Explains how cotton is grown and harvested to make fabric; discusses how blue jeans fabric is made at a mill and how the fabric is sewn together to make jeans at a factory; and how blue jeans become available to consumers.
Focuses on an everyday item - blue jeans - to learn what one simple article of clothing can tell us about our individual and social lives and challenging, by extension, the foundational anthropological presumption of the normative.
"In Jeans, journalist and pop culture critic James Sullivan tells the story of this amazing garment, from its humble utilitarian origins to its ubiquitous presence in the twenty-first-century global economy. Beginning with the appearance of front-buckled denim pants in nineteenth-century America, Sullivan untangles the legends surrounding the origin of jeans and traces their adoption as work clothing in the West. Jeans then follows their mass production by regional entrepreneurs including San Francisco's legendary Levi Strauss, their widespread adoption as youth clothing and westernwear in the twentieth century, and their popularization around the world."--BOOK JACKET.
For generations, mothers and daughters have struggled to say the right thing -- or have said nothing at all -- when the time has come to discuss sex. VENUS IN BLUE JEANS brings refreshing hope and guidance for every mother who has been undone by such questions as "Mom, what’s French kissing" or "What’s oral sex?" or who has agonized over her teenage daughter’s newfound interest in boys. In this wise and radiant book, Nathalie Bartle tackles some of the toughest topics of sexual education: What do girls know about sex? When is the right time to begin talking with them about sex? How can mothers get the conversation right? Today’s teenagers face enormous pressures to become sexually active; by age nineteen more than 50 percent of American girls have had intercourse. From billboards to cyberspace, society is awash in sexual images. Parents assume that teens possess abundant sexual knowledge, but information gleaned from the media or the teenage grapevine can be woefully inaccurate: many teens list AIDS as the only sexually transmitted disease; others assume they can’t get pregnant "the first time." We need a new dialogue for this generation of young women, Bartle argues. Combining her own stories of raising a daughter with the generously honest voices of mothers and daughters who have struggled firsthand with this topic, she illuminates the invaluable role that mothers can play in their daughters’ sexual education -- without encouraging them to be sexually active. Adolescent girls crave information, but they may be too afraid or embarrassed to ask for it, worried that their moms will think less of them or assume they are preparing for sex. The rich stories here help dispel common myths, encourage candid conversation, and reveal the importance of placing sexual information within the broader context of relationships and a moral framework. Filled with strategies, keen understanding, and a warm sense of humor, VENUS IN BLUE JEANS will inspire mothers and others to persevere with these vital conversations and will empower girls to think of their sexuality as a natural part of adolescence rather than something they need be defiant about or shamed by. This is an indispensable book for anyone concerned with guiding today’s young women safely through the upsets, infatuations, and intimacies of adolescence.
Longlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award A groundbreaking chronicle of the birth--and death--of a pair of jeans, that exposes the fractures in our global supply chains, and our relationships to each other, ourselves, and the planet Take a look at your favorite pair of jeans. Maybe you bought them on Amazon or the Gap; maybe the tag says "Made in Bangladesh" or "Made in Sri Lanka." But do you know where they really came from, how many thousands of miles they crossed, or the number of hands who picked, spun, wove, dyed, packaged, shipped, and sold them to get to you? The fashion industry operates with radical opacity, and it's only getting worse to disguise countless environmental and labor abuses. It epitomizes the ravages inherent in the global economy, and all in the name of ensuring that we keep buying more while thinking less about its real cost. In Unraveled, entrepreneur, researcher, and advocate Maxine Bédat follows the life of an American icon--a pair of jeans--to reveal what really happens to give us our clothes. We visit a Texas cotton farm figuring out how to thrive without relying on fertilizers that poison the earth. Inside dyeing and weaving factories in China, where chemicals that are banned in the West slosh on factory floors and drain into waterways used to irrigate local family farms. Sewing floors in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are crammed with women working for illegally low wages to produce garments as efficiently as machines. Back in America, our jeans get stowed, picked, and shipped out by Amazon warehouse workers pressed to be as quick as the robots primed to replace them. Finally, those jeans we had to have get sent to landfills--or, if they've been "donated," shipped back around the world to Africa, where they're sold for pennies in secondhand markets or buried and burned in mountains of garbage. A sprawling, deeply researched, and provocative tour-de-force, Unraveled is not just the story of a pair of pants, but also the story of our global economy and our role in it. Told with piercing insight and unprecedented reporting, Unraveled challenges us to use our relationship with our jeans--and all that we wear--to reclaim our central role as citizens to refashion a society in which all people can thrive and preserve the planet for generations to come.
This style bible is a chic and sexy look at the myriad possibilities of blue jeans, the classic and ever-evolving fashion essential. Blue jeans are an iconic part of American culture. And, like the American dream, denim is constantly reinventing itself. A Denim Story showcases timeless images of blue jean style. Featuring such icons as Marilyn Monroe, Patti Smith, Jane Birkin, and Kate Moss, as well as dreamy inspiration boards from the authors' own work, this volume is full of ideas and inspirations. A pair of jeans always makes a statement, whether they are tight and purposeful or loose and frayed. Blue jeans can embody dreamy, girlish innocence or the best of boyishness, as when worn two sizes too big, low on the hips, and rolled up at the ankle. A Denim Story takes us on a journey through the most stylish looks of Americana culture, from the cutoffs and rolled-up cuffs of carefree summertime days to the simple ruggedness of overalls in the countryside, and from the rebelliously ripped jeans of rock 'n' roll to that beloved pair of faded and patched blue jeans we will never throw away. Denim is the material of independence and self-expression, timelessly cool, boasting an authenticity and function that transcend trends and is always sexy. Exquisitely curated by Current, Elliott, and Walsh, A Denim Story is a visual love song to blue jeans, sure to seduce everyone who picks it up.
An ingeniously conceived tour of the global economy and all its key components, illuminated one by one in 99 large-scale, full-color infographics The economy is a complex, world-spanning, layer-upon-layer-upon-layer behemoth: One could argue that almost every aspect of our lives is connected to the realms of business and finance. And yet few of us truly understand it—even the world’s foremost economists can’t seem to agree on how it runs. The Global Economy as You’ve Never Seen It presents 99 brilliant infographics that everyone can understand. From start-ups to monopolies, from trade agreements to theory, author Thomas Ramge and infographic specialist Jan Schwochow bring every facet of the economic web to life. Economics connects us all, from what we buy, to how we buy it, who made it, and where. See the economy differently—and the world.
The world no longer defines successful businesspeople by their suit and ties. Today we live in a world where any entrepreneur can create a successful, profitable, enjoyable business in whatever style suits him or her the best. And hey, if putting on a suit and heading for your corporate office is what works best for you, that's great. But if throwing on your favorite pair of blue jeans and heading for the beach works better, that's cool too. In Business in Blue Jeans: How to Have a Successful Business on Your Own Terms, in Your Own Style, you'll learn how to create and grow a business that works for you. More than just a "how to" guide, Business in Blue Jeans, contains actionable, practical that show you how to: Break through the "brain junk" that's been getting in your way to starting a business. Develop a business idea (or hone the one you already have) with real potential for success. Package your idea to attract the people who want what you have to offer and will pay for it. Become visible to your potential customers and clients so that they think of you first. Stand head and shoulders above your competitors without spending an extra dime. Build a community and network that includes the support and the connections you need, drawing people in instead of pushing them away. Hire, train, and manage a team as your business grows so that it's never out of control (and so you can hit the beach!). We live in an ever-changing economy and that can make starting and growing a business seem daunting. But with the right guidance, you, too, can have successful business that makes everything else that you want in life possible.