The Levi’s 505: A Brief History of The Brief History of Punk’s Favorite Jeans.

It’s true that the 501 gets pretty much all of the attention when it comes to vintage Levi’s styles, and while its fame is obviously well deserved—it is the OG blueprint for literally every single pair of jeans, after all—I think the 505 deserves way more hype than it gets.

Introduced in the late ’60s, the 505 was Levi’s attempt to pivot away from its workwear roots and appeal to the burgeoning youth counterculture of the time. To give you an idea of just how pivotal this new style was for the company, the first time Levi’s ever used the word “jeans” in advertising was in an ad for the 505. In contrast to the shrink-to-fit denim used for 501s, 505s were made from pre-shrunk denim. This made the fit much more predictable and meant that, unlike the 501, the wearer didn’t have to put in any time or effort to get the right fit.

The new style was enthusiastically adopted by quite a few iconic figures in the ’70s New York punk scene. On the cover of their self-titled debut album, every member of the Ramones can be seen wearing 505s. And the infamous bulge on the front of the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers album is barely being contained by, you guessed it, a skin-tight pair of 505s.

The 505 only enjoyed a brief period of major popularity during the ’70s. Perhaps fittingly for the scene it blossomed in, the 505 burned bright and then dipped before anyone could accuse it of selling out. But despite its fleeting moment in the spotlight, vintage 505s (especially pairs from the ’70s) have really stood the test of time. The denim softens beautifully and develops incredible fade patterns, and the different iterations produced from the ’70s through the ’90s all have timeless and flattering silhouettes.

To help you find your perfect pair, here’s a quick break-down of the ways that the 505 has changed through the decades:

1970s: Mid-to-high rise, slim hip and thigh with a noticeably tapered leg. Overall fit: Lean, slim, and tapered.

1980s: Generally high rise, slim to regular through the hip and thigh, straight leg with less taper. Overall fit: Classic slim-straight.

1990s: Mid-to-high rise, straight through hip and thigh with a roomier fit than earlier pairs. Overall fit: Classic regular-straight.