
- Who
- Levi Strauss & Co. "XX"
- What
- 100,000 US dollar(s)
- Where
- United States (Tucson)
- When
The most expensive vintage jeans are a pair of Levi Strauss & Co. "XX" blue denim trousers, dating from 1893, which were sold in May 2018 for $100,000. The buyer chose to remain anonymous, but was reportedly a collector from southeast Asia.
The jeans were originally purchased by Solomon Warner, an American entrepeneur and dry-goods store owner. Warner went out west in 1856, settling in what is now Tucson, Arizona, just three years after the land was incorporated in the United States. Warner was remembered as a larger-than life character who stood a 6-ft 6-in (198-cm) and had survived being shot several times on his supply runs between Tucson and Yuma.
Although he was 80 years old when he ordered them, the jeans still hint at Warner's imposing stature – they have a 44-inch (111 cm) waist and 36-inch (91 cm) inseam. Warner got sick shortly after placing the order, and it is thought that he died without ever wearing the trousers, or at least only wearing them once or twice. After his death his family put them away in a cedar trunk where they remained in almost perfect condition until they were rediscoverd by his great-great grandson, Jock Taylor.
The jeans don't look a lot like a mordern-day pair of Levis. They have only one rear pocket and no belt loops (men typically used braces to hold up their trousers). Stamped on the inside of the left front pocket is a Levis promotional blurb, however instead of "for over 140 years" as it says on the modern pairs, it says "for over 17 years".