Railcar Donna: 11 Feb. 2013

***This may or may not be the last update on her project. It remains to be seen whether or not we will continue this blog together. Hope for the best…***

Vintage Levi’s finds

B found this pullover at an American Vintage in Fullerton. She had been looking for an LVC Sunset Chambray for quite a while but the $120+ was ridiculous. instead, she settled on this orange tag pull-over with a snap placket. We are both more than pleased with it.

After the Mister Freedom trip last Saturday we went to a Goodwill in Glendora and I stumbled upon these orange tag 505s tagged 36×30. They feel more like 34×32. Considering the condition they were in I gladly gave up a hard-earned $6 for them.

 

When we went to visit B’s family in Utah for Thanksgiving, we went on a Deseret Industry marathon on one of the days off we had. Deseret Industries are like the Utah version of Goodwill. I ended up with this Levi’s jacket that turned out to be a sample or display piece from like 1998 I think.

 

Whether or not these are worth anything, it is always the thrill of the chase in addition to the joy of the journey that keeps B and I hunting.

3Sixteen Update 31 Dec. 2012

I lost track of the number of days these have been worn.

It’s pretty difficult to capture the color correctly, but in person they look very dark – almost – black – and have electric blue fades coming through. If they weren’t so tight in the crotch region they’d get much more wear.

 

Denim jackets.

After the previously mentioned Mister Freedom birthday trip, B and I headed to American Vintage. She walked out with three house dresses, two vintage half-sleeve sweaters, and some cloth calendar from 1973.

I found this gem:

The black Lee tag, with both the copyright logo and the M.R., indicates that this was made after 1970, and the fact that the Storm Rider tag says Made in U.S.A. in addition to the classic Union Made tag behind the size tag also tells that this jacket is not a current make.

Fun fact: Lee is one of the only companies that regularly uses Left Hand Twill denim, which is said to be softer after washing than Right Hand Twill. To easily tell which direction the twill goes, just look at the black Lee tag picture. The fabric twill lines point up to the left.

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On B’s birthday we took a trip to Idyllwild. After walking through the town we ended up at a shop where I saw this bad boy.

The pin is from a company called Iron & Resin – it was from a chambray bandana B bought me for Christmas.

Fun fact: Wrangler’s denim uses what’s called Broken Twill denim. You can see it in the picture directly above. See the squiqqly lines on the weft? Wrangler developed this because cowboys were growing frustrated with their jeans twisting down their legs. If you’ve ever owned a pair of shrink-to-fit Levi’s 501s, you have probably experienced your jeans twisting. This is because Levi’s uses Right Hand Twill. When the fabric is first soaked, it shrinks to the right. It isn’t necessarily a flaw in the fabric, it’s just how the fabric behaves. Wrangler developed Broken Twill in order to combat this twisting.

Mister Freedom Selvedge Denim Sack

As an early birthday present, B gave me cash to spend at Mister Freedom last Saturday.

None of the t-shirts or sweaters fit my frame so I ended up with this awesome selvedge NOS denim sack in my all-time favorite Mister Freedom logo – the Speed Safe helmet logo from ’09.

The first time we went to Mister Freedom I ended up with a sweater with this same logo on it. Hopefully they’ll do something like this again in the near future.

We spent about an hour in the store and talked with the cashier – his name escapes me, but he’s the tall guy with the bowler hat in their promo pictures. Anyway, he was really nice and informative. B walked away empty handed (much to my dismay) but still, the gesture was very much appreciated.

Jean Shop Chambray

We found this last summer in LA while selling clothes at Buffalo Exchange. I recognized the name and made B get it. She gladly obliged.

LVC Type I Sawtooth Denim Shirt

This shirt was found at a local Ross with no tags other than the $30 price tag. It had all the right details – big E red tab and the correct materials tags. I’m assuming it was just a reject due to the fabric sewn over where the logo should be. B bought a current sawtooth so we’d match.

LVC 1966 501

I bought this pair (my third pair!) earlier in the month for a whopping $42 – the same price as a pair of current 501s that can be found in department stores everywhere.

These didn’t seem very exciting on the rack until I noticed the little details – bartacked back pockets, noticeable taper, chainstitched hem, and, my favorite part, a greencast weft. The greencast weft should produce some very nice vintage fading.

These are tagged 36×32, but since they are one-rinse, they fit to their post-soak size of roughly 34×30. A 30-minute cold soak only shrank the waist half an inch while all other measurements did not change.

One of the main reasons for picking these up was because they fit much more comfortably in the lap than the 3Sixteens. One of the ridiculous reasons was because I had already purchased two pairs a month ago and loved them so much I just wanted more.

Yolo.

Pre-soak (10 Dec. 2012):

 

~20 days of wear:

 

Styled with an LVC Type I Sawtooth and an LVC Painted Leaf belt (more on those soon).

Iron Heart 1955A

These were purchased from Aero Leathers’ website. They were a limited edition collaboration between Aero Leathers and Iron Heart but were sold off after the dude at Aero in charge of the collaboration left.

These are constructed with Iron Heart’s super heavy but super soft 21 oz. selvedge denim. They are, as the name suggests, based off a 1955 fit – high waist, roomy top block, and gradual taper.

As of right now I have no plans to wear them so they will be stored safely in the closet. ha…