Vintage Levi’s 517 Red Tab Denim Jeans Size W 42 L 30

Levi's 517 in a W42 L30, red tab, black denim faded to dark charcoal. The 517 is Levi's original bootcut silhouette, introduced in 1971 as a flared-leg answer to the slim-tapered 505 and the straight-leg 501. That slightly wider leg opening and lower rise made it the work-and-weekend crossover cut for the better part of three decades. This copy carries the red tab, copper rivets, and a zip fly, which puts it squarely in the long commercial run of the 517 before Levi's began consolidating and discontinuing secondary fits in the mid-2000s.

The 517 was never the collector darling that the 501 became, and that is exactly why it stayed in rotation so long. From the 1970s into the early 2000s it was a denim constant, the pair you bought because it worked with boots, work boots, or nothing in particular. In the 1990s, when Levi's volume was at its peak in the U.S. market, the 517 sat in every mid-tier department store alongside the 505 and 550. The black dye on this weight of denim fades toward charcoal and ash at the high-friction zones first: seat, inner thigh, knee front. This copy shows that pattern, which means it was worn, not stored, and the fade is honest. A W42 L30 in a bootcut this period reads as a big-and-short proportion that does not come up often in the 517 cut. The inseam is short relative to the waist, which narrows the pool of buyers and increases the value to the one it fits.

Condition is charcoal fade with visible seat and thigh wear as described. Five-pocket construction, belt loops intact, no apparent repairs from the outside. The red tab is present on the right coin-pocket seam, which is the standard placement. At a W42 L30, the leg opening on the 517 should be notably wider than a 505 or 501 in the same size, which is what makes the bootcut proportions readable even in a larger waist. Check the interior waistband label for the lot number and country of origin, which will narrow the production decade before you commit.

OWNER VERIFY: Production decade. confirm via interior waistband label lot number and country-of-origin stamp, as the red-tab 517 ran across multiple decades and the label construction will date this copy more precisely than the tab or hardware alone.