Oct

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

Paul Newman

Before denim went designer, it was the standard-issue uniform for prisons in the United States. For his title role as a defiant convict in the 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman dons the chambray shirt and denim chore coat that mark him and his fellow inmates as criminals. While Luke gets daily beat-downs from the vicious prison captain, his clothes get beaten up—caked in dirt, sweat and blood. But the indomitable Luke always finds a way to dust himself off and come right back swinging.