Jeans is the best known product group of the brand Levi's. They are available for men and women and offered in different styles, colors and washings. Best known is Levi's 501 which has been offered from the 1890s until now.
Description[]
Jeans are a special type of trousers that are made from denim. Due to their special importance, Levi's has an own product group for jeans, while other types of trousers are included in the product group "trousers" (British English) or "pants" (American English).
Jeans do not only differ from other trousers in the material used, but also in the style. The most important difference in the construction of jeans is the yoke, consisting of two tapered pieces of fabric inserted at the top of the back of the jeans. It allows the fit to be tighter at the waist than at the hips, without using pleats or darts. Further, jeans have patch back pockets, and the front pockets generally have a more horizontal pocket mouth as common with trousers. The edges of the front pockets are provided with rivets.
Jeans generally extend from the waist to the ankles and have long trouser legs covering the entire legs of the human body. However, jeans are also available as "shorts" with trouser legs ending above or shortly below the knee. Trousers that have the construction of jeans but are made from different materials than jeans, for example jean cut chino or corduroy trousers, are included in the product group trousers.
Jeans by Levi's have some specific features by which they can be distinguished from jeans of other brands. Among them are:
- the back patch with the two-horse-pull logo
- the back pocket with the arcuate "bat-wing" stitching
- for some styles the 5th pocket (watch or coin pocket) with two rivets above the right front pocket
- the tab on the left side of the right back pocket in red or another color, depending on the collection, and with a vertical "LeVI'S" lettering, mostly with a lower case letter "e", sometimes with upper case letter "E", or only with the ® symbol
- the waist button (and possibly the fly buttons) with "Levi Strauss & Co - SF CAL" embossing
- the pocket rivets with "L. S. & Co - S. F." embossing
By abrasion during use, the white core of the weft threads of the denim appears under the dyed surface so that the color of the fabric fades. This gives used denim jeans a unique look. Especially, the surface abrasion achieves the following effects:
Such a used used look, including the special effects, may also be achieved by different washings durcing the production, from a simple stone-wash process up to an extensive treatment.
Styles[]
Jeans are available in different styles that mainly are characterized by differnt fits and rises
Fits[]
The main fits for Levi's jeans are:
← tighter — looser → | |||||||
Skinny |
Slim |
Taper |
Athletic |
Straight |
Bootcut |
Relaxed |
Big & Tall |
← tighter — looser → | |||||||
Superskinny |
Skinny |
Slim |
Straight |
Boyfriend |
Bootcut |
Flare |
Plus |
There are also combinations of these types, for example jeans that are slim or relaxed at seat and thigh, but have tapered or boot cut legs.
Rises[]
Available rises for Levi's jeans are
- High: The jeans sits above the waist
- Mid: The jeans sits at the waist
- Low: The jeans sits below the waist
Colors[]
For most of the styles of Levi's jeans, the mainly used color is blue in different washings (blue jeans). Generally, Levi's jeans are also available in black. Depending on the current collections, other colors are offered, too, for example grey, white, khaki, brown, red or green.
Washings[]
Next to the color, the visual appearance of a jeans is mainly determined by the washing. Washing not only influences the overall shade of the jeans, but also may cause special efects to make the jeans look mor or leass worn, for examples bleached parts at the thigh, whiskers at frontal top side of the jeans or honeycombs at the back of the knees.
Washings are generally divided into three groups:
- dark
- medium
- light
Special washings include:
- rigid: raw unwashed denim
- rinse, in Europe also called "one wash": a single rinsing process to remove excess color
- stonewash: washing with stones physically removes surface color
External links[]
- Jeans at Wikipedia
- Men's Jeans at www.levi.com
- Women Jeans at www.levi.com
- Understanding Levi's® Style Numbers at www.langstons.com
- The Levi’s Jeans Guide at www.bragvintage.co.uk
- A Guide to Levi’s Jeans at www.fitfashion.co.uk, August 19, 2014
- Pamela Ann: How to recognize the difference between real and fake Levis jeans? at www.proforbes.com
- How to spot fake Levi's at www.levisguide.com