Second-hand retro Levi’s – a material dream

“Retro Levi’s 560 jeans. Loose fit straight legs. Ca size 36/38. 150 SEK.
In a really good shape, almost unused. Really high waist, really baggy around hips. Fits someone who is longer than me who is 158 cm and have size 34/36.”

I spot the announcement above from a local Facebook second hand site a week ago.

“DM”
“I buy”
“queue”
Me: “QUEUE!”

Fourth on line. Why didn’t I see this announcement 5 hours earlier? Jeans look perfect! Those kinds of I have been looking for and waiting for the whole spring to get to the second-hand stores to check out their assortment of old Levi’s. And there they were now, in the perfect model and my size. Okay, let’s give them a chance and let’s stand on line.

I have a pair of jeans that I bought from Monki three years ago. I have loved those jeans and used them a lot. However, during the winter, I started to do more strength workout and squats. My body has changed that much that those old favourite jeans don’t close anymore. That’s why I have been looking for a new pair, but instead of buying a new produced pair of jeans, I wanted to buy second-hand. There are so many cool second-hand vintage jeans, Levi’s and others, that are really up to date out there, so I wanted to get a pair of those instead. And now there was a pair on my local Facebook second-hand group.

• 

• 

For the first buyer, the Levi’s were too big and baggy. The next one didn’t answer messages. At this point, I already send a direct message to the seller asking how it is with the jeans to get to know the situation and to pinpoint my interest. Third one disappeared from the line.

“I forward the jeans to you if you want them”

“YES!!!!!! Can I pick them up today?” and a little (read: big) party dance by myself “every day I’m shuffling” meets “dancing on a table” style. Woohoo! Those would be mine, but the next step was to pick them up and hope those fit since you never know when you buy a piece of clothing without trying it out first. I bought the jeans from a neighbour who said that I could take them home to try, and if they don’t fit so I could take them back.

Thanks to all squats – I have a booty to fill the jeans with

I got home with straight away and tried the jeans on immediately. They fitted. They didn’t only fit, but they fit perfectly! Buyer warning them to be baggy was unnecessary in my case. Thanks to all squats I made during the winter, I now have a booty to fill the jeans with. I was so happy, and I still am. Now I know what material happiness is. It’s perfectly fitting, second-hand vintage Levi’s 560, that I finally found. I wrote an essay about Levi’s at school together with my classmate a few years back, but now I finally have my pair, my own vintage pair.

Couldn’t be happier.

One reason why I love second-hand clothes is that they have a story, a history, behind. I find it really interesting. Old clothes often have some marks from previous owners. What I noticed in my pair of jeans is that the legs have been rolled up a while: I saw a line when I unrolled those (might disappear when washing the jeans). I would like to know more about my first ever pair of Levi’s, their whole life story. Furthermore, the label behind the jeans has been moved at some point. I hope it’s still the original label that has just been moved a bit more right to cover a spot or something. The old place is clearly visible, and I new stitches on the label can also be seen. These kinds of details don’t bother me at all, conversely: they make the jeans unique. These are the marks of life the jeans have already lived, a part of jeans history. I really would like to know the whole story behind my Levi’s 560; who have worn these before, and what the jeans have experienced along the way.

The fashion and materiality course comes to my mind now. I really liked that course at university. I think I could do a separate post about that later.

Now it’s time to put my new old Levi’s on and continue their story and start creating new stories with them! <3

Ps. This outfit is all second-hand. I found the shirt is from a second-hand store in Stockholm last winter. That is a piece of clothing that made me to turn back to the store and get it after I already left once.

VIIVI