Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi's 517 Boot Cut, 1969 The jean that made room for boots without going all the way to a flare. Levi's introduced it in fall 1969 alongside the 646, as part of its experimental orange Tab line, and its catalogs described the Sta-Prest Saddleman 517 as "full from the knee for the boot wearer." Made at first in wrinkle-resistant Sta-Prest fabric, it gave Western and work wearers a leg that sat cleanly over a boot shaft. The bell bottom came and went, but the 517 is still in the range, which makes it the reference point for the bootcuts that followed.