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Lee

Lee Apparel Company was started by Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas. Lee and several associates had gone into the wholesale dry goods and grocery business, and they started producing work clothing due to poor deliveries from factories in the East. In 1911 they opened a factory which made work pants and jackets. Two years later they unveiled the Union-all, a cover-all garment made of a jacket and pants sewn together at the waist.

Lee made these for the military in WWI, and after the war they expanded their clothing inventory. In the 1920s they added a cowboy pant made of denim – blue jeans. As time went on the company geared its advertising and products toward the cowboy trade.

After WWII, Lee began to market their jeans not just as work clothes, but as fashion items. They made a jeans just for women, the Lady Lee Rider. In 1954 they began to make other sportswear in addition to jeans. This trend continued, with basics such as chinos being added to Lee’s production.
In 1967 the company was sold to VF, the parent company of Vanity Fair.

Written by fuzzylizzie

from a pair of 1950s jeans - Courtesy of pinky-a-gogo

from a pair of 1950s jeans

Courtesy of pinky-a-gogo

from 1950s side-zippered jeans - Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from 1950s side-zippered jeans

Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from a pair of early 1970s peace sign print jeans - Courtesy of themerchantsofvintage

from a pair of early 1970s peace sign print jeans

Courtesy of themerchantsofvintage

from a pair of 1970s men's sports slacks - Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from a pair of 1970s men’s sports slacks

Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from a 1970s men's vest - Courtesy of hollie point vintage

from a 1970s men’s vest

Courtesy of hollie point vintage

from a pair of 1950s jeans

Courtesy of pinky-a-gogo

from a 1950s boy's denim jacket

Courtesy of Wildman Vintage

from a pair of 1950s side-zippered jeans

Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from a pair of 1960s stretch jeans

Courtesy of Public Dove

from a pair of 1960s jeans

Courtesy of Public Dove

from a mid to late 1960s denim jacket

Courtesy of Cowpunkabilly

from a pair of early 1970s peace sign print jeans

Courtesy of themerchantsofvintage

from a pair of 1970s jeans - pocket tag

Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from a pair of 1970s men's sports slacks

Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from a 1970s jacket

Courtesy of Hollie Point Vintage

from a 1970s men's vest

Courtesy of hollie point vintage

from a late 1970s brushed denim jacket

Courtesy of Ranch Queen Vintage

from a late 1970s brushed denim jacket

Courtesy of dollsntrolls

from a 1980s denim skirt

Courtesy of Hollie Point Vintage

from a 1980s shirt

Courtesy of Hollie Point Vintage

from a pair of 1990s jeans

Courtesy of Hollie Point Vintage

from an early 2000s Aloha jacket

Courtesy of Cowpunkabilly