I have a pair of vintage 501’s arriving today, an eBay job, unworn with the label intact. It’s so difficult to get decent black denim jeans these days and so I couldn’t resist. They can be worn for both work (hospitality) and leisure. They’ll go well for work with turn ups over black fabric/leather high leg lightweight combat boots.
Loved these Levi Red label trucker jackets when I was in my late teens, the denim feels superb, really weighty, not cheap and flimsy like so much of the modern stuff!!
So… I just thought I’d start a topic for OFC Posers to share their likes, memories, purchases, recommendations etc as far as vintage clobber is concerned. A small group of us had a video meet last night and jim jams were mentioned, this for some reason prompted/inspired me in some way to kick this topic off… mind you I did have a Woolworths Ladybird dressing gown when I was five! Shan’t be walking around in one of those again .
I agree about the Levis black jeans, they tend to keep the color better. Actually, any Levi denim is superior to other makers. Now the jacket,er…I just got rid of two denim short jackets as they lost the look due to limpness of the material (not Levi brand). Also, a bit too faded and worn to me.
You’ll look like a punker if this becomes your daily dress code! I take it, it won’t necessarily be a bad thing, either.
In that case daily dress code here I come, no pogoing though, I dread to think what might happen!!
Deffo with you on the Levis though, always been my favourite jeans
As a teen, besides longer hair, it was all about clothes such as Levi’s jeans, preferably a worn-out 501 or 507 with a red or orange tab ideally to go with a T-shirt and a genuine US-Army parka or field jacket the most popular being a washed M65. We’d have killed to get them and we couldn’t be too choosy. Any Levi’s would have done, in the end even any jeans manufactured in the West, but Levi’s were the gold standard. That’s basically all you needed to have to get credibility and to get the girls. Yet getting hold of Levi’s was hard enough, almost impossible for many, and that’s what made them invaluable. If you didn’t have hard currency or relatives of the same age in the West wearing the same size who’d send you stuff or whom you could strip while they were visiting you, you had a problem being accepted.
I know all this may sound odd but one episode confirms the significance of Western-made clothes, and Levi’s jeans in particular. I’m thinking of our ex-head of state Angela Merkel, whom I had met in the 70s, who also considered that topic so important that she simply couldn’t resist talking about exactly that desire of all desires which she’d also had as a young girl when giving her first speech to the US Congress. Listening to her, I could fully understand why she had chosen not to leave that out. I’d have done the same.
I can’t remember if she also said that but to me and my generation they embodied the dream of liberty and were one more proof of the superiority of the Western system. Besides being a fashion statement, such an outfit was also a most welcome and first-rate political statement telling everyone that you cherished Western values and despised the political system of the East complete with its anti-Americanism and its home-made clothes that were actually being manufactured to satisfy the needs of young people but were a cheap copy of Western clothes at best, which most youngsters didn’t want to be seen dead in. They should shove them where the sun never shines.
I have pics but most of them are b/w ones. I’m lucky that @mart colourized one photo for me the other day which shows that I did get Levi’s of varying quality in the end but never got a M65 when I needed it most.
I’ve heard of those M65 parkas Dachs, from what I gather they are absolutely like gold dust these days, highly sought after by those into the mod scene. I used to work with a girl who was well into all the scooter rallies and festivals. If I saw a handsome looking vintage customised Vespa or Lambretta around town she could tell me who owned it in an instant!
I took a few snaps when we were down on the coast for the day last summer! These were getting a lot of attention from passers by!
We used to get orange label drainpipes jeans during the 70’s. They’d be turned up over our Dr Martens, we’d get rebuked for wearing them to school, flares were definitely a goner!
Yes, the motor scooters look distinctive. No wonder she can identify them immediately.
As for the M65 (whose name I didn’t know back then), I had done some research some time ago and found out that today, besides the original one, there are civilian copies available and I don’t know if that was the case then. In the 70s I couldn’t tell all those apart and I’d have accepted any model and version. In any case I liked the shorter field jacket more than this fishtail parka also called M65 and frequently seen in the 70s over here.
I doubt, though, if it had been possible for me to wear this original Marine Corps jacket because of the USMC marking.
Is that the one in high demand today? No price given.
This one sells for £500 even:
My favourite one, back then and today, no matter whether original or not, would’ve been this one in olive priced £115
Ohhhhh the memories! I remember having Levi jeans…they could stand up by themselves…wore them for years… loved them… good quality black jeans are hard to come by… have a pair but they are looking a tad sad and saggy now… sigh
I love vintage clothing…we have a number of vintage shops where I live–and many “gently” used clothing stores… can get some good bargains there…
dressing gown when I was five! Shan’t be walking around in one of those again 
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