Iconic Moments in Levi’s 501s History
James Dean wears Levi’s on the poster for “Rebel Without a Cause”
Before the 1950s, jeans were primarily worn as a work garment, as children’s play clothes, or by countercultural groups like bikers. But the jean’s appearance in the newly emerging teenage film market of the 1950s changed that. Marlon Brando wore 501s in his role as a menacing motorcycle gang member in 1953’s The Wild One. But it wasn’t until James Dean wore them in Rebel Without a Cause, the 1955 film that made him an instant icon, that teens everywhere wanted a pair.
(Photo: Kobal Collection)
Marilyn Monroe wears Levi’s 501s
Teenage toughs weren’t the only ones who made 501s their own. Here, the style is worn by young model Norma Jean Baker just before she became the peroxide-blond bombshell Marilyn Monroe. Bonus points for turning up those cuffs so we can see the selvage.
(Photo: Richard C. Miller/Getty)
Blondie’s Debbie Harry wears Levi’s 501 jeans onstage
In the ’60s and ’70s, 501s took a backseat to trendier bell-bottom styles, but vintage lovers like Debbie Harry of Blondie kept the flame alive.
(Photo: Rex Features)
Bruce Springsteen wears 501s on the cover of “Born in the U.S.A.”
There’s more than a hint of radicalism in Springsteen’s 1984 album about small-town, working-class malaise. But that fact was obscured by the album’s Annie Leibowitz-lensed cover, featuring Springsteen’s 501-clad butt in front of a giant American flag, an arch image that was read as jingoistic in the go-go ’80s — especially after President Reagan attempted to exploit the album’s popularity during his reelection campaign, a move the liberal Springsteen did not appreciate.
(Photo: Columbia Records)
Smiths frontman Morrissey wears 501s in concert
501s were a staple among non-arena-packing rock stars too. Most notably, the Smiths’ frontman, Morrissey, lived in 501s and the bootcut 517s, preferably paired with a woman’s blouse, NHS specs, and a back pocket full of gladioli.
(Photo: Getty)
Winona Ryder wears Levi’s 501s in the early ’90s
In the early ’90s, no hipster-girl uniform was complete without 501s, a pair of combat boots, and a black leather jacket. To that winning formula, Winona Ryder added a Tom Waits T-shirt, because she’s a genius like that.
(Photo: Getty)
Karen Mulder wears jeans on the cover of Vogue’s August 1991 issue
The ’90s saw a whole new level of interest in jeans by the fashion world. In 1988, Anna Wintour’s very first cover for Vogue famously featured a model wearing a heavily embellished Christian Lacroix haute couture jacket with stonewashed jeans, undone hair, and a wide smile. Although the term “high-low” mix had not yet been invented, the youthful styling of designer pieces with affordable basics was the direction the fashion world would go. And it doesn’t get any more high-low than the Chanel belt with 501s shown here.
(Photo: Vogue)
Kurt Cobain wears patched 501s at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1993.
Far from the cover of Vogue, 501s also enjoyed a renaissance as part of the uniform of grunge (a term Kurt Cobain hated but that’s nonetheless descriptive). The corporate version of grunge exemplified by fashion editorials and Marc Jacobs’s collection for Perry Ellis relied heavily on jeans with combat boots and flannels, a look indulged in by most Seattle bands at some point (there’s only so many ways to worship Neil Young, after all). Here, the Nirvana frontman shows a more idiosyncratic take on the style, wearing his 501s with Jack Purcells, a sailor-stripe tee, and Jackie O. shades. We wanted this outfit badly in 1993, and we’d still gladly wear it now.
(Photo: Getty)
Pamela Anderson wears Levi’s 501 button-fly jeans and a crop top
For better or worse, the slogan “Button Your Fly” is forever burned into the brains of people over the age of 30. Thanks to Levi’s ubiquitous early-’90s ad campaign, button-front 501s became such a status symbol that people — like Pammy, shown here — would cut away the denim flap in front of the fly to reveal the buttons underneath. File under: forgotten ’90s micro-trends.
(Photo: Getty)
Steve Jobs wears his classic uniform: 501s and a black turtleneck
Steve Jobs was fascinated by the Japanese corporate custom of a work uniform and once commissioned designer Issey Miyake to make a vest for Apple employees. When Jobs introduced the vest at a company meeting, in his own words, “I practically got booed off the stage.” But Miyake did give Jobs a lifetime supply of black turtlenecks, which Jobs famously paired with 501s and New Balance sneakers as his daily wear. Thus was solidified the casual aesthetic of Silicon Valley — it’s a short leap from Jobs’s uniform to today’s de rigueur hoodies — and the mythos of the person too busy being a genius to care about clothes.
(Photo: Corbis)
Solange Knowles wears her 501s with a cropped blue jacket and silver heels.
The 2010s saw the rise of the slouchy, faded “boyfriend jean” style, making vintage Levi’s a natural pick. Of course, if you don’t want to spend hours trying on vintage pairs at your local Salvation Army, you can make like Solange and wear Levi’s 501 CT (cut and tapered) vintage-style jeans for a more body-hugging fit.
(Photo: Pacific Coast News)
The Levi’s 501 jean holds a special place in the canon of American fashion icons. Introduced in the 1890s, the straight-cut, shrink-to-fit jeans were originally known as “waist overalls.” For the first 60 years of their existence, 501s primarily served as hardy work pants for hardy workin’ folks like farmers, miners, and factory workers. In the 1940s and 50s, jeans also served as play clothes for many children and teens, but they were still frowned upon as everyday wear. Wearing jeans to the office, school, or dinner would earn you social outcast status faster than admitting you support Trump in Chicago. It was simply not done.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that Levi’s 501s became entrenched as an icon of teenage cool and were firmly embraced by style rebels of all stripes. Eventually, they’d go on to be cherished by rock stars, style icons, bombshells, and socialites alike. The humble 501s even won approval from the high-fashion crowd at Vogue and helped usher in the high-low aesthetic that dominates style today. Not bad for pants you can still cop for under 100 bucks.
In celebration of The 501 Jean: Stories of an Original, a new documentary exploring the jean’s influence, we present 11 moments when 501s shook up fashion and popular culture. Turn up those cuffs and read on.
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