Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon

Since their appearance nearly 150 years ago, jeans have been worn by every facet of American society and exported around the world as an icon of our civilization. In Jeans, James Sullivan traces their evolution from a simple utilitarian garment into the very embodiment of the American ethos. Beginning with the adoption of front-buckled pants as a style of dress in nineteenth-century America (supposedly derided as “fornication pants” by Mormon leader Brigham Young), Sullivan documents how jeans took their place in our culture today—as worn by rappers, hipsters, and discount shoppers—becoming the standard dress in America and embodying the ideals of vastly different segments of society. Touching on the rise and fall of indigo, the mythos of the cowboy, American cultural imperialism, sex, advertising, and countless other topics wrapped in denim, Jeans is a history of popular American culture as told through its pants.