Sept

2010

for Valet.

School of

Denim

Few items of a man's wardrobe are as essential as a pair of jeans. This series offers up style tips and history lessons about America's greatest contribution to the world of fashion.

Great Moments in Denim History

James Dean

The final film of James Dean's short career, 1956's "Giant" charts the rise and fall of Jett Rink, a surly farmer who strikes it rich in the Texas oil boom. Sporting dust-stained jeans, a tooled leather belt and a wrinkled utility shirt, Dean's outfit epitomizes the no-frills functionality of Western workwear—a look that still resonates with men today. As for unbuttoning down to the navel, unless you're Tom Ford, best to leave that piece of the past behind.