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ripping off Lee patches

paulnicepaulnice 924 Posts
edited February 2006 in Strut Central
To older folks living in or around NYC in the early 80's...It must have been around '83 or '84, but there was this whole epidemic going around my high school (and to a worse extent, the middle school) where kids would run around ripping off the "Lee" patches from peoples flavored Lee jeans.Now my memory is a little sketchy, but from what I remember, this all started on account of a promotion that V.I.M stores were running (on KISS & WBLS) where you could get a free pair of Lee jeans if you turned in a certain amount of Lee patches (I think it was 20).It got so bad at our school that the Principal had to get buckwild and start suspending kids if they got caught stealing patches.And this was at an upstate school!I have to imagine that it was a lot worse in the city or in the boroughs.And don't forget, this was at a time when EVERYONE wore Lee jeans.Anyone remember this epidemic??

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  • kidinquisitivekidinquisitive 1,627 Posts


    To older folks living in or around NYC in the early 80's...

    It must have been around '83 or '84, but there was this whole epidemic going around my high school (and to a worse extent, the middle school) where kids would run around ripping off the "Lee" patches from peoples flavored Lee jeans.
    Now my memory is a little sketchy, but from what I remember, this all started on account of a promotion that V.I.M stores were running (on KISS & WBLS) where you could get a free pair of Lee jeans if you turned in a certain amount of Lee patches (I think it was 20).
    It got so bad at our school that the Principal had to get buckwild and start suspending kids if they got caught stealing patches.
    And this was at an upstate school!
    I have to imagine that it was a lot worse in the city or in the boroughs.
    And don't forget, this was at a time when EVERYONE wore Lee jeans.

    Anyone remember this epidemic??

    I don't think it happened at my school but Cannibal Ox has a rhyme about that (soooo connected to the streets right now). I think they might have gone to school in Poughkeepsie too.
  • paulnicepaulnice 924 Posts
    I don't think it happened at my school but Cannibal Ox has a rhyme about that (soooo connected to the streets right now).

    Really? Do you know what song it is? I'd like to hear it.



    I think they might have gone to school in Poughkeepsie too.

    Well I know that guy Vast (?) has links here. I know his father, "Tree", very well actually.
    He lives here in PK & he's pretty active in the local community with regards to education & troubled youth.
    He's also a veteran party promoter and has long time links with Bam, Herc, etc.
    I've done a lot of parties with him over the years & they've always been a lot of fun - especially when he brings Hollywood up.
    From what Tree told me, I think Vast grew up with his mom in Harlem or the BX and just came up here to go to college.
  • paulnicepaulnice 924 Posts

    Thanks!
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,905 Posts
    All I can remember from wayyy back then was "red" tag meant you were cool & "orange" meant you were wack.
  • SouthCrackalackSouthCrackalack 3,853 Posts
    did Kwest The Mad Ladd mention this in that song about V.I.M.?
  • portion_controlportion_control 44 Posts
    did Kwest The Mad Ladd mention this in that song about V.I.M.?

    I remember dudes yelling "shout, shout, Lee's are plain out" to that Tears for Fears song in like sixth grade, but I don't remember anyone stealing patches. And if anyone has a dub of that VIM commercial where Chuck Leonard was all bass voice like "V.....I....M" with massive echo around like all those fly threads are dragging him down into the molten core of the Earth that would be awesome.

  • paulnicepaulnice 924 Posts

    I remember dudes yelling "shout, shout, Lee's are plain out" to that Tears for Fears song in like sixth grade, but I don't remember anyone stealing patches.


    Wouldn't that be "played out"?
  • 80s memory80s memory 2 Posts
    paulnice said:
    To older folks living in or around NYC in the early 80's...It must have been around '83 or '84, but there was this whole epidemic going around my high school (and to a worse extent, the middle school) where kids would run around ripping off the "Lee" patches from peoples flavored Lee jeans.Now my memory is a little sketchy, but from what I remember, this all started on account of a promotion that V.I.M stores were running (on KISS & WBLS) where you could get a free pair of Lee jeans if you turned in a certain amount of Lee patches (I think it was 20).It got so bad at our school that the Principal had to get buckwild and start suspending kids if they got caught stealing patches.And this was at an upstate school!I have to imagine that it was a lot worse in the city or in the boroughs.And don't forget, this was at a time when EVERYONE wore Lee jeans.Anyone remember this epidemic??


  • 80s memory80s memory 2 Posts
    Yes of course!!!! The Bronx was running rampant with lee patches!!! We took them off ourselves to avoid being violated
  • RhythmGJRhythmGJ Buffalo, NY 220 Posts
    Never infected my HS, to my best recollection. It surely would have, if viralism/Tik-Tokicity were a thing at that time ('81/'82).


    GJ
  • JUICE_TOEJUICE_TOE 3 Posts
    Absolutely. Junior High, Astoria Queens: rampant! It went right along with “What size you wear?” after spotting your shell toes, etc. Self-removed to avoid the being a mark and how crazy the tug looked when they’d vic one. Related: got jumped in the snow by some dudes who knocked me down and kicked while one was trying to pry off my Adidas Century’s (even when shells were the ish, I didn’t like the boogery ‘gum’ colored look they’d get compared to the Century’s clean white leather) and I just pushed my toes down as hard as I could, thinking “No way I’m walking 10+ blocks in the snow barefoot, plus how’s my grandmother gonna afford another thirty something bucks?! Guard the dome, make it a hassle…now bolt!” Thinking about the Lee patch thing—there’s no way they thought a real human being would buy 20 or whatever pairs of jeans for a freebie! Hard to imagine being ‘naive’ to what this would cause and it built in a steep peak to what are relatively fleeting ‘fashion/trend moments’, with Lees being in between designer jeans and pegged 501s (along with a new gang of options and branch-offs for downtown kids/skaters/players/hard rocks/etc.), ubiquitous for a while like the East Coast’s Dickie’s. And they went with everything like your LeTigre…or your other LeTigre. Simpler (?!) times lol.
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