1970s Lee 200Z and Copper King 99Z comparison
The inseams would be indistinguishable if it weren't for the twill of the denim.
Pics 1 & 2 Left: Lee 200Z
Pics 1 & 2 right: Copper King 99Z
They are sewn using a method that was used mostly by Lee, but also by a few store brands. The point is that only the back panel is serged , and the front panel is folded and sewn onto the back panel with a double row of chainstitches.
I'm pretty sure that for mass production a special folder was used, but I do this free-hand without folder, which is quite easy to do as shown in pic 3.

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1940s Lee Riders (3)
Next I'll focus on the inseams. There are many different ways of sewing the inseams, but as with so many aspects of Lee jeans, the Lee way is fairly unique and used by only a handful of other brands (some of which, like Copper King, were owned and made by Lee!) It is, however, surprisingly easy to do and can be done regardless of whether the inseams or outseams are done first. The resulting seam is strong while being less bulky than other types of seams.
The characteristic features are that only the back panel edge is overlocked, and the front panel edge is folded and sewn onto the back panel with a two-needle chainstitch machine. The front panel edge is left unfinished and is mostly hidden underneath the serged back panel edge, which often results in some characteristic fraying, especially after washing (as seen in pic 2). The last pic shows me sewing an inseam using this method.
The inseam is another detail that most Lee repros, even the more authentic ones, get wrong in varying degrees. There are two points to check whether the inseam is done the authentic Lee way:
1. only one layer of denim is overlocked
2. there are only two rows of (chain) stitches, both visible on the outside and on the inside of the jeans
Better quality repros indeed have only two rows of stitches, but almost always have both layers of denim overlocked together. Lower quality repros have an additional third stitch -- a plain seam visible only from the inside of the jeans. I've always wondered whether they get it wrong unintentionally simply because they don't know, or intentionally because they figure almost no one will notice.

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There's lots of ways of doing the inseams, but this is my favorite.

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