Inside the World of Levi’s- 09.09.11
Today i had a little adventure into the world of Levi’s. Wandering out into hollywood, i found myself immersed in Levi’s! Fascinating to see everything from the history of the 501 (from the original to the various evolutions of the years…) to the Curve ID jeans for women under a fantastic installation of bright yellow folding yard sticks ~ to the latest Commuter 511 collection (perfect for commuter cyclists with reflective seams when you fold the cuff up)… and even a peek at the edible garden installation by Silverlake Farms that was previously at MOCA! The adventures culminate in the dressing room, where after getting a feel for the collections, i slipped in to their Curve ID: Demis to find myself to be a perfect 27… take a peek at it all on the next page…
It’s like a time warp stepping into the early 1900s seeing the various 501s…
Each one showing what changed every few years…
What fluffy cotton balls they used to have illustrated on their “Original American Underwear T-Shirt”!
Leap ahead to the modern day CURVE IDs…
Fun installation for the Commuter 511 Collection…
And out to the garden! So cute how this structure is both an elevated herb/fruit garden with a built in bench and bike rack…
Into the dressing room to try things on and REALLY get a feel for Levi’s…
And here are the two they nicely gifted me to try out in the real world!
My father was a Levi’s salesman and ended up head of one of their divisions. When I was little he would take me to Pt. Reyes Station (Calif.) and other locations where his clients were. Marin county still had cowboys in those days. He traded Levis to the cowboys in exchange for riding lessons for me and those were pretty raw and not nice to the horses.
But, the Levis were made in the U.S., San Francisco and Texas, I think and they cost about $5 at Macy’s. This is in the 1960’s.
Levi’s sold their soul when they began to offer shares to their employees in lieu of retirement funds and then shipped the manufacturing to cheap labor in Mexico.
I, for one am not impressed with this phony tribute to the working man’s Levis that is part of our history in the American west. And May I add Levis is to jeans what Kleenex is to nasal tissues.
P.S. My father gave me a pair of Levis that was made for the fattest man in the world. Two kids could fit in each leg. The mailman saw us kids playing with them amd asked to borrow them for a party. I never saw them again. Grups!
----- Cybele 09.09.11 22:40