Carhartt are the most durable clothes I own. Whatever Levi’s did, their jeans went from lasting years to literal months before they would rip. Had the same 3 pairs of Carhartt work pants for half a decade with no end in sight.
Maybe something changed between 2020 and 2025, shrug
I think this around the time they shifted production outside the USA (memory is hazy). If you see a "helmets to hardhats" decal on the inside of your pants on the pocket lining, they're US production.
I've switched to Bailey's "Wild Ass" brand of denim work pants for my physical laboring needs, but you have to wear them with logging suspenders.
I will have to try these Baileys though, how do they fit?
You can buy Levi's at $30 at Walmart, $40 at Costco, $80 at a Levi's store, or $100 at Nordstrom.
How Levi's Sells the Same Jeans at Different Prices | Levi's 505 Teardown | Industry Secrets
It's my understanding that this is the case. I could be wrong; I hope to be.
The rest (mostly stretchy but some normal ‘washed’ duck) are imported and the quality is traded for fashion/lifestyle
Before they went public, the trick with Levi's was to basically shop with two things in mind: price point, and finish. I personally stick to non-stretch 501s. If you were sorting price low to high, you were buying low quality 501s. If you sorted price high to low, there were a bunch of "fashion" 501s at the top of the list, but when you got a pair of expensive 501s in "rigid" or some other simple wash, that was where the quality was. They used to publish the weight of the denim on the product detail page. Bonus points if they're Shrink to Fit.
Pre-IPO they'd also do much more experimentation. I have a pair of 501s made of Dyneema that I have been abusing for about a decade, and only just this month has one pocket needed to be repaired. I wish I'd bought multiple of these, but I got it on a blowout sale.
Post-IPO, there was more branding hierarchy: Levi's Vintage Clothing, Made & Crafted, Premium, and then everything else.
It looks like it's a little different now, but I haven't had to buy a new pair of 501s in several years. There are still quality jeans to be had from Levi's, but you have to spend more and avoid gimmicks.
- American Giant is pretty good for their pullover hoodies. They'll wear out at the cuffs first, but I've kept a single hoody in use for like five years with some repair stitching.
- Standard Issue makes good waffle knit shirts. They'll last a few years depending on how often you wash them.
- Duluth Trading makes some good cotton shirts and boxers. Quality has declined slightly, but they're the best plain cotton shirts and boxers I've found so far.
- Big John makes denim jeans on old Levi looms. They even use cotton stitching.
- Carhartt makes some okay dressy dungarees. Their work pants are worthless these days though (in my experience). They've been pivoting to lifestyle for a few years now.
- Filson in my opinion has declined, but they're still pretty good. The socks are great, but they're overpriced.
(Only posting this because I've struggled finding decent clothes myself and it's hard to tell what's good when you're shopping online)