New at Reason

January 27, 2007

Charles Paul Freund on how jeans came to be the pants of rebellion.

Comments

wayne|1.27.07 @ 10:01AM|#

levi's 501s used to be cool. They were cheap, indestructible and they looked good on you after a few washings. Now that the "marketers" have caught on to them they have become uber-expensive, and they have lost their appeal.

If you want good quality jeans now take a look at Carharts.

|1.27.07 @ 11:01AM|#

Jeans ceased being cool when marketers started selling already-faded ones. Now, I was in high school in the late 70's, early 80's, when we reacted to the obnoxiousness of the 60's by insisting on NOT fading pants, and I still like really dark indigo. And Wayne's right; Levi's soooo screwed up when they made their pants expensive. Stick with button-front cheap dark-wash 501's, and you're great. The other ones, eh. Oh, and jeans should never under any circumstances contain so much as a thread of lycra. 100% cotton only.

grumpy realist|1.27.07 @ 11:26AM|#

Slightly OT but the mention of the dress codes reminded me of the requirements they used to have for being certified as a hairdresser. Go read up on Vidal Sassoon vs. NY State's Department of Cosmology fight. It's a hoot.

|1.27.07 @ 11:57AM|#

"uber-expensive"??? what are you talking about? I buy standard shrink to fit 501's for less than $30.00 in Phoenix. Are you talking about some kind of funky "stonewashed" Levi's?
Plain old 501's are still cool. Carharts are for rednecks.

|1.27.07 @ 2:16PM|#

Carhartt is for work.

|1.27.07 @ 2:19PM|#

"NY State's Department of Cosmology" - I didn't know NY had an entire department dedicated to the study of the origins of the universe. That damn Spitzer (the Attorney General/Governor, not... nevermind) has his fingers in everything!. And what beef did Sassoon have with 'em?
-K

The Wine Commonsewer|1.27.07 @ 2:22PM|#

Chuck Freund's stuff is never boring.

I don't think $30.00 is cheap for a pair of jeans. Realistically, in comparison to designer jeans I guess it may be.

The thing is you can buy other brands of jeans for 12-15 bucks that last as long or longer. I think that's what Wayne meant. If not, well there I go putting words in OP's mouths again.

Karen, oh you are making me feel old because I can remember when fashion changed from zip-up bells to button fly 501's. Ouch.

Maurice Colgan|1.27.07 @ 2:27PM|#

If I had the pair of jeans Elvis Presley wore in the 1957 movie "Loving You" I would sell them and buy a house on the beautiful West Coast of Ireland.

Elvis Lives in Levis.

|1.27.07 @ 2:56PM|#

Black slacks make you cool, Daddy-o. When I put `em on I'm a-rarin' to go!

|1.27.07 @ 3:20PM|#

I was always a Dickies person, myself. But I was more of a x-mart shopper. In my lifetime, Levis were more high end fashion than work clothing, which was my real comfort style.

Larry A|1.27.07 @ 4:23PM|#

Karen, oh you are making me feel old because I can remember when fashion changed from zip-up bells to button fly 501's. Ouch.

Shoot. I can remember when a new pair of Levi's turned your knees blue. And the jean patches Mom could iron on inside the knees after they wore through.

My first real memory of Elvis was when my Navy uncle bought several of his albums after Elvis saved the USS Arizona memorial fund drive. That was early 1960s, after he left the Army but way before he left the building.

|1.27.07 @ 5:20PM|#

"I don't think $30.00 is cheap for a pair of jeans. Realistically, in comparison to designer jeans I guess it may be."

Damn skippy! I payed $140 for my last pair. but I can't really bitch, they got the low rise stretch thing and all.

Note to self: the pinot is kicking in, you sound like an ass.

|1.27.07 @ 5:38PM|#

501s may be expensive, but for me they last forever, so the $50 or so is well worth the investment. I haven't been without a pair for at least 15 years.

|1.27.07 @ 5:39PM|#

Of course, now, after being inspired to look online, I see I can get them for $29.99. Silly me going to the mall and paying way higher prices than that.

