Lee's Masterpiece: 101J

November 14, 2022

~Lee's masterpiece: the 101J~

I've been writing a blog about

the 501XX, but today,

I want to delve into the 101J from Lee,

one of America's three major denim brands,

alongside Levi's.

It first appeared in 1931 as a Western-style

jacket called "COWBOY."

Since the "101J" text doesn't appear on the COWBOY tag,

it's often simply referred to as "COWBOY."

Like Levi's 506XX, it started as a one-pocket style,

then became a two-pocket style in the 1940s.

The "101J" designation began to appear on tags from 1949 to the early 1950s.

Tag from 1949 to early 1950s

After this tag from the 70s,

the "101J" designation disappeared.

MR-marked square black tag

Now, about the two-pocket 101J...

50s Red Tag 101J (my old personal item)

You can faintly see "101J,"

but what do you think the "J" in "101J" stands for?

It's not "JACKET."

It stands for "JELT DENIM."

※JELT DENIM

is the denim Lee adopted in 1925

for workwear. It's soft and easy to move in,

and its woven density is optimized for high strength.

It's a denim fabric that embodies all the key points

needed for workwear: functionality, durability, and quality.

The 101J uses JELT DENIM,

and its shape hasn't changed since it became a two-pocket style in the 1940s,

up to the reproductions available today.

This goes to show how complete the 101J's design truly is.

It's rumored that

LEVI'S 557XX (3rd) was modeled after the 101J.

The reason is simple:

the 557XX and 101J have similar constructions.

Top: 50s Lee 101J

Bottom: 60s LEVI'S 557XX

The Lee 101-J is a jacket with a highly complete design

and meticulous attention to detail.

Even if it meant lower production efficiency, it remained a beloved jacket because of its uncompromising dedication to practicality, functionality, and quality.

And that concludes my discussion of the 101J.

JELADO is a brand that produces items based on vintage designs, and we also handle denim.

To analyze the XX fabric of the 1950s, we cut into a deadstock 503BXX from the 1950s and scientifically analyzed it to create our original "LAST RESORT" denim fabric, which is as close as possible to the XX fabric.

Here are some products made with this denim fabric: