Blue Jeans, the Ultimate American Icon
Gold was discovered in California in 1849. This resulted in more than eighty thousand American’s rushing to California. The pioneering spirit spread and by 1890, the West’s population reached nearly 17 million. The west became the most racially diverse part of the country. All were in search of a better life for themselves and their families, seeking what would become known as the American Dream. During this time innovation and creation were prompting remarkable growth in industry. New products that made life more tolerable were spreading to all classes of people. One popular item of clothing that can trace its roots to the Gold Rush is blue jeans. Blue jeans grew out of necessity but they now represent the spirit of the west and the ideals of America. Blue jeans are seen all across the world as an American symbol, perhaps the ultimate American icon.
The best way to understand why blue jeans are revered is to first learn about their history. The history of blue jeans began with Levi Strauss. In 1847 Levi Strauss emigrated from Bavaria, now part of southern Germany, to New York. Once news of the Gold Rush reached New York, Levi Strauss packed up his belongings and headed west. In 1853, Levi Strauss reached San Francisco California, where he officially became an American citizen. Strauss was not there to search for gold. He moved west to open a branch of the family’s dry good business. He did business with many miners and began to understand their needs. A miner’s foremost need was for stronger clothing, especially pants.
Levi Strauss began making pants, known then as waist overalls. Levi Strauss contacted his family in New York and told them of his new venture. He asked them to order as much canvas as possible. Strauss experimented with all aspects of pant making. He tested different materials and found denim to be the strongest. He tried many different dyes. He decided on a deep-blue indigo-blue, since it was easy to replicate the shade. With the indigo-blue color and denim fabric combination blue jeans were born.
The new pants took on a new name, denim blue jeans. They were tough, reasonably priced, and lasted longer than any pant before. Blue jeans accommodated the lifestyle of the hard-workers such as miners, rancher, farmers, railroad workers, and teachers. Life out west was tough, work was hard, and da...
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... a denim art contest in 1973. The winning pants were shown off to the public on an 18-month tour of American museums. In the 70s, more styles of jeans were emerging. Bell-bottoms first appeared in 1970. Until 1970, blue jeans were designed to fit men. That changed in the early 70s when the first jeans made to fit women were introduced. The popularity of blue jeans allowed Levi Strauss and Company to become the largest clothing maker in the world during 1977.
Blue jeans continued to be a popular item through the 1980’s, which is often considered the decade of designer jeans. Since an increasing number of companies were creating jeans, labels became an important element of the pants. Jeans were fashionable, and worn more for look than for durability. Blue jeans remained a popular item of clothing through out the remainder of the 20th century, and into the 21st. Levi Strauss and Company’s sales for 2001 were 4.3 billion dollars. The styles are constantly changing to accommodate the needs and desires of the consumers. Blue jeans were originally created as a uniform for the lower class worker, but they have become a symbol of American ingenuity, ambition, individuality, and success.
These individuals come from educated and sophisticated backgrounds and socioeconomically fall within the middle to upper class. This target customer won’t buy new clothing based on the fact that it might be worn out or too old, they buy habitually in order to keep up with the latest trending styles and innovations that money can buy. “Other than their poise and perfect coifs, you can identify members of this gym robot army by their brand of clothing. You’ve seen them at your gym, at the Whole Foods and in line for green juices; they’re the Lululemon ladies and they’re fancy as fuck.” (Blisstree) This consumer segment is also very brand and status orientated, and therefore views and wears Lululemon as a status symbol of high end and high quality, athletic
There have been many discoveries that have shaped our nation as a whole. Discoveries have allowed our country to thrive and become one of the most powerful nations in the world. When we look back at our nation's rich history, it is clear to see that there was one discovery in particular that had a vast impact on the United States; the discovery was gold in California. It was in this vastly unoccupied territory that the American dream was forever changed and California emerged as a powerful state busting at the seams. The California Gold Rush shaped California into the state that it is today. California is defined by its promise of entrepreneurial success and its acceptance and encouragement of obtaining the American Dream.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
The California Gold Rush in 1849 was the catalyst event for the state that earned them a spot in the U.S. union in 1850. This was not the first gold rush in North America; however, it was one of the most important gold rush events. The story of how the gold was discovered and the stories of the 49ers are well known. Men leaving their families in the East and heading West in hopes of striking it rich are the stories that most of us heard about when we learn about the California Gold Rush. Professors and scholars over the last two decades from various fields of study have taken a deeper look into the Gold Rush phenomena. When California joined the Union in 1850 it helped the U.S. expand westward just as most Americans had intended to do. The event of the Gold Rush can be viewed as important because it led to a national railroad. It also provided the correct circumstances for successful entrepreneurship, capitalism, and the development modern industrialization. The event also had a major influence on agriculture, economics, and politics.
The Gold Rush was one of the most influential times in California History. During the four years from 1848-1852, 400,000 new people flooded into the state. People from many countries and social classes moved to California, and many of them settled in San Francisco. All this diversity in one place created a very interesting dynamic. California during the Gold Rush, was a place of colliding ideals. The 49ers came from a very structured kind of life to a place where one was free to make up her own rules.
