The 13MWZ is the jean Wrangler built its name on, and it's still sold more than 75 years after it started. That long run is the catch when you're buying used. A pair listed as a 13MWZ could be from the 1950s or from last year, and Wrangler has added slimmer, roomier and stretch versions of the Cowboy Cut along the way. Here's how the jean started, what changed, and how to read a listing.
Blue Bell, Rodeo Ben and the 11MWZ
Wrangler began at Blue Bell, a Greensboro, North Carolina, workwear company that took that name in 1919. Denimhunters credits Blue Bell with the first workwear made of sanforized fabric, and in 1936 it launched Super Big Ben overalls in sanforized cloth. In 1943 it bought the Casey Jones Work-Clothes Company, which came with a little-used brand name, Wrangler.
In 1946 Blue Bell set out to make jeans for rodeo cowboys and hired Bernard Lichtenstein, the Philadelphia tailor known as Rodeo Ben, who worked closely with cowboys. After 13 prototype pairs, the 11MWZ went on sale in 1947. Its features read like a rider's wish list. It had felled outseams and inseams, back pockets placed to be comfortable in the saddle, rivets that wouldn't scratch, a zip fly, and a strong tack at the crotch instead of a metal rivet. Wrangler's designers told Heddels in 2019 that the rivets were flat so they wouldn't scratch a saddle. Rodeo champions Freckles Brown, Bill Linderman and Jim Shoulders wore them in the first advertising.
Denimhunters says Wrangler's arrival was a direct shot at Lee's 101, which Lee had first sold as Cowboy Pants. If you like the Wrangler fit, the Lee 101 Riders are the other jean to know.
What the number means
Wrangler told Heddels the original lot was the 11MW, for 11 oz denim and Men's Western, and the Z stands for the zipper. Wikipedia and Heddels both say the 11MWZ was renamed 13MWZ in 1952 to match the 13 oz denim it had moved to. Wikipedia's own article also calls 13MWZ the thirteenth version of the men's western zip jean and dates it to 1947, and Denimhunters says the 11MW and 13MWZ both launched in 1947, so the sources don't fully agree. The fabric weight explanation has the most support. Either way, a pair labelled 11MWZ is an early one, and our 11MWZ page covers it.
Broken twill
Ordinary denim is a twill with its diagonal running one way, and that bias can twist the legs after washing. Broken twill alternates the direction every two warp ends, which gives the fabric a zigzag texture and no pull either way. Heddels credits it with keeping the 13MWZ from twisting around a rider's legs and with making it softer.
When it arrived is unclear. A 2018 Heddels piece describes the first 11MWZ as sanforized broken twill, while a 2026 Heddels article says Wrangler introduced broken twill in 1964. Don't date a pair on the weave alone.
How the Cowboy Cut fits
The Cowboy Cut was made to be worn on a horse with boots. Heddels describes the early Lee and Wrangler western jeans as comparatively tight up top with a leg that opens out to go over boots, and calls the 11MWZ's seat famously well fitting. Heddels also points out that most of the country outside Levi's West Coast heartland preferred these sanforized zip-fly jeans to a stiff button-fly 501.
Today Wrangler sells several Cowboy Cut fits, and they're easy to confuse in listings.
- Cowboy Cut Original Fit, 13MWZ. The descendant of the 1947 jean and the one most people mean. Our 13MWZ page covers it.
- Cowboy Cut Slim Fit, 936. A slimmer version. Listings often add a colour or finish code after the number, as in 936DEN. See our 936 page.
- Cowboy Cut Relaxed Fit. Cut with a roomier seat and thigh and a straight leg, and it sits at the waist.
- Stretch and lightweight versions. Wrangler also sells Active Flex, Toughlite and rigid versions of the Cowboy Cut, and sellers sometimes leave those words out of the title.
The fit names matter more than the age if you're buying to wear. A slim or stretch pair listed only as Wrangler Cowboy Cut won't fit like an Original Fit, so read the tag photo, not the title.
Reissues and anniversary pairs
Wrangler has reissued its own history more than once. Wikipedia lists a Special Collectors Edition 13MWZ for the jean's 50th anniversary in 1997, and in 2004 a limited Blue Bell by Wrangler collection that reproduced the first Wrangler jeans in detail. Around its 70th anniversary Wrangler made a selvedge 1947 jean in the USA and a 27406 collection cut and sewn in Greensboro, named after the zip code. Our 47MWZ page covers the 1947 reissue. Read the tags on anything sold as an early Wrangler, since these were made to look like one.
Reading a listing
- Country of manufacture. Heddels said in 2012 that Wrangler's last American factory had closed in 2005. A mainline 13MWZ made in the USA is older than that, unless it's from a later heritage line like 27406.
- Care tag. As with any US-made jeans, a pair with no care tag at all is likely from before 1971, when the FTC's care labeling rule came in.
- Company history. Blue Bell merged with VF Corporation in 1986, and Wrangler is now owned by Kontoor Brands. Our Blue Bell overall page covers the company's earlier workwear.
- Rodeo ties. Heddels says a custom-tailored Wrangler was named the official jean of the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1974, and Wrangler's rodeo marketing has run ever since, so rodeo branding alone doesn't date a pair.
Sizing
Cowboy Cut denim is sanforized, so a vintage pair has done most of the shrinking it's going to do, but decades of washing and wear still move it away from the tag. Ask for the waist measured flat and doubled, the front rise, the thigh and the leg opening, and compare them with a pair you wear. The leg opening tells you whether it's the boot-friendly cut you want. Our measuring guide shows how to take each one, and if you're comparing it with a Levi's, the 501 dating guide covers the other side.
