How many times have you gone through your closet while cleaning, only to find a pair of jeans or a shirt that stops you in your tracks and makes you think, ugh, why do I own this? After such sartorial revelations, said unsightly items are often discarded: thrown out, donated, or gifted to an unsuspecting younger sibling. However, after this news item, you may want to rethink such rash judgments. A pair of Levi Strauss jeans dating from 1890 were discovered in an abandoned gold mine in the Mojave Desert of California, and sold on eBay for over $36,000 USD.
The auction began on July 23 with a modest opening bid of only $9.99; but like the gold rush the jeans may have been a part of, excitement grew exponentially and a pool of eighteen potential buyers formed and began hurling ever increasing bids at one another to see who would finally claim the prize when the auction closed on July 30. The jeans themselves are a pair of Levi’s 201’s, a cheaper version of the classic 501’s, that were developed in 1873 and featured less expensive denim and buttons, and a cloth patch instead of a leather one. This style of jean also featured built-in suspenders and a back-buckle to eliminate the need for belt loops; they were essentially the perfect pair of jeans for a very hard working man.
The seller of the jeans has yet to be identified, although they certainly are getting a pretty sweet pay day for a dirty old pair of jeans. So maybe you should hold on to that old pair of Sevens, you never know, they could be worth a small fortune in a hundred years or so. [via WWD]
Levi’s is such an amazing denim brand. They have so many different lines, and so many of those are limited edition. They are priced from $25 to $600 here in the US. It’s amazing because they are such an iconic item and so many people collect them. This was a really cool post to read. 🙂