{"product_id":"blue-jeans-9781501383748","title":"Blue Jeans","description":"\u003cp\u003eObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFew clothing items are as ubiquitous or casual as blue jeans. Yet, their simplicity is deceptive. Blue jeans are nothing if not an exercise in opposites. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Americans have accepted jeans as a symbol of their culture, but today jeans are a global consumer product category. Levi Strauss made blue jeans in the 1870s to withstand the hard work of mining, but denim has since become the epitome of leisure. In the 1950s, celebrities like Marlon Brando transformed the utilitarian clothing of industrial labor into a glamorous statement of youthful rebellion, and now, you can find jeans on chic fashion runways. For some, indigo blue might be the color of freedom, but for workers who have produced the dye, it has often been a color of oppression and tyranny. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eBlue Jeans \u003c\/i\u003econsiders the versatility of this iconic garment and investigates what makes denim a universal signifier, ready to fit any context, meaning, and body. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eObject Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCarolyn Purnell \u003c\/b\u003eis a historian, writer, and lover of all things colorful. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sensational Past: How the Enlightenment Changed the Way We Use Our Senses\u003c\/i\u003e, and her work has appeared in publications including \u003ci\u003ePsychology Today, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal, \u003c\/i\u003e CityLab by \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGood Housekeeping\u003c\/i\u003e, and Apartment Therapy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50497235190034,"sku":"9781501383748","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a38f5872-d8d2-46c7-a6e4-8cbc5afbfd77.jpg?v=1730708366","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/blue-jeans-9781501383748","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}