Grasping for V. Group Read: Black levis and black suede w sneakers

[Mark Kohut]

Jeans have always been navy......but blue not black, which was a less widely worn color then. 
 
wikiepedia
Jeans (known as dungarees by then), along with light-blue stenciled cambric shirts, became part of the official working uniform of the United States Navy in the 20th century prior to being replaced by the coveralls, utilities and, more recently, the blue and gray digital-camouflaged navy working uniform. 
After James Dean popularized them in the movie, Rebel Without a Cause, wearing jeans by teenagers and young adults became a symbol of youth rebellion during the 1950s. Because of this they were often barred in certain public places. 
 
And in another book at Google Book Search about men's masculinity in popular culture, the John Wayne look----see Benny's big cowboy hat---was
widespread as signifier


Benny dresses the beat look......"Beat is back" was this tagline: 
... Mead "The two young men in the black berets, black turtlenecks, black jeans, ....
 By the end of the fifties, however, the beats and their followers had"...

----------with suede over leather...(cooler?..and a step up? He is getting a steady paycheck. I associate
with musicians more than...uh.... beatniks. (what a word since Dobie Gillis, eh?)  And all undercut---showing
immaturity?---by Benny's sneakers? 

 
 
I, personally, love how Mr. Lasgana  Layer-on of allegorical meaning, also gets this On The Road, Updike, Bellow stuff right too.