1944 501® Men's Jeans

Everything changed during World War II. The United States government informedall clothing manufacturers that they had to remove a certain amount of metal,fabric and thread from their garments in order to conserve the raw materials forthe war effort. Levi Strauss & Co. did what it could to abide by the rules. Off camethe watch pocket rivets, the crotch rivet and the cinch, along with its two rivets(which eliminated both fabric and metal.)Buttons became standard issue during the war and featured a laurel leaf design.Sometimes the buttons were branded; sometimes the waistband had the laurelleaf and the fly buttons were plain. The only explanation is that delivery ofsundries was hit-and-miss during the war years, and the brand sometimes had touse what it had on hand.There was one rationing rule that was a little harder to bear: the order to removethe Arcuate Stitching Design from the back pockets, because it was considereddecorative and didn’t have a function. Well, LS&Co. thought it did: it was one of theprime identifiers of classic 501® Jeans. Rather than lose this important design,LS&Co. worked out a system to print the Arcuate Stitching Design on every pairof 501® Jeans that came out of the factory. The paint eventually washed off, buthaving that stitching visible when buying the jeans was the important thing.

Men's jeans from Levi's® include all of the iconic styles you know and love along with updated, modern fits. Browse all Levi's® jeans for men.

Style: #44501