Jeans were first popularized by California miners in the mid-1800s. Since then they've been worn cuffed and cutoff, baggy and straight-legged, acid-washed and dyed by everyone from the high-born to the hoi polloi. But no matter what their incarnation, America's beloved blues have never gone out of style. "What I love about them is that you can create your own look," says Alice Harris, who chronicles the changing face of denim in her new book The Blue Jean. "Everyone wears them differently." In 143 pages of pictures, Harris shows how jeans have radiated rebellion (Marlon Brando), conveyed country (Jimmy Carter), sold sex (Britney Spears) and reeked class (Prince William). "I don't know a place in the world," says Harris (whose book's proceeds will go to VH1's Save the Music Foundation), "where someone doesn't own a pair."
Your Reaction
