A pair of vintage Levi's pants from the 1880s was recently auctioned off in New Mexico and were bought by a 23-year-old for almost $76,000! The pants were bought on October 1 at an auction by Kyle Haupert, a 23-year-old vintage clothing trader from San Diego.
Michael Allen Harris, a denim expert, found the 1880s-era jeans in a mineshaft a few years ago. There were only holes and splitters in the pants which were minor ones considering they are more than 200 years old. To reflect the complex history of America, they have the slogan "Made by White labour" on the back pocket. That phrase was used by Levis after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned any Chinese labourers from entering the US for ten years even though they were an important part of the American economy.
The corporation claims that it implemented this method to increase sales. But after a few years, they abandoned it.
Haupert and Zip Stevenson, the owner of the vintage apparel business Denim Doctors in Los Angeles, purchased the antique jeans. 90% of the winning bid came from Haupert, while Stevenson paid the remaining 10%.
''He has seen everything under the sun'', according to Haupert, who claimed he relied on Stevenson's knowledge. ''He's the one I can rely on to say they're an actual pair from the 1880s,'' Haupert told the media. Now both of them intend to sell the jeans, for nothing less than $150,000. When the buyer's premium was taken into account, the total cost of the pants was $87,400. Haupert shared pictures of the auction and the pricey pair of pants on the Instagram feed for his shop, Golden State Vintage. "These speak for themselves," Haupert wrote on the Instagram post showing the pants.
The pants, which are described as "the holy grail of vintage denim collecting," are one of the earliest Levis from the time of the gold rush, according to their auction page. The listing states that the pants are in "good/wearable" condition.
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