Light wash vintage Levi’s have been a forever wishlist item for me.
I’ve been fortunate the last few thrift trips finding a mid wash pair and mid-dark acid pair. Too long of course, so I cut a raw hem on one and cuff the other. Since I only look for “men’s” styles now (vintage “women’s” are all made for pear shapes and caused literal pain when I tried to wear them in the past) it’s hard for me to find ones that are actually high enough in the front.
I was so pumped to see these with my measurements on poshmark.
The price! ($27)
The color!
The rise!
The BOOTY!
Here’s how I modified these vintage Levi’s to really make them mine.
BEFORE
REMOVED EXTRA LENGTH
As is often the case, these jeans were far too long so I started by cutting off several inches. I made sure to leave an extra inch to allocate for the hem I would be sewing later.
TAPERED THE LOWER LEG
Due to my leg shape and narrow hip-span, straight legs often look like wide legs on me and give a “trunk” effect. I decided to taper these and keep the original inner side seam. This tutorial was quite helpful.
DISTRESSED THE HEM
Though I typically like to keep the original hem on jeans, the taper I did made that a bit harder to do this time. I made the hem portion smaller to fit, but that removed one of the side seams, so I realized it would look odd attached to the jeans. I also noticed a stain on one of the hem portions that didn’t wash out, so I just decided to sew a new hem. Once that was complete, I took my electric nail file to help add some distressing and make them look more worn in.
And now I have a great fitting pair of levi’s to style with many outfits!
AFTER
