Mod to Suedehead

[andyf]

Aye Levi’s tapped into a current of fifties/sixties Americana revival around the late eighties. Not cheesy Teddy Boys and Grease but rather the James Dean sensitive loner type. The adverts with the retro soundtrack and Nick Kamen (JD lookalike) washing his strides in the laundromat. Along with Ray Ban Wayfarers it must have sent their revenues skyrocketing for a while there.

Lol cheesy teddy boys

 

[andyf]

Solovair were forced to stop using the yellow stitches at 2016. Since then they are using white ones.
http://www.aircushionboot.com/blog/the-demise-of-the-yellow-stitch/

There you have old one with yellow stitching

Ah I see. As I say never owned any but they sort of were the blueprint of the Doc weren’t they

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

Did you just produce fashion boots with the getta grip/commando sole or work boots too? I quite like 5-6 eye work boots with commando soles, looks pretty good.

 

[andyf]

Did you just produce fashion boots with the getta grip/commando sole or work boots too? I quite like 5-6 eye work boots with commando soles, looks pretty good.

Well technically they were tough as DMs. So no reason at all why not.
But gripfast is your best bet now unless you can find a vintage pair second hand.

 

[andyf]

Well technically they were tough as DMs. So no reason at all why not.
But gripfast is your best bet now unless you can find a vintage pair second hand.

Also grinders do an 8 hole equivalent. NPS very similar too.

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

I've seen 6 eye gripfast, don't go any higher than 6 eye these days. But they only seem to sell them in the us.

 

[andyf]

I've seen 6 eye gripfast, don't go any higher than 6 eye these days. But they only seem to sell them in the us.

Must admit 8 hole dms I have are more than high enough agreed.

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

Even 8 eye seems high to me now considering I've been wearing 6 eyes for the last 3 years about

 

[Bela Kun]

Cheers for the great info on 70s-80s Levi's in the UK everyone. Just to clarify:

@johnnyskin, were the Levi's STF with zip you remember wearing in the late 70s orange tab or red tab?

Does anyone from the UK remember any button-fly Levi's before the 80s?

 

[Bela Kun]

Well technically they were tough as DMs

When I was 16 or 17, I saw a bad accident happen involving what I think was a pair of Getagrip - the 'Rangers' type boot. A mate got really upset about something and kicked the nearest wall in frustration. Unbeknownst to him, the steel toe cap had come through the leather on the inside of his oversized old boot. So as he kicked the wall really hard, the steel cap went right between his toe and toe nail. It pretty much tore his nail off. Ouch...

 

[Thin White Duke]

Cheers for the great info on 70s-80s Levi's in the UK everyone.
Does anyone from the UK remember any button-fly Levi's before the 80s?

Nope.
And let’s be honest, button flies are a bit of a clart on, especially if you’ve had a few.
There really isn’t any advantage to them unless you go commando, aside from the ‘autheticity’ of having strides based on a vintage style, but only you will ever know (along with possibly your missus and any denim nerds checking you out).

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

They are shite, I find the button holes get worn quicker too rather than a zip. Like many things sometimes an older design does not mean better.

 

[pressuredrop]

https://imgur.com/a/G85HwvA

They are shite, I find the button holes get worn quicker too rather than a zip. Like many things sometimes an older design does not mean better.

Oh, please! Zips are **** and only getting shittier the way companies are cost-cutting.

 

[andyf]

When I was 16 or 17, I saw a bad accident happen involving what I think was a pair of Getagrip - the 'Rangers' type boot. A mate got really upset about something and kicked the nearest wall in frustration. Unbeknownst to him, the steel toe cap had come through the leather on the inside of his oversized old boot. So as he kicked the wall really hard, the steel cap went right between his toe and toe nail. It pretty much tore his nail off. Ouch...

Ooh nasty

 

[Bela Kun]

In general I find button flies to be more reliable. But to be honest, I'm not too bothered either way. Just trying to establish some rough Levi's UK timeline, which we seem to know fairly little about... the young mods' forgotten story.

To return to the 70s, I read that early revivalists like @TomMc666 raided shops for deadstock Ben Shermans and Sta Prest from the original era. Did they also make a point of tracking down red tab Levi's from the 60s? Or was it just that you couldn't get any new red tab Levi's in 1977?

When 2 Tone and the mod revival exploded a couple of years later, what Levi's did those kids usually wear - new orange tab like @covskin's or 'vintage' red tab?