Desert Boots, Levi’s and Appropriaton; Dennis Denissen; 4062272

Hughes, N. (2011) ‘Little Black Boots: Part Two’, in: Canned Fashion. http://www.cannedfashion.com/2011_08_01_archive.html (seen at: 7th of November, 2013). The first contemporary silhouette I chose is the usage of the Desert Boot, which is a shoe of the brand Clarks. At first, the shoe was used to dress soldiers, in particular English soldiers in the desert. Thus, the shoes were impregnated with a certain meaning, or to speak with Ann Rosalind Jones and Peter Stallybrass, a certain memory,1 namely that of the soldier. For now, the Desert Boot is appropriated by the fashion industry, where it is widely used to dress the contemporary man. So the shoe loses its initial depth and becomes an exchangeable item – moreover called: commodity.2

1

Jones, A. R. & Stallybrass, P. (2007) ‘Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory: Introduction’, in: Fashion Theory | A Reader. New York: Routledge: 66. 2 Jones, A. R. & Stallybrass, P. (2007): 70-71.

A. A. (2010) ‘La nueva línea Levi´s’, in: Planeta Ellas. http://www.planetaellas.com/2010/12/08/la-nueva-linealevi%C2%B4s/ (seen at: 7th of November, 2013). A pair of Levi’s usually signify a trendy, contemporary being. Those jeans originated from the working class. Jeans were created to last longer while the man worked. Now, the jean gets appropriated to dress a man, or a woman, in a non working fashion, but in the everyday life. Also this undermines the memory of the clothes, but moreover this jean can be understood as the original – as in: haute couture – which forms a vast range of copies – imitations.3 This has to be understood as the dominance of the haute couture, that in the 21ste century is still at hand.

3

Lipovetsky, G. (2007) ‘A Century of Fashion’, in: Fashion Theory | A Reader. New York: Routledge: 76-77.