Levi Strauss & Co. · 1853–present

Vintage Levi's denim

Levi Strauss opened his San Francisco dry goods business in 1853, and in 1873 he and Reno tailor Jacob Davis got the patent for riveting work pants at the pockets, which is where blue jeans start. The Two Horse patch followed in 1886, and in 1890 the waist overalls got the lot number 501. The red tab arrived in 1936 so Levi's could be spotted at a distance, and the hidden back-pocket rivets of 1937 lasted until about 1966. Cone Mills redline selvedge ran from 1927 until Cone moved to wide looms in the mid-1980s. American sewing ended with the Valencia Street plant in 2002 and San Antonio at the end of 2003. For buyers that means a long run of small changes you can read from photos, and Levi's own reissues, the Levi's Vintage Clothing line, to rule out. Date a pair from the tab, the selvedge, the care label and the top button together, never from one detail.

19 models we cover.

How to date one from the photos

Start with the red tab. From 1936 it read LEVI'S in capitals on one side, from around 1953 on both sides, and from 1971 Levi's with a small e. Levi's brought a Big E tab back on premium jeans in 2018, and modern pairs sometimes carry a blank tab with only the ®, which old jeans never had. The Two Horse patch dates from 1886. It was leather until the mid-1950s, then a leather-like card, and the XX left the 501 patch in the late 1960s before returning in small type in 1987. The arcuate was trademarked in 1943 and painted on during the war. Care labels arrived in the 1970s, a red batwing on the label means after 1986, and a Made in USA label means before 2004. On the back of the top button, late-1950s pairs show letters like A, E, L or W, 1960s pairs single digits, and pairs from the early 1970s three-digit factory numbers, such as 524 for El Paso and 555 for Valencia Street. Three-digit numbers on Big E pieces mean Levi's Vintage Clothing reissues.

San Francisco, California, founded in 1853 by Levi Strauss