Jeans were just one of the different categories of pants along with casual pants and dress pants, and jeans had dominated the category until the 1990's when sales had tapered off when consumers migrated over to khakis, cargo pants, and other types of pants. However, when new innovations in fabrics and style in the jeans category came to the forefront in 2001, people's tastes began to switch back over to jeans. In 2002, jeans sales were predicted to grow by 2-3%.
Debating which constitutional form of government best serves democratic nations is discussed by political scientist Juan Linz in his essay “The Perils of Presidentialism”. Linz compares parliamentary systems with presidential systems as they govern democracies. As the title of Linz’s essay implies, he sees Presidentialism as potentially dangerous. Linz points out the flaws as presidentialism as he sees them and sites rigidity of fixed terms, the zero-sum game and political legitimacy coupled with lack of incentive to form alliances as issues to support his theory that the parliamentary system is superior to presidentialism.
The United Kingdom is formally called “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” Government in the United Kingdom is considered to be Parliamentary. Although it is parliamentary, it is also described as being “majoritarian.” Parliament in the UK works a little different than the United States; the people of the U.S. are allowed to elect their president. In the parliamentary system the people elect who will be in the legislature, and the legislature then selects who the next prime minister will be. Then, once the prime minister is selected he choses members of the cabinet. This system creates a quick and easy political decision-making by popular majority. In this essay we will discuss the strengths and limitations the majoritarian government of the UK. One of the strengths of majoritarian government is perhaps that it is the fastest to pass or veto legislation, however there are limitations or weaknesses also like it lacks checks and balances from the House of Lords, and the disadvantage that the smaller parties have when it comes to elections, and not having a set calendar date for elections.
Discussions of which constitutional form of government best serves the growing number of democratic nation’s are in constant debate all over the world. In the essay “The Perils of Presidentialism”, political scientist, Juan Linz compares the parliamentary system with presidential democracies. As the title of Linz’s essay implies, he sees Presidentialism as potentially dangerous and sites fixed terms, the zero-sum game and legitimacy issues to support his theory. According to Linz, the parliamentary system is the superior form of democratic government because Prime Minister cannot appeal to the people without going through the Parliament creating a more cohesive form of government. By contrast, a
... improvements in the way the United States Armed Forces operate. The U.S. military consistently strives to provide facts to the public and face issues head-on to uphold the integrity of the U.S. Armed Forces, which is essential to adapting to operational commitments. It has always been essential to the United States Armed Forces to keep the world informed about situations and normal operations to prevent any speculations from unanswered questions. With the consistent development of mass media, the United States Armed Forces will continue to face negative issues, improve policies and uphold standards of the United States Armed Forces. Today’s mass media has increasingly affected the way the United States Armed Forces operates. The U.S military uses discrediting media connotation to systematically improve operations and training procedures within our Armed Forces.
During at elections one can notice a key difference between the two systems. In a parliamentary system the people of the nation elect a political party to represent their interests. Then the party that gains the majority of the votes elects, or may already have elected, someone to be their spokesperson who becomes the Prime Minister of said nation. In a presidential system, on the other hand, the people elect individual persons to become the President and members of the congress, in separate elections.
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a world renowned author, particularly known for his remarkable novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s early life was filled with experiences that shaped him to be the man that he later became. His early life includes his family and his schooling, both of which gave him values and traditions to follow. Fitzgerald’s later life contained hardships, illness and the production of his own family. The factors involved in his later life aided him in composing his most well-known novels with their influence. Lastly, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s list of works is an important aspect in understanding his life and personality. His novels and short stories were all written at various moments in Fitzgerald’s life, while all have the influence of unique factors surrounding his life. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a successful author whose stories have remained universally read and relevant today.
“It has been said that one of the greatest political problems of the time is to reconcile representative institutions with good government.” With this problem in mind, the cabinet form of government, which is nearly synonymous with the parliamentary form of government, has been established to lessen the gap between representative institutions and good government or, if possible, make them one in the same through its unification of powers.
...ation of mini-skirts did bring a whirlwind in the summer of 1960. Besides, Peter Max T-shirt was also hot in the 60s. In addition, as we discussed of the fashion style for the 80s. The dresses were powerful and simple. Especially, the colors were deeper than the 60s and those designers prefer to add jewels on garments. Moreover, many products were luxurious in the 80s because of the economy has recovered during that period. Modern fashion is meaningful; it brings many changes and has a huge influence on general life. Heskett (2002) mentioned that It not only changes the lifestyle, but also changes the minds of a generation. Modern fashion is continuing to better its functions and forms, moreover it has long way to go and a huge space to discover and create. Therefore, modern designers need more and more artists to inherit and find new styles of vintage influences.
The topic of this essay is „Presidential systems – strenghts and weaknesses.“ I chose this topic because I am very interested into the comparison of presidential and parliamentary systems. For quiet a long time, I have been trying to figure out which one is better for countries. This essay might be a good stepping stone for me to figure it out.