Fashion
Jeans vs. Leather
JEANS
Jeans are traditionally thought of as authentic, folksy and working-class, but with a little tweaking they can be the foil for a sexy ingénue or represent rugged individualism.
Woody Guthrie And Bob Dylan: Of The People, For The People
Dylan's 1962 debut album included "Song to Woody," but Dylan didn't just pay musical tribute to the legendary folk singer/political activist—in his early days he also copied Guthrie's working-man style, right down to the jeans. John Dunn, costume designer for Todd Haynes' Dylan film (currently shooting in Toronto) says, "Dylan wanted to present himself as a man of the people, which is why Guthrie appealed to him. Dylan impersonated a 1930s hobo with that Depression-era baggy denim look. He used the myth of denim—the romance, the working-class credentials—to create a persona for himself."
Bruce Springsteen And John Mellencamp: All-American Idols
The Boss' most iconic look (and best-selling album) came when he tucked a red cap into his perfectly worn Levi's for 1984's Born in the U.S.A. The album cemented Springsteen's position as the balladeer of America's heartland, and his Levi's were the visual equivalent of the everyman blues and joys that he sang about so eloquently. John Mellencamp, who followed closely in Springsteen's Americana footsteps, was sometimes thought of as a poor-man's Springsteen; it was a perception he did nothing to dispel when he appeared on the cover of his 1985 Scarecrow album clad head-to-toe in denim.
Kurt Cobain: Anti-Fashion Icon
With his famous disdain for labels, Cobain, in ripped jeans, mohair sweaters and Converse sneakers, was the grunge poster boy. Nirvana's Nevermind album, with its hit admonition to "Come as You Are" could have been Gen X's mantra, a backlash against all the over-produced, over-the-top pop acts who had dominated the charts through the early '90s. Cobain's stripped-down, thrift-shop-chic represented a shift towards a more introspective, rough-hewn look, a trend which Marc Jacobs tried to introduce to the high fashion world with his spring 1993 Grunge collection for Perry Ellis.
