Tags
Bridgitte Bardot in jeans, denim-wear in art, denim-wear in films, jeans as fashion staple, jeans as fashion statement, jeans as work clothes, Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits, Marlon Brando in The Wild One, Montgomery Clift in The Misfits, origins of denim, The Master of the Blue Jeans
Jeans
the wardrobe staple of contemporary dress
has a long history which can be traced back to the mid 17th century and
the works of an anonymous Italian artist, referred to by art historians as
‘The Master of the Blue Jeans’
His paintings depict people wearing clothing
of a dark blue coarse material reminiscent of modern denim.
…
By the Master of the Blue Jeans;
‘Young boy in denim jacket’
(image from dailymail.co.uk)
…
‘Women in denim over-skirt
sewing with two children’
(image from dailymail.co.uk)
…
‘Women in denim skirt’
(image from msn.com)
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So, did denim material originate in Italy as wear for the working/poorer people?
Or, as some hypothesise in Nimes, France
from which the word denim probably stems?
Or, with continued research might evidence be discovered to reveal that
denim-wear predates the 17th century?
…
Time travel forward to the mid-20th century
and to various regions of the U.S.A
the midwest: where jeans were the costume de rigueur
of the American cowboy.
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Parts of California: where jeans were the apparel for miners
(image from legendsofamerica.com)
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Rural Mississippi: where jeans were worn by sharecroppers
(image from sunflowerplantation.blogspot.com)
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As rendered in the paintings of The Master of the Blue Jeans
jeans were originally work garb.
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Then along came Hollywood costumiers who robed the stars in denim
bestowing upon the meagre jeans … celebrity status:
rugged, bad boy biker Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953)
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Bad boy on and off-screen
Marlon Brando
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Screen siren Marilyn Monroe
(image from guardian.co.uk )
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Squared-jawed actor
the handsome Montgomery Clift
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European beauty, the actress Bridgitte Bardot
(image from instyle.com)
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From where ever stems its origins
denim the hard-working material
has certainly weathered the fashion storm
and jeans the ubiquitous trouser made from its cut
has emerged a wardrobe basic of cow-hands to glam stars.
…