
Vintage Denim - The 'Bible'?
Review created: 09/11/08(updated 09/13/08)

It took me a long time on eBay to get this book at a price that I was willing to pay! It's 154 pages are packed full of great photos (colour and black & white) and the information is just as pertinent today as it was in 1996 when it was published.
I'm dabbling in some vintage denim for my BAR GR WESTERN STORE AND MORE since I live in 'Cowboy Country' in Alberta, Canada. Let's face it, jeans ARE western wear, jeans have been historically designed and ARE for Cowboys and Cowgirls, and finally jeans ARE worn by many western movie stars and country & western singers!
The table of contents include: Introduction, The Beginnings, H.D. Lee, Dust-Bowl Denim, Denim and Dudes, War, Postwar, Blue Jeans and Bikers, The Fifties, The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, Dealers and collectors, The Treasure Hunt - Pickers and Scouts, New Blues, Identifying Vintage Denim and Pricing Guide, Deja Blue and Resource List.
My favourite chapter is 'Identifying Vintage Denim' - it contains lots of interesting tidbits about the big three brands - Levi, Lee, Wrangler! This book definitely is not 'the Bible' as far as identification of vintage jeans is concerned. Helpful - yes! Definitive - no! There are many tiny details missing with respect to stitching, tabs, patches etc. that would prove most useful for the proper identification of jeans made in the 70's, 80's and 90's (before the big manufacturers moved away from North America).
My fav photo is the full-page, full-colour photo of Marilyn Monroe wearing a Lee Riders jacket in a publicity shot for the movie, The Misfits. This movie was the last movie that she made and it was also Clark Gable's last movie before he died.
If you love denim - this book does have some wonderful photos and delves into the 'history' of jeans. Who doesn't want to see Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando, Bruce Springsteen, and Daryl Hannah in denim?
Written by David Little
Photographs by Larry Bond
Published by Gibbs Smith
Review ID: 10000000008699895

Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our
guidelines, it will be posted within 24 hours.
You cannot vote on the helpfulness of a review you wrote.
Your request cannot be processed at this time. Please try again later.