Blue Jeans
Blue Jeans by Carolyn Purnell, published by Bloomsbury Academic on January 12, 2023, is a concise exploration of the cultural significance of blue jeans. This 160-page edition delves into the complexities of this seemingly simple garment, revealing its dual nature as both a symbol of American culture and a global consumer product. Purnell examines the evolution of blue jeans from their origins in the 1870s as durable workwear to their status as a fashionable item associated with rebellion and leisure.
Readers will find an insightful analysis that highlights the versatility of denim, addressing its role in fashion, social history, and aesthetics. The book discusses how blue jeans have transcended their utilitarian roots to become a universal signifier, adaptable to various contexts and meanings. Through this lens, Purnell invites reflection on the garment’s impact on identity and culture, making it a thought-provoking addition to the Object Lessons series, which focuses on the hidden lives of everyday objects.
Official synopsis Publisher
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Few clothing items are as ubiquitous or casual as blue jeans. Yet, their simplicity is deceptive. Blue jeans are nothing if not an exercise in opposites.
Americans have accepted jeans as a symbol of their culture, but today jeans are a global consumer product category. Levi Strauss made blue jeans in the 1870s to withstand the hard work of mining, but denim has since become the epitome of leisure. In the 1950s, celebrities like Marlon Brando transformed the utilitarian clothing of industrial labor into a glamorous statement of youthful rebellion, and now, you can find jeans on chic fashion runways. For some, indigo blue might be the color of freedom, but for workers who have produced the dye, it has often been a color of oppression and tyranny.
Blue Jeans considers the versatility of this iconic garment and investigates what makes denim a universal signifier, ready to fit any context, meaning, and body.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.
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