A comment Angie made in her tribute post the other day got me thinking-- she wanted to know if anyone still wore traditional 501s. My family was having the same conversation the other day-- my grandmother was reminiscing about shrinking them in the bathtub in the 50s when she was a teen.

I know there is a raw denim cult following among some young men who subscribe to those notions, and the following sometimes includes shrink-to-fit 501s.

However, the biggest group of people I'm familiar with that still rock the 501s as a fashion statement are skinheads. Consequently-- they also rock the Docs.

I'm informed enough to know that the original skinhead scene in england was about youth expressing themselves and class identification and later the fashion influenced the hardcore punk scene.

That said, white supremacist skinhead culture in the U.S. also adopted the Levis, Docs, tattoos, haircuts, and suspenders of UK skinhead culture. A lot of supremacist skinhead attention has been turned to the issue of immigration from Latin American countries in the U.S. (particularly from Mexico). There seems to be a draw for young men of certain persuasions in rural (typically ranching, farming, and meatpacking) communities where the recent memory of the Klan (but not an active chapter) remains. While there are a lot of adaptions of skinhead fashion, supremacist youth in Southern and Eastern Colorado tend to keep their swastika tattoos under wraps-- however, there seems to be a growing trend of outwardly representing their allegiance with the shrunken, cuffed Levis and the doc martens.

Obviously, Doc martens are pretty mainstream and were part of a huge pop culture movement, as were the Levis. Obviously none of the ladies here wear their boots in a way that is indicative of membership in a certain subculture.

Is it just me? Am I the only one that thinks about these things? Sometimes we talk about appropriating cultures-- do items have powerful connotations on their own? Do they lose them when they are appropriated? Do they lose them when they are worn by upstanding suburban moms? Is it important to recognize the history and the current social impacts that our clothing is tied up in?

I know a lot of us have expressed an appreciation for "classic Americana"-- the jeans, boots, white t-shirts and the like that bring up images of hot-rods and James Dean in the 1950s. Two of the other items that made Angie's Icon list (Frye Harness Boots, Converse all-stars) in addition to Levis were part of greaser subculture. These items we see as "American" once served as symbols of identification with a youth-centered, working-class American subculture. A group that was closely associated to street gangs and ethnic tensions and stereotypes against Hispanic and Italian Americans.

Fashion as part of culture has a history that is almost impossible to escape. There is nothing "new" under the sun. Is it important to you?