Levi’s Vintage Clothing and Capital “E” Lines

13May08

I’m an aspiring “Denim Head”.  These days, whether shopping for myself or in the women’s section with my girlfriend, you’ll find me intently feeling the denim between my thumb and forefinger of a pair of jeans that catches my eye.  Then subsequently turning one of the leg cuffs inside out to look for the tell tale sign of selvedge or lack there of.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a selvedge snob.

Diesel, Seven for all mankind, True Religion…can I just say that pretty much none of what I’ve seen of these companies’ denim offerings really excites me?  It’d better be pretty darn special for me to drop upwards of $200 on pair.  What does have me tingly all over though is the recent introduction of the Vintage Clothing and Capital “E” lines from Levi’s.

Levi’s…arguably still the best known name in blue jeans.  Partially due to the fact you can find them in just about any department store, in some variation or another, from Wal-Mart to Macy’s and everything in between.  If you haven’t been to Levi’s website recently…or at all, I’d suggest you surf of over and check out these two lines.  In the today’s world of “fashion” denim can the ol’ Levi Strauss hang?  I’m gonna say, yes, it can.

A $501 pair of Levi’s?  Oh yes…yes indeed.  In the Vintage Clothing collection Levi’s has pulled some of it’s jeans from the ol’ archive (Making jeans for over 150 years I bet they got a few old pairs floatin’ around) and painstakingly recreated several classic cuts from the company’s long history.  For instance the Vault II 501 jeans, my personal favorite out of the collection, that each retail for $501 a pair.  Each pair is hand crafted and individually numbered.  Now I’d be willing to drop several hundred on that pair of jeans.

A little closer to the echelon where most “fashionable” denim owners financially dwell is Levi’s Capital “E” line.  Each pair is hand sewn and finished right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A.  The only two issues I have with the Capital “E” line is that most cuts are skinny.  I’m an outdoorsy kinda guy, I hike, ride a bike, etc., etc, so I actually have leg muscles.  The only non-skinny cuts are the Hesher cuts; available in straight or boot.  The MSRP for Capital “E” jeans is anywhere from around $140 – $200.

This is my take on it.  Sure…you could pay $200 for your Diesels, Sevens, or True Religions…but so did everybody else.  Pay that or more for a pair of Levi’s…you must have something special.  Does it concern you that someone won’t know you paid that much for your pair of Levi’s when they see the ol’ arches on the rear pockets?  Oh well, that’s your prerogative.  I’ll tell ya what though.  My favorite pair of jeans, and the ones I get asked about most when I wear them, are my raw denim (un-shrunk) Levi’s 501 Shrink-to-Fit jeans that I paid just $29.99 for on sale. 

-S

Filed under: Denim   |  2 Comments
Tags: 501, Capital E, Denim, Diesel, fashion, jeans, Levi's, selvedge, Seven, True Religion, Vintage