Maurice Colgan|1.27.07 @ 5:52PM|#

Larry I live in Swords, but not by the sword :-)Nice to see your book was published. Denim. I have lived in denim but not Denim TX.

Levis are expensive here in Ireland where good quality jeans can be bought for 3 Euros. My Lee Cooper jeans in 1958 were great! Wrangler flares in '71.
Yes Elvis did the Concert for the Arizona in 1961. The year he wrote to us.

Larry A|1.27.07 @ 6:42PM|#

I have lived in denim but not Denim TX.

I was looking for a place to set the story, and I was sure there must be a town somewhere in Texas named "Denim." Turned out there wasn't, so that's what I used.

The Wine Commonsewer|1.27.07 @ 6:59PM|#

Stevie, little early for pinot? :-)

Larry, I think you got me on age but when I was a kid my ma did iron on knee patches. It also seems like there was some brand of jeans you could buy that had a second knee (patch) already sewn into it.

I was going to say that kids born after the Big War stepped into jeans and never looked back. But my dad wore jeans to high school in the 1940's so there goes another good theory.

|1.27.07 @ 7:13PM|#

As a kid in Texas, we slid wire frames into the legs of our Sears & Roebuck jeans after washing them so that they looked semi-ironed when they dried on the clothes line.

|1.27.07 @ 7:28PM|#

My late father, a WWII vet, used to complain about the love his Boomer kids had for wearing jeans, or, as he invariably called them, dungarees.

Dad's oft-repeated comment, whenever one of the brood tried to pull off wearing denim to any social event was, "You know, we used to make POWs wear that stuff when I was in the Army." Mind you, he and my Mom saw nothing wrong with wearing jeans when we were playing softball in the back yard, or mowing it, but just try to wear even new, never-worn black jeans to church or - even the "folk mass" - and you'd be sent to your room to change. The idea that a business would allow their employees not engaged in physical labor to wear them to work would have flummoxed him.

Kevin

|1.27.07 @ 9:23PM|#

This is one thing I really love about California: many "white-collar" employees are allowed to wear jeans and a T-shirt to work.

(Although, working from home is best. The uniform: flannel PJs in the winter and T-shirts and boxers in the warmer months. A robe will do as well.)

wayne|1.28.07 @ 4:26AM|#

That picture of woman's rear end on the story has been on my mind :-). I like it, and want to extend my compliments to the owner.

Here is a thought though. It would have been such a cool idea to use the rear end of the gorgeous young woman who posed for the "Ova for sale" Reason cover. I still think of that cover often and would very much like to see that girl from a different angle.

Reason editor's... take note.

|1.28.07 @ 6:55AM|#

TWC

Stevie, little early for pinot? :-)

Yeah, but this is the weekend of the Australian Open finals, so I'm kind of on a wierd schedule. Asleep at 7:00 PM, up at 2:30 Am. Anyway, its about 6:00 here in Tejas, and I just finnished my second. Mark West for $8.00...Good shit I must say. Not exactly La Crema, but sooo cheap.

|1.28.07 @ 2:23PM|#

My late father, a WWII vet, used to complain about the love his Boomer kids had for wearing jeans, or, as he invariably called them, dungarees.

I believe "dungarees" is still the name for a US Navy seaman's work uniform. If I am incorrect please correct me.

My father as a pre-WWII career Naval officer, who in spite of having his war service lead him to an exceedingly skeptical view of politics and social relationships had similar views on clothing propriety.

Guy Montag|1.28.07 @ 10:57PM|#

Just dawning on me that there are several G Gordon Liddy issues in a short grouping.

The dungarees issue, about fashion that shoould be confined to the Hollywood crowd and the trans fats issue, which Mr. Liddy would like to see nobody eating. On the latter I am not sure if he is advocating a ban as I have not heard his show in a few years.