Apa itu Levi's Big E?
Main carik, main pakai, kalau tak study sket pasal Big E ni rasanya tak boleh nak kata 'real collector' lah kan..hehehe...sebab kenalah ade sket ilmu, baru tau keabsahan dan nilai Big E ni yang sebenarnya...

So,Video-video kat youtube yang aku jumpa ni antara yang paling thorough lah explenesen nya tentang Big E ni. cuba tengok...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aBVRE8uBOg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI9S9fMTXEY

Seluar Big E ni selalunya memang susah nak jumpa dan MAHAL. kenapa? sebab nilai autentiknya, nilai 'rare'nya, vintagenya, specialnya berbanding pasang2 Levi's yang lain.

Berikut adalah contoh-contoh seluar Levi's Big E yang dijual melalui internet,sanggup ka nak beli kalau betul2 bukan collector? hehehehe....

http://www.vintagetrends.com/Vintage/thumbnails.asp?MC=Vintage&CA=Men&SC=Pants&ST=Levi+Big+E+Jeans

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LEVIS-503-503BXX-501-501XX-BIG-E-LEATHER-26-X32-/180506368771?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item2a07049b03

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LEVIS-551-ZXX-Big-E-Jeans-DARK-28W-34L-Made-USA-/140271151023?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Men_s_Clothes&hash=item20a8cfe7af

Ok, bagi collector Levi's LVC ni, memang Big E ni adalah satu 'kemestian' untuk dimiliki, dapat sehelai dua pun jadiklah. Maka berkumpul2lah duit berdikit2 untuk dapatkan Big E pujaan hati. Tapi, malanglah kalau dah kumpul2 duit susah payah, lepas tu bila beli LVC Big E ni mahal2..aleh2 tengok fake! palsu! tiruan! tipu! aduuussss! tu yang seksa jiwa raga tu.

Ni satu website simple citer pasal Levi's Big E:

http://www.levisguide.com/bige/bige.html

Jeans known as "Big 'E' " are generally Levis jeans that were manufactured before 1971. They are noted by the capitalized E on the rear red tab. This identifying feature has to be used in conjunction with other identifying features in order to prove authenticity and differences between originals and reproductions, and fakes.

The famous Big E tab. The (R) on the tab also denotes jeans
Regular more common little e tab.
that were made after 1950 - When the ® started to appear
as Levi's red tab had became a registered trademark.

There are some more defining points to look for.

-3 digit, 555 or J, J21 stampings on the top of the top button indicate a reproduction jean. 501 stamping usually indicate fakes.

-Singe digit stamping on top button indicate authentic vintage jeans

-Offset middle belt loop, Single Stitch Rear Pockets and Lemon colored stitching indicate Real Big E Jeans.

- A V-stitch near the top button could indicate either original or fakes.

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Maka, ini ada satu panduan yang baik jugaklah macam mana nak trace sepasang Levi's Big E tu fake atau tidak. sebelum tu, pada aku, elok juga tahu sejarah perkembangan macam mana wujudnya Levi's Big E ni dan spesifikasi2nya mengikut tahun. Misalnya eh, nampak sangat reproduction atau real Big E tu tipu kalau tab memang cantik tertera Big E tapi seluar tu bukan kepala kain! Ok, kalau nak tahu camno spesifikasi Levi's Big E yang ori dan tiruan, ni aku ambik dari untuk tatapan semua:

Spotting Fake big E Levi's

http://reviews.ebay.com/Spotting-Fake-big-E-Levi-apos-s_W0QQugidZ10000000004420292

With the flow on eBay of big E Levi's, original vintage (pre-1971) or LVC repro, has appeared the usual downside to the popularity of any item: the Counterfeit item (in this case, again as usual, Asian).

Buying vintage Levi's can be tricky for the layman, considering the lack of expertise may be on both sides: the buyer AND the seller. That's why it's necessary to ask the seller as many questions as you need to ask. And if you're not a pro and are not sure what you're buying, or whether the seller is really knowledgeable in the area of vintage denim or not, only bid up to the price you'd pay for the jeans according to their physical appeal to you, NOT to what you think they might be worth.

