Free Republic

Organizers of Sunday’s Jim Traficant Appreciation Dinner are confident the guest of honor will make an appearance at the event. [snip]

Is George Will commanding his War on Denim from On A Boat?

On any American street, or in any airport or mall, you see the same sad tableau: A 10-year-old boy is walking with his father, whose development was evidently arrested when he was that age, judging by his clothes. Father and son are dressed identically -- running shoes, T-shirts. And jeans, always jeans. If mother is there, she, too, is draped in denim. Writer Daniel Akst has noticed and has had a constructive conniption. He should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has earned it by identifying an obnoxious misuse of freedom. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he...

New York, NY (CNS) - Singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow will be releasing her own very "Americana" line of denim jeans and shirts in Dillard's department stores on August 15. The multi-Grammy Award winning artist's clothing line, Bootheel Trading Company, is inspired by western and vintage style. The jeans are designed to be eco-friendly, using only fair-trade cotton and denim. Crow has partnered with Western Glove Works for the affordable fashion line. The most expensive jeans is retailed at $69, and the shirts start at $29. The complete Fall '08 collection will be available nationwide at Dillard's branches and some boutique stores...

Napa, Calif. (AP) -- A seventh-grader might end up in court for wearing Winnie the Pooh socks to school. Toni Kay Scott, 14, was sent to an in-school suspension program called Students With Attitude Problems last year for violating a dress code, according to a lawsuit against the Napa Valley Unified School District and Redwood Middle School. She had donned socks with the Tigger character from the Winnie the Pooh cartoons on them, along with a denim skirt and a brown shirt with a pink border. But the school's policy requires students to wear clothes with solid colors in blue,...

ROME - They're high around the waist, wide around the leg and have lots of pockets for holding watches, bracelets, glasses and other knickknacks. A new line of jeans designed by a small company in northern Italy caters to Muslims seeking to stay comfortable while they pray. "As far as we know we're the first, at least in Italy," said Luca Corradi, who designed Al Quds jeans. The bagginess is to ensure the wearer avoids stiffness while bending down repeatedly during prayers. The pockets are for holding all the accessories Muslims have to take off while they worship. And the...

Can a dead avant-garde artist add cachet to an old comfy pair of jeans? Levi Strauss & Co. hopes so. The blue jeans giant is tapping Andy Warhol to sell $150 to $250 jeans and other sportswear embellished with dollar signs, Marilyn Monroe, Mao and other imagery. The "Warhol Factory X Levi's" are an attempt to lure away young consumers who think nothing of dropping a cool $200 on a pair of Diesel, Frankie B. and Joe's Jeans. Through its licensing agreement with the Andy Warhol Foundation, the status-symbol jeans and tops will be in high-end stores in the spring.