Levi's Grading

[Alex C]

This might be an elementary Levi's question, but I haven't found anything specifically about it.

I lost a bunch of weight and am still on the way down, so I don't really want to spend too much on jeans. With this in mind I bought a pair of the J.Crew Levi's 501's that were on sale awhile ago for around $20. They're big nice thick denim, very rigid. Not selvedge. Recently, I grabbed a pair of regular Levi's 514's. They feel rather soft and lame. I can't imagine these fading as well as the others did. Does Levi's regularly have this much difference in their denim quality without saying anything about it? I can't find anything on their website other than regular vs. selvedge. Any tips? Or should I just be buying different jeans?

 

[poorman]

Those J. Crew jeans were made with denim from Cone Mills. I'm pretty sure a lot of those other fabrics are imported from some random places. Anyways...BUY MY LEVI'S.

 

[Alex C]

Your 501's are my correct size... if they weren't STF.

 

[willpower]

Yes, quite a bit of variation, especially in the 514 line. I've got 3 pairs of 514s that are all significantly different from each other as far as fabric is concerned. My 501s are also heavyweight, but they don't fit nearly as well as the 514s - "501 diaper butt" I think it's called.. My favorite is the Hesher line - fit like a pair of $200 jeans, lower waisted than the 514s, nice denim material. If you lived in Santa Monica, I'd tell you to go the the Levi's store as they have a clearance on 34" waist Heshers for $25 each.

 

[Alex C]

Do the heshers fit like the 514's, waist wise? I wear a 34 in 501's but the 514's I have are 36. I'm in St. Louis anyway, so not like it terribly matters.

 

[Peter1]

Originally Posted by Alex C

Does Levi's regularly have this much difference in their denim quality without saying anything about it? I can't find anything on their website other than regular vs. selvedge. Any tips? Or should I just be buying different jeans?

They use better quality denim for collabs (BB, JC, Billy Reid) but often the same cut.

As for mainline denim, it's pretty hard to tell. You'd think that the new MiUSA 501s would be miles above basic STF 501's but I'm not so sure. Some of the 501/514/511 washes are purposely made with thinner fabric -- so it's not really a "quality" issue, i think, but more of an aesthetic one.

I will say that you'd have to be a denim detective to fully suss out Levi's "grades" when you're talking about basic indigo. I'd say (without owning all of these) that LVC = Collabs > MiUSA 501 > 201/Hesher/random "premium" > basic 501 STF > everthing else. Note that is is only the fabric, not cut/style/hardware/stitching/details.

 

[Nicola]

Originally Posted by Alex C

Recently, I grabbed a pair of regular Levi's 514's. They feel rather soft and lame. I can't imagine these fading as well as the others did. Does Levi's regularly have this much difference in their denim quality without saying anything about it?

My guess is you missed it on the label. Do a google search on Levi's 2nd Hand. It's a finish that's supposed to be similar to well broken in jeans. There are is a whole range in between.