Jeans In The 1950s

Many Americans assume that jeans have always been a fashion statement. However, in the book Signs of Life in the USA written by Sonia Massik and Jack Solomon, the progression of how jeans originated as clothing for blue collar workers and gradually evolved into a fashion statement in the 1980’s. For example, ripped jeans in the 1960’s expressed defiance of the establishment and dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War. At this point in time, consumer culture leads us to believe that jeans no longer represent anything meaningful. After the 1960’s, the connotation of jeans evolved from a time period of rebellion to a hipster look. This new wave came about when punk rock bands started wearing them. Another big turning point for the significance of jeans was in the 1980’s. …show more content…
In this era of jeans, baggy jeans were a symbol of the gangster life. As a result of this new trend, there was a fashion divide among black and white people. On one hand, black people would wear baggy jeans and on the other hand, white people continued to wear the skinny, punk rock style of jeans. However, this fashion divide would not last long, in the music video “You’re a Jerk” by New Boys, when they decided to blur lines between the racial divide by wearing skinny jeans in their music video. Subsequently, black youth started wearing skinny jeans. Since this last evolution of fashion jeans, there has not been much more change in wears what when it comes to jeans. Currently, most men will wear straight fit jeans or khakis, while women wear skinny