Denim. Levis. Love.

When I was little, er, a young child..I loved my jeans. I would whine and cry and pout if I was forced to wear a dress. If I had to wear a dress, it had better be plaid or a sailor dress. I would wear my jeans under a dress....Now I can wear jeans...lovely lovely denim all day and all night if I want to....
San Francisco California was the center of the universe for the proliferation of Denim....from Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis and their waist overalls...the Levi riveted jeans.... to the Gap company with their high waist jeans in the late 60s, to the Gunne Sax Jessica McClintock dress company that used chambray, muslin, calico and denim to make some of the most pretty and beloved dresses ever! 

Jeans made from blue denim were just work pants...now they are high fashion!
The fabric has a twill weave that makes the characteristic diagonal ribs.Indigo is the blue dye that blue denim is dyed with...back in the day before the 1920s, it was natural indigo, plant based, but now it's all chemical. Some indigo dye used for commercial denim has better color than others, in my humble opinion!  Denim warp threads are dyed indigo blue (or another color), but the weft threads always are white.

Things I made for the first child, Jan....
yeah.
a jacket I made from lots of jean patches, sewn to a lining of red and blue check flannel, with a ladybug braid trim on the edges....little brass buttons, and pockets too!  There's Big E indigo denim, and a lot of selvedge!

...and I made a skirt for her too....more Big E denim and some Lee to go with the vintage Levi's...all the clothes I made back then, used a lot of worn out Big E Levi jeans....oy vey.

and a pair of 60s Big E kids jeans, a Levis zip front, with the Talon 42 zipper, a pair of 505's for the kiddies.
All the kids wore this pair except Robbie since he was 9 when I met him.

Here's a poster of  Vintage Jeans  with LEVI 501xx Buckle back & LEE from ebay seller toysandjeans.




1969 Wrangler Jean ad from ebay seller scottalbertson




 What else is made from denim? mmmm a Vintage 70s denim Gunne Sax dress with calico and lace ! 




 a little kids dress....70s vintage denim and tartan plaid dress...aww so cute. 





 amazing wear patterns on this pair of vintage blue denim Levis jeans





and what to wear with Levis, denim and jeans....moccasins and Converse, of course!

High top red cotton, white laces, rubber and logo. High tops, these are Made in the USA, classic Converse All Stars.






Vintage MINNETONKA Moccasins from Paramount Vintage. Cute!






Inspirational ! big thick sweater, denim shorts, socks, leather sandals....big mans watch, long hair...Of course I like this picture...this is how I dress most of the time!
this whole blog, beauandaero is full of images in a genre I call, Drunk Teenager. Vacuous girls with no life history beyond the trauma of 11th grade PE class. Gawky. Vain. and trying way too hard to be sophisticated and worldly.


 


Make a rug from lots of blue denim jeans ! 
 

White Man Moccasins

One of my most fave pictures is this whimsical print by Lee Marmon. He has been taking pictures of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo people, for nearly 60 years. Encouraged by his father, Henry,  when Lee was a callow 22 year old veteran of WWII, he began to document the elders of his tribe, the daily life, and the moment in history when Indians were moving  into modern life, and leaving behind the centuries of old ways of living. Indians are of course, still living in the old ways, but in the middle of the 20th century, they began to ...perhaps...feel more comfortable integrating modern things in their daily life.
For at least a hundred years, American Native people had been forced to assimilate, and we see in Marmon's long historical perspective, Indians making the choice for themselves to choose what they want, and to take what they like, and also, to insist America finally honor every treaty the Indians signed in good faith...only to see each one broken over the long occupation of their lands by us foreigners.

Taken in 1954, it's a photo of tribal elder Jeff Sousea, the elderly caretaker of the Laguna mission. As a kid, and today when the sun peeps out, you can find me lazying in the afternoon sun just like elder Jeff. He has his  traditional headband and his hand made beaded and wrought jewelry and on his feet....a modern (though well-worn) pair of Converse shoes, or maybe a pair of Keds. That ankle circle patch...can be seen on both cons and keds.

more about Marmon

you can buy the postcard of Marmon's photo here

this picture of Lee is from here

 Here's the latest Converse and moccasins in the funkomavintage shop.....
I only buy the Made In USA Cons....now that Nike owns them and they are made in China, they suck.

Moccasins...

Converse, and moccasins are my 2 favorite shoes to wear....when I'm not in cowboy boots, that is....

The Red Tiger Asic are for running, and the POLO by Ralphie, and the plaid by TUK are my exceptions...based on cuteness.  I am paring down....from the 15 personal pairs...I used to have.

These moccasins are in rotation when it isn't raining...I'm making a pair of Navajo-style moccasins in black leather. It's fun! That pair of light brown leather, are (clears throat) about 35 years old.