Most of what authenticates and dates a pair of jeans is in the details: the color of thread used, the position of the patch on the right hip and what it says, the size of the "big E" tab and whether it carries the "registered" logo (circled R), LEVI'S on both sides or not; the shape and size of the pockets, etc, etc... Once again, the trained eye will immediately recognize a pair of vintage Levi's from afar, and will likely be able to make out the time slot it was made in. The same goes for the recent LVC repros, US- or Japanese-made. LVC (US) has purposely made inaccurate copies of their own products (denim quality, shape & size of pockets, thread composition & color, size of, & lettering on red tab, general appearance of final product...), while presenting them as "point-by-point recreations of the original models". As far as I'm concerned, they outta get whacked in the face with a misleading publicity trial for lying so blatantly to a customer base obviously way more specialized than they are in their own past products, but Levi's recent tradition (since 1984) of using their history as a maker of decent and mythical clothing to publicize and hustle low-quality clothing is another topic... As far as I know, the best and most accurate repros around are those licensed to LVC Japan. The lemon stitching is usually used in the right places, the pockets are pretty much positioned correctly, the red tabs they use are the longer more accurate type, the denim has the correct blackish navy hue; even the apparent imprecise stitching is closer to what you'd get in a pair of Levi's before the '60s. Unfortunately, unless you're a very standard (smaller) size, and have connections in Japan, it'll be very hard to impossible to find a pair.

Which leads me to the main topic of this guide: the recent surge of Thai fakes, appearing daily under the "vintage big E 501 Levi's" search. I noticed this around 2006, out of a seller from Osaka, Japan. At first, the jeans they sold looked like really well worn vintage 501s, as if they'd found dozens of them locked up in a mine somewhere for years, after elegant miners had fortunately spent years wiping their palms on the right places (thighs and butts, mostly), without ever wearing them out to the point of making holes. So the jeans were sold as "vintage" while obviously being asian copies, but they looked good, and seemed to be of quite good quality denim. The second (and current) wave that appeared on eBay came from the same sellers, as well as others based in Thailand: the Thai fakes! While the fabric itself doesn't look too bad, the construction is of a way lower grade, and several details blow the whistle on them:

-a redline selvage in the middle of the back belt loop,

-a redline selvage on the change pocket, visible from the outside, not folded and stitched inside the pocket like on the originals. Other variants do have the selvage on the inside, but sewn with a double stitch instead of the normal single stitch.

-leather patches are usually centered on the right instead of being on the far right of the waist, usually of a smaller size, and in the weirdest colors, from off-white to dark brown, or even navy, black, or red.

-if an inside care tag is shown, you can sometimes spot typos or just broken English. They'll usually claim "Made in USA", but in a font never used by Levi Strauss C°.

-a more discreet, but still visible break in the back pocket top stitch (along the line you usually look at for double- or single-stitching). The fabric is folded under the parallel stitches, and let out near the edges of the pockets. On original vintage or repro, this serves to secure these edges with rivets. On these Thai fakes, there may or may not be rivets, but the fabric let out usually sticks out far, which is visible particularly when the jeans are faded. In the following pic, it goes all the way down to the red tab

-the red tab: usually very small, and added on without much care. You can see someone unstitched the old tab, replaced it with the current reading "LEVI'S", and stitched over the old seam, so you know it's been added outside of the factory and initial manufacturing process.*

-more difficult to see, the rises of these jeans are usually lower than normal, to follow the current trend, and perhaps simply because they were cut off Thai models.

As you can see, most of these features can easily be verified, and could help you avoid spending your money on mass-produced fakes.

*I've learned through research that Thai law is much more lenient for vendors than for manufacturers, although the Thais certainly aren't known for tough enforcement of copyright / intellectual property laws in general. There are quite a few manufacturers of fake Levi's, some also manufacturing their own legitimate brands. So it seems in some cases, to protect the factory from scrutiny from the authorities, these manufacturers produce "unmarked" jeans, for smaller workshops to sew labels on later, in more discreet settings, where they can also be hand-distressed, or lent to a local trustworthy derelict to break them in, by actual wear (true story!). The jeans then end up by the dozens on vendors' stalls on street markets, and in some specialized stores. Apparently small vendors risk little more than getting whipped with a bamboo stick in public, and/or their merchandise and money confiscated (stolen) by the local police. The local labor being so cheap explains how some eBay sellers find obvious interest in selling $5-10 jeans around $59-79 as BINs, when originals would easily get bids upwards of $200 (usually around $500-1000)

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Jadi, sebelum nak membeli Big E/atau dah terbeli Big E, adalah elok untuk tengok betul2 spesifikasi seluar tu..kena tak dengan apa yang dah diberikan oleh orang2 lain tentang Big E yang ori dan sebenar2nya...kalau tak, rugi je bayor ratus2 untuk fake Big E yang harganya cuma 10 hengget je sebenor2nya...

p/s: kalau dah minat, ginilah jadiknya! obses!