Levi's Made & Crafted Thread

Originally Posted by NAMOR 

Been a fan of this brand way before I discovered RRL, LVC, APC denim, etc. Altough some of their items are meh, the denim fits great and when on sale is a great bang for your buck. A few days ago I was at a Barney's factory store and picked up a pair of chinos and buckle back jeans for $189 total. Fucking love how the tapered cuts fit. Slim throughout the leg, thigh has room to breath, and the leg is tapered for a nice cuff around the ankle.

Originally Posted by Paul T;2479231 
THirdly, the chinos.

Chinos have always been a vital part of youth culture - while Neal Cassady wore Levi's, Jack Kerouac was always seen in chinos - but it's rare to see a new take on them. These for me are maybe a highlight of the collection: every facet - the overall shape, the detailing and the fabrics - is so elegantly thought out. They also recall Levi's heritage in khakis, which they've been making for over 100 years.

I didn't perfectly capture the cut, but look at the side pocket shape; recently on SuFu we've had lots of photos of early Elfelt, Boss of the Road, and again the Spring Bottoms, many of which have those subtly curved front pockets, and I can see echoes of that here







Those curved back pockets, with the distinctive stitching around them, are again much more complicated to stitch than straight ones, but they look more refined - and again, evoke Levi's Spring Bottoms.


Check out the texture of the denim - note how different it looks compared to, say, the close-up of the hems



They're just as refined on the inside too - even the chambray is some of the nicest I've seen recently, used here for pockets, lining and as a bias binding. That middle V section, an open centre back seam is similar to that on the Spring Bottoms and other turn-of-the-century tailoring - as on tailored trousers it allows the waist size to be adjusted. Made and Crafted use various denims, from Cone, Kaihara, Kurabo, Candiani, this one is fa 12oz Sanforized from Nishinbo. Sewing is done in Turkey. This is a very subtle denim - it looks quite conventional close up, but from a couple of feet away, as you can maybe see in the rear photo, the twill's far less pronounced, and instead you see more of a subtle cross-hatch pattern. These pants are dry, but have a very soft hand feel.




The hems, like everything else, are single-stitched - this gives them both the feel of tailored trousers, and of early Levi's. This is a conventional right hand twill - but has a soft hand feel and a unique look, which demonstrates how you can't just class denim as left hand vs right hand, there are so many more variables. I would love to see how these wear in.





As you can gather, I liked these a lot. We see so many interpretations of the 5-pocket jean, it's great to see something with a similar pedigree reworked.

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Originally Posted by NAMOR 

My two pairs are made in Turkey. I think all the denim I have seen is made in Turkey.
the chinos:


buckleback jeans:


not a fan of the front pockets but i love the back pockets

Originally Posted by LA Guy 

I just picked up the Biker jacket from the MrPorter.com sale. We'll see how it fits/feels: http://www.mrporter.com/product/167775
Apparently, it's full grain, and according to cultizm sheep/lamb skin, so we'll see how it feels.

Originally Posted by srgprod 

Nice pick up. If it fits right, you'll get a ton of wear out of this. They have this at the Malibu store along w/ most of the line. Also, the Levis store at Fred Segal Santa Monica...

Originally Posted by LA Guy 


My question is, how thick is the leather? I really dislike super thin leather. It can be soft, it can be supple, but I want it to have a big of heft and durability.

Originally Posted by NormanF 


Stay away from lambskin. You want goatskin/steerhide. Thick, tough leather that always looks good. A lambskin jacket shreds, unless you like paying for the "shredded" look.

Originally Posted by LA Guy 


I have leather jackets of horsehide, lambskin, and steerhide. Typically, I like horse and cowhide, but lambskin isn't always fragile, though ime, it's not meant for super heavy use. We'll see, I think that it's silly to categorically dismiss one type of leather.