For The Love Of Bettie: Levi's The Vintage Icon- How I Circled Back To My Old Favourite

I hate shopping malls so it takes something pretty important to drag me into a mall. I had to go to the Apple Store today to get some help with my Mac Book, so while I was there figured I should go to the Levi's store. I have needed new jeans for over a year. After putting on a bit of weight, I was having a serious muffin top issues and couldn't put off getting a larger size any longer.

Now normally two kinds of shopping drive me to drink and I'm sure many ladies can agree, shopping for Bra's and Jeans are the worst.

However my visit to the Levi's Store was so pain free and fast I started to wonder why I had ever strayed away from my beloved 501 button flies in the first place. I was having a Deja Vu full circle moment.

Now I have to say the High Waisted Vintage Jeans that alot of Vintage Loving Dolls love just aren't for me. I have a VERY short waist so if I wear high waisted jeans I literally have 1-2 inches space between my bust and the waist band of the jeans. I've also never liked the way my butt looks in high waisted jeans. I have a VERY round apple like butt (which I am pretty happy with and proud of) but high waisted jeans have always tended visually to widen my hips (and they are already 40") and flatten my bum into what I call "Mom Bum".

So the ideal waist for my proportions is a low rise, but as of late (the last couple years) that is not the ideal for my belly. The low rise waist was giving me a muffin top. So just to see how it would go, I decided to revisit my beloved old favourite mens 501 button flies.

I am a Generation X gal (Gen X is said to be people born between 1960-1980), I was born almost dead centre in 1972. In my teen years (when I was finally able to choose my own jeans) I wore whatever was the trend for my tribe. Since I was a into Heavy Metal I wore Fancy Ass Jeans despite the fact that they looked awful on me (or anyone for that matter) because of my short waist.

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I even owed an pair of the infamous "quick zips" which sadly I could not find an image of.

However in my later teen - young adult years I started to transition from my Metal Head music and fashion into more Punk, Alternative and Grunge and so my wardrobe transitioned as well jeans and t-shirts were no longer tight. Wearing your boyfriends jeans became the thing and that is when I discovered mens 501's button flies for the first time. Love at first fit and the love affair is still going strong.

Me at 18 sporting my 501's in a roof top photo shoot.

In the 2000's my mens Levi's were replaced with women's Levi's (in favour of the low rise) and I even had a pair of second hand 7's for a while. However when the weight came I was lost about what jeans to wear and I floundered for a few years.

This recent rekindling had me thinking "why don't more vintage gals wear Levi's?" I read alot about Freddies and the like but not about Levi's which are a Historic American Vintage Classic. So many Iconic figures have worn them from James Dean to Marilyn Monroe. They sure were a staple in the 50's wardrobe (which came back in the 80 and 90's with the Gen X uniform, white T-shirts and biker jackets).

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So in honour of Levi's here's a wee bit of history at glance

1873 the blue jean is born Levi Strauss and Jabob Davis receive the patent on riveting pants
1918 Levi's produces it's first garment for women
1934 "Lady" Levi's are introduced meant for women who want to wear jeans on western or dude ranches
1936 the "red tab is introduced
1941 US soldiers wear there jeans and jackets overseas giving there products there first international exposure
1960 Levi's opens their first integrated factory in the south

The list is more detailed and goes forward from 1960 to today (see the full list click here)