50 Years of Best of Philly: Denim
Jeans. They’re an American classic. These are the styles that filled local shelves from the ’70s to today.
BOP50: Jeans in Philly from the 1970s to today. Here’s where we’ve been buying denim. / Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
1974
Photograph by Prairie_Eye/iStock Photo/Getty Images
Eleven years after it debuts, King of Prussia Mall earns a nod as Best Suburban Shopping Center. Around that time, folks shopped at department stores Wanamaker’s and JCPenney, and smaller shops like West Coast chain House of Nine. And the denim du jour? Bell-bottoms, of course, along with jumpsuits and patchwork.
1995
Gap denim dominates in the ’90s, and we get swept up in the craze too, even naming the brand’s store at 5th and South the Best Gap, for everything from its sales floor to shoes, which we were probably buying alongside a pair of boot-cut jeans.
Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
1998
Style arbiter Joan Shepp gets the first of many Best-of awards, for Service in a Boutique at the Elkins Park shop. Another award follows in 1999, for the new downtown digs and avant-garde designers like Dries Van Noten. This was shortly before the meteoric ascent of low-rise jeans in the new millennium.
2013
Shop Sixty Five gets a nod for Best Denim. It’s not surprising why: The boutique has a designer denim bar filled with Hudson, Diesel and True Religion, the last of which is known for the stitching on the pockets of its skinny jeans.
2017
Kirna Zabête is our pick for Best New Suburban Boutique, earning marks for “endless outfit inspiration.” The Bryn Mawr shop opened in 2016 with denim from Mother, Frame and Stella McCartney. Owner Beth Buccini favors the wide-leg flared 1970s style.
2024
Photograph courtesy of Pilot Powell
Best New Womenswear Boutique: Pilot / Powell
This new luxury fashion concept has been flying high since swinging open its doors this past March. Wielding a coveted brand list and Vogue-approved sartorial cred, the sister location of the New Orleans flagship won us over with designers like Christian Wijnants and Marie Lichtenberg. As for denim? Expect styles from Agolde that throw it back to the past, with a relaxed fit, ripped knees or cargo pockets. 32 Parking Plaza, Ardmore.
Published as “Best of Philly: The Evolution of … Denim” in the August 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
