Fashion Statements

Every generation of teenagers must think that they are the first to come up with fashion ideas. So, I'm sure that we probably thought that blue jeans came from us. They didn't, obviously.

The denim jean has been around a while. In fact, it was in 1873 when Jacob Davis approached Levi Strauss about an idea he had regarding the installation of rivets on what was known as "waist jeans" that Strauss was making, subsequently patenting that idea on May 20th of the same year. Thus Levi jeans got off to a roaring start.

However, it was OUR generation that first came up with the idea of "Super Bells" wasn't it? Seems that way at least. Kids today thinks that it's original to wear jeans that drag the ground and get a little "frazzled" at the hem. Heck, we pulled the hems out, remember? Thread by thread, we'd sit at home (what else was there to do?) and re-design the bottoms of our bell-bottomed jeans until there was at least an inch or two of "fray" at the bottom of our pants. And, of course, we wanted them a little worn and weathered as well.

When did the "patches" come into vouge? I vaugely remember having a "peace sign" sewn on the back pocket of my favorite Levis - those that had the bottom hems pulled out. Seems like we used to go to a place in Pine Bluff called "The Jean Joint" or something similar to buy Levis. K-Mart jeans would never suffice; our jeans had to say "Levi" on that brown, leather-like patch in the belt loop. Shamefully, I wouldn't wear what were otherwise great pants that Mom bought.

Do you guys remember your shoes from high school? For a while, it seemed that we all tried to wear Adidas - those that could afford them. I had to wait until I worked during the summer to afford a pair - otherwise my brother and I wore the K-Mart knock-offs. Funny thing, today I'll wear anything that feels comfortable (because now I'm the one paying the bills). And, not to forget, "platform" shoes came along sometime near our junior or senior year, because I remember losing a heel at one of our dances! Trust me: it is very diffcult to look cool when one leg is 3" shorter than the other!

Somewhere during our last couple of years, we boys started wearing those ugly black soccer-style shoes...Vikings was the brand it seems. How those crude things made the fashion top-ten I'll never know. I think they also doubled as our football shoes...go figure!

Shirts? Help me out here: did we rip the sleeves out of our button-down shirts - or was that a bad dream? I guess Larry-the-Cable Guy stole our idea. Some of us attemped that fashion trend for a while. I know I did, at least until Kelly Cathey Smith announced one day in class that I looked kinda "slouchy" (which broke my heart because I had a crush on her for an eternity). I do recall the tie-dyed craze, another fashion idea that the latest generation of kids think they invented. My brother and I bought several boxes of Rit Dye and armed with a bag of rubber bands and our best white tees, made our own brand of tie-dyed t-shirts. (I'm not sure how Kelley rated my work, but I'll bet I was hoping she'd notice!).

It's amazing to realize though that blue jeans have been a part of every generation since the 1950s - perhaps even earlier. Wikipedia tells me that the James Dean era teens started emulating Hollywood with straight-legged jeans in the 50's, then the Hippy bunch took over in the 60's. I guess our gang latched on to the Super Bells in the 70's and the 80's saw the introduction of "designer jeans" that took old man Strauss' ideas of jean-making to new levels.

Truth be told, in 2008 I still love jeans - but not bell-bottoms. And, I don't try to rip them up anymore...I buy them as "relaxed fit" and allow them to self destruct on their own!

Peace,
Ken