Vintage Jeans, Part I

How to shop for it online. Karla Welch says you can.

Jane Herman

Aug 29, 2023

There is a book to be written about how to shop for vintage jeans online. I say this having spent the better part of two months working on this letter – a comprehensive start to how (Part I) and where (Part II) to succeed in your search. Make no mistake: Finding a great pair of vintage jeans is work. Whether you do it in a store or online, doesn’t matter, it takes extra energy to get it right. The best I can do is help focus that energy so your chances of landing the vintage jeans of your dreams are greater. Some of this will be technical, some not. Trust me, when you find them, you’ll know.

The vintage jeans I currently have in rotation, including multiple pairs of Levi’s 501s. All are different in fit, wash, age, and finish.

First, let’s define vintage. Levi’s Historian and Archivist Tracey Panek told me, “We consider original vintage to be anything from before 1971. However, the further we move from the 1970s, the broader the date category can be. Personally, I would say that vintage needs to have some aging or sense of time, at least thirty years, but ideally much longer.” Newsflash to me – thirty years ago was 1993! – and everything from the 80s officially qualifies. NOTE: This letter heavily features vintage Levi’s because that’s what I wear and know best, but the instruction here can be applied to all brands.

In general, I tend to follow Tracey’s “sense of time” requirement and search, more specifically, for the hallmarks that look cool, like twisted, selvedge seams and wash patterns that show real signs of life (the fade made by a cigarette box kept in the back pocket, for example). The truth is, unless you are an aficionado – and I spoke to a few, we’ll hear from them in Part II – it’s hard to accurately exact-date vintage. Plus, the age of a jean is only really important when determining a fair price (which is why it’s best to buy from said aficionados who charge appropriately, especially when you’re splurging). How do you measure monetary value when talking about one-of-one, feels-like-they-were-waiting-for-you jeans? At the end of the day, a weathered look is a weathered look and love is love, right?

A few of the the things I look for when buying vintage denim. **LEFT:** A rippled, selvedge side seam on a pair of Levi’s 501s. **RIGHT:** The imprint of a box of cigarettes in the back packet of my Levi’s Orange Tab 519-0217s. Signs of time and life are always interesting and valuable to me.

So, why is it hard to buy vintage jeans online? Because every pair is completely unique and measurements are all over the map. The consensus among everyone I’ve talked to is that the first adjustment you need to make when buying vintage online is around sizing. Any rigid, shrink-to-fit jean – which all old Levi’s are – will be 3-4 sizes smaller than the tag size. (I’m a size 25 in most contemporary jeans, and a tag size 28 or 29 in vintage 501s, for example.) If you shop for vintage the way you shop for new pairs on Net, it’s simply not going to work.

“Know your measurements,” says Karla Welch, the Los Angeles stylist who owns 200+ pairs of vintage jeans, which she wears with the highest levels of ease and authority. Karla, who’s built a career helping pop culture icons (like Justin Bieber) communicate meaningful style through clothes, is one of the most professional and prolific celebrity stylists in town, in part because she champions personal taste over trend – she literally teaches the Master Class on it. I called Karla because she said she can tell if a pair of vintage jeans will be perfect for her just by looking at them. How?!

Practice.

**@karlawelchstylist** my superpower is that I can look at a pair of vintage jeans and tell if they are going to be perfect or not, so if those are aliens on the way, I’m just not going to be much help. Unless they want jeans, which is possible. 👽 (these are wranglers and I paid 32 cdn for them)

“As with most good things in life, you have to have a little bit of patience,” Karla told me. “For jeans, how I shop online might start with a look – let’s say, Kate Moss at the Topshop show in cornflower blue bellbottoms with a sweatshirt. I have an idea of a fit or style or color I want, and then I search for it.” It, btw, was Kate wearing Chloé back in 2006. A very specific reference to drop out of the blue (pun intended), but that’s Karla.

Start with a look, like Kate Moss at the Topshop show in London in 2006, and search using words that describe that fit, color, pocket placement, or leg shape.

“I’m a big Etsy person,” she explained. “I think you can find great sellers there, and so I might put in ‘Lee’ or ‘Wrangler size 28 -30,’ because I’m usually a 26. I look at the wash, I look at the frisking. The algorithms make life a little easier now because they will show you more of what you start looking for. For vintage, I might ask [the seller] if there are any smells left. That’s the one thing you can’t fix; if something smells, that smell is not coming out. But it’s fine to alter. And if you find a pair you think you want, don’t vacillate. Buy it. There is nothing worse than the pair that got away.” To finish, Karla delivered the tough love we all need: “You have to be OK if it doesn’t work out.”

