Denim in the Raw

Levi Strauss followed the Gold Rush trail to California looking to make his fortune selling dried goods and sundries.  Upon his arrival miners took one look at his wares and asked him "Do you have any pants?"  He didn't but he did have quick thinking and  hemp fabric from his covered wagon.  And from there the denim jean was born.  These simple sturdy trousers have been worn by working men and women ever since. They became especially popular among factories worker during World War II.

It was James Dean who took denim to the next level, in the hit movie "Rebel Without a Cause". After that if you were and teenager or young adult, you wore jeans as a way to say "up yours" to the squares. When jeans became banned in places like theaters, restaurants and even schools their street cred went up a notch.  During the 1960s the wearing of jeans become more acceptable as casual wear. By the 1970s it had become general fashion, at least as casual wear.

Jeans  have come along way since the scraggly miners and are now worn almost everywhere.   You can still find the original 501, but you can also  find them beaten, bleached, stonewashed, baggy, skinny, treated with acid, and in hot pink (if you please).   But  underneath it all, they are still as American as apple pie and fake tans.


The great thing about jeans is the the more you wear and treat your jeans, the more beautiful they become. So much so, that some stores will actually buy back your old 501 Levi's.

Now a days, denim is seen all over the runways, from New York, London, Paris, and Milan. And, if worn the right way denim can be worn to a black tie affair.