This history of jeans has a few rough patches

Well, that's how it's supposed to work anyway.

Enter James Sullivan, who has written for a host of publications, including Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and The Boston Globe. Few would argue against his basic contention that jeans are iconically American. ``Blue jeans -- not soft drinks, or cars, or computers -- are the crowning product of American ingenuity," Sullivan writes. ``They are timeless -- flawlessly designed, yet infinitely versatile."

Sullivan notes that jeans -- like so many significant American inventions -- were not invented by an individual, but instead evolved. This evolution is chronicled thoroughly, from Gold Rush days when denim was developed by outfitters catering to prospectors. The story then fades into the long rise and quick fall of Levi Strauss, a manufacturer whose 501 jeans were the most successful clothing item in the world and whose annual sales tanked by nearly half in recent years.

The history of jeans in America hardly wants for fascinating tidbits -- who knew, for instance, that regional denim companies once occupied positions of civic pride now enjoyed almost exclusively by microbrews.

Unfortunately, Sullivan's tidbits are more interesting than his overarching narrative. Much of what's stitched together is tough for those not already entrenched in the history of fashion to get excited about. Sullivan does an admirable job historicizing the major shifts in denim's ascendance -- the slow transition from a workingman's trouser to something gender nonexclusive and fit for casual wear. Then, more recently, to high-end fashion with jeans blasting past the $400 mark.