of my more preferred brands in this category.
ORIGINS OF LEVIS JEANS
Apparently, the premise of jeans was there since a long time ago. California miners and sailors needed tough clothing for their work. So, they used denim pants to go about their day to day work. 'Denim' gets its name from a French term, "Serge de Nimes". It was originally made of wool, eventually also from cotton and wool, and even later cotton only variants were realized. The blue dye used for the jeans all over the world was courtesy of Indigo imports from India till the late 20th century, after which synthetic dyes started gaining more importance compared to natural dyes.
So, the concept of tough material pants was already there. During the period of "Gold Rush" in America, Levi Strauss moved to San Francisco to start a business of selling dry clothing. A tailor named Jacob Davis, suggested to rivet the pockets of pants to make them stronger. So, the copper riveting was introduced for the pocket corners including the watch pocket corner and the back pocket corners. This methodology was patented and came to be known as Levis jeans. They were originally made from 9 oz. XX denim from a mill in Manchester, New Hampshire. The rivets were moved inside later for the back pockets to prevent stains on furniture. The inside seams were changed a bit over the years, the button fly was replaced by zippers in most cases and that's jeans how we know it today.
WHAT TYPE OF LEVIS JEANS ARE THERE?
Levis is one brand which have quite a well defined numbering system in place for the type of jeans it is represents. Originally supposed to be a 3 digit numbering system, over the years, it has provided variants with more digit numbering.
Let me dwell a bit on the type of jeans available from Levis, both which I've used and not used.
510: I think this was the first Levis jeans I ever owned. I may have purchased a couple of them, initially. Like the catalogue says, it is a slim fit below the waist in terms of the back anatomy and the thighs, but has a skinny fit further below with a 13.5 " opening. It's supposed to suit you if you intend to fit this type into your boots or something similar. But that not being my style combined with the fact that I have a broadish foot, it was a tad uncomfortable at the time of putting it on and taking it off. If I recollect correctly, I stopped using it a long time back. But go for it if it suits you. Not uncomfortable, when you already have it on.
511: I think I followed up the 510 variant purchase with 2 of these. This is similar to 510 in the sense it is a slim fit below the waist, but the lower leg opening is also broader. The catalogue says 14.5 " opening. Well, definitely broader than the "skinny fit" variant. In fact, even one of my newer purchases was a 511. It is like an overall "slim fit". Feels very comfortable.
531: I have 2 of these at the moment. A dark and a light blue one, the latter being considerably old. It is supposed to be the regular fit (below the waist) & straight leg variant. I was told during the last 531 purchase, that it would be replaced with a new variant. The current catalogue does not seem to sport the number. Maybe 505 or 514 (slightly slimmer leg) was a replacement of the same. Nevertheless, the 531 series has served me well and I continue to use the same even today along with my other jeans. Only thing is that the back pockets may not always be at a location proportionate with your anatomy. That is the case with one of the two that I own. But the overall fit is kind of adequate.
65504: This is similar to 511, but it is a "stretch denim jeans" variant with a skinny leg. Maybe the skinny leg dimensions are somewhere between that of the 510 and 511 variant. Also, 511 is meant for slightly heavier thighs. But 65504 being stretchable, if your thighs are of a minimum threshold size, it simply stretches and takes the required shape of your leg at any given point of time. One of my recent purchases and a very comfortable pair of jeans.
Also, available in the current Levis catalogue are regular fit (505), slim straight fit (513), straight fit (514), athletic fit (541), relaxed fit (559) and some loose fit variants. I have not tried them yet. Some of them are not even my cup of tea.
It is also refreshing to see that there are some "boot cut" variants available now. In the past, whenever I went to shop at a Levis store, it just so happened that the "boot cut" was out of fashion and not available. The cowboy style leg opening is always a nice option to have.
There are some other variants for those interested. But the above seem to be the main ones.
WHY I LIKED LEVIS JEANS?
1) In general, the fitting is always good. On very rare occasions, the location of the back pocket is not ideal. But overall good.
2) It gets a heads up from me as far as durability is concerned too. I don't think I ever owned one which didn't last for a reasonable period.
3) It also gets considerable points from me, with regards to withstanding wear and tear. Certainly, its resistance is not infinite (although at times it may feel so) and this probably also varies with which variant one is using.
4) Comfort factor is typically quite adequate with Levis. In fact, on some occasions one tends to forget you're wearing something (not an exaggeration).
5) Variety in types of jeans is also a positive for Levis with the clear segregation with their numbering system (albeit the numbering being a bit redundant at times) as opposed to some other brands. The numbering is different for women as far as I know.
I may have tried a couple of simple Levis T-shirts in the past too. Nothing bad to say in that regard although Levis are always a brand I associate with jeans.
I have tried jeans of other brands like Wrangler, Lee, Lawman, Spykar, Pepe, Hoffmen, Noun and some others. I actually liked the only 'Hoffmen' jeans I owned in the past, quite a lot. Other brands impressed too. But recently, I came to the conclusion that overall, Levis jeans do stand out and for pretty good reasons. I would gladly recommend the same.