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A peek inside Karla’s closet: “Yes, the world is going to sh*t, but I just cleaned out my denim closet,” she says. “Those are being sold. Kit. Tailor. And wear! I never have to buy jeans ever again in my life. They’re all vintage.”

Of course, this letter is meant to prepare you so that it does work out, and the things to know for yourself are those measurements Karla mentioned: Waist circumference, hip width, inseam (the length of the leg from center crotch seam to the bottom hem), and rise (the distance from the center crotch seam to the top of the waistband). Some sellers list the back rise and leg opening, too. I suggest measuring all of these points on a pair of jeans you already love (new or old) and using them as a guide.

With my daughter this summer in Montana, wearing my favorite early 1990s Levi’s Vintage Clothing 501XX jeans. Teva Sandals. James Perse Boy tee.

Here’s how I do it: Like Karla, I might start on Etsy by searching for the specifics, namely “brand + style/details + size” (“Levi’s 501XX selvedge size 29,” for example). I then refine the selection by wash, shape, and measurements, in that order. Wash first because it’s the easiest thing to identify as good or bad at a glance – in a sea scroll of jeans, it’s what makes a pair stand out. If I see a wash I like, I then stop to evaluate the shape. Stay with me…

Lately, my favorite jeans are Levi’s LVC reproductions of the 1966 501XX red tab Big E’s in 12.5oz denim (above and below). Sadly, I don’t remember where I bought them (I believe I was pregnant at the time), but I love how they fit me now, so I photographed them flat, front and back:

My favorite LVC 501XX’s, shot with my iPhone, front and back. I use these photos to help guide my eye towards jeans that might fit me as nicely when scrolling on Etsy or other vintage sites.

Most online vintage sellers photograph their inventory like this and seeing how my own jeans compare visually in curviness, leg width, waist cinch, and back pocket placement is extremely helpful – it’s all about training your eye to speak the language of online vintage by recognizing what a good fit for you looks like in two dimensions.

It’s not a foolproof process, but it works! Take these 1980s Levi’s redlines

that I recently bought from SHOPALTELIER, owned by denim veteran Patrick Watkins (below; more from Patrick to come in Part II):

I compared the shape of these 1980’s Levi’s redlines, which I found on Etsy at SHOPALTELIER, with the Levi’s I already know I love in order to gauge how they would fit. When the more precise measurements checked out, I bought them with confidence.

The wash – a soft blue with nice whiskering at the hips, strong contrasts along the side seams, and a near-bleached, off-seam crease up and down the right leg (most likely the result of being folded in one place for a very long time) – was gorgeous. The first thing to get my attention. Laid flat, they were shaped a lot like my beloved Levi’s, so I clicked. After following up with a quick comparison of the more specific measurements, which Patrick diligently lists for every pair he sells, I felt confident buying (for $400, no less). So worth the work – and the price tag, if you consider that many popular contemporary jeans today cost more and aren’t one-of-a-kind.

With my son in Los Angeles, wearing my new 1980s Levi’s redlines from SHOPALTELIER. They are a little bit baggier than my LVC 501XXs, but just as great. See the almost-white crease line just off-seam on the right leg? The result of being folded in the same position for *years*. My sandals are by Jamie Haller.

There is no formula, and I have to mention that even practice doesn’t make perfect when shopping for vintage jeans online (Karla agrees; raise your hand if a letter full of my fails sounds interesting to you.) Starting with sites and sellers that accept returns and have pairs at good prices is wise when trying anything new. In fact, excuse me while I type “vintage 80s Calvin Klein jeans for under $100” into an eBay search…

Next week, I’m talking to denim experts about some of the nitty-gritty bits to look for, and where to go to get the best. Believe me, it can be done. Right before I closed this letter, I received an enthusiastic email from Karla: “I thought of you because I just bought 3 pairs of old Lees on Etsy.” I love it when that happens. Happy shopping, everyone.

Jane

Discover more from Jane on Jeans

Vintage Jeans, Part I

How to shop for it online. Karla Welch says you can.

A peek inside Karla’s closet: “Yes, the world is going to sh*t, but I just cleaned out my denim closet,” she says. “Those are being sold. Kit. Tailor. And wear! I never have to buy jeans ever again in my life. They’re all vintage.”

More to read…