I'll skip the sob story and just post the pics so you guys can compare.
- Comparison: 1. 44501 bought from Bunjang (Bungae Jangteo) 2. 44501 bought from Levi's official site.
Personally, I'm convinced the one from Bunjang is a rep (fake). Comparing it side-by-side with a guaranteed legit pair, there are so many spots where I'm like 'Is this really just individual variance?' I looked up detailed 44501 review videos on YouTube, and the features on the official site pair match those videos perfectly, while the suspicious one doesn't have any of them. I'll upload the photos one by one, please help me LC (legit check). But if all my suspicions are just common batch variations and I'm just putting on a one-man show, I'll apologize and delete this post. Honestly, I'd rather be a fool overreacting to batch variance. Thinking that there are people out there scamming others for some pocket change over a pair of jeans just makes my heart heavy... (I'm a total 'F' personality type). I'll label the photos as Bunjang/Official.
1. Leather patch texture difference.

The Bunjang item has a glossy feel to it? Usually, I think of these as having a matte leather patch, but this one looks like it's already been through a crazy aging process with a dark leather tone + the stitching is orange (I looked up a lot of 44501 images and most had yellow stitching).

And here's the official site item. Not much to say. It looks identical to all the patches I found during my research.
2. Difference in how the hidden rivet info tag is attached / The method of attaching to the back pocket is different.

This photo is the official site item.
- When you flip the Bunjang item, there's no trace on the back pocket / Because it was just attached to the pocket itself with something like a plastic staple.

Official site item is sewn in with thread.

3. Sewing finish method?
I saw a lot of differences when I flipped the pants inside out, but this is the one that raised my suspicion to 199%. In the photo, the top pair is Bunjang, the bottom is official. While the official one uses clean chain stitching to finish the hem upwards, the Bunjang one uses this bizarre method of two rows of single stitching.

4. Selvedge finish difference. (Left: Bunjang / Right: Official)
The Bunjang item has dense red stitching with no gaps. The official one has spaces between the red stitches / My LVC 47501 shows the same pattern as the official one.

5. Diagonal stitch difference on the back of the top button.
On the Bunjang item, if you look at the marked area, the stitch misses the rivet. And the stitch bleeds into the lower fabric.

The official item is stitched in a way that everything lines up perfectly, and the rivet is placed right on top of the stitch.

6. Label differences.
From the left: Bunjang 44501 / Official 44501 / Official 47501. The font for 'EAC' is different. The 'E' on the Bunjang one feels a bit thicker?

7. Pocket lining color and stitch position difference.
Left: Bunjang / Right: Official. The Bunjang lining is a white-ish material, while the official one has a yellowish tint.

8. Rivet engraving difference.

Official item has embossed engraving on a flat surface.

Bunjang item has debossed engraving on a swirly back surface.
9. Just the general build quality difference / At this point, I've concluded it's a fake... I honestly don't get the brain structure of people selling reps. To be fair, you can't really tell from the front, but once you flip them over and look at the details, the differences are huge..

"OP goes full detective mode to expose a high-quality LVC fake from a second-hand marketplace. The community is impressed by the detailed comparison and shocked that people are mass-selling reps of vintage Levi's